Craig Skehan – The Prime Minister, John Howard, has cautioned Indonesia's President Megawati Sukarnoputri against her growing criticism of United States-led military attacks on Afghanistan. Ms Megawati said on Monday that "blood cannot be cleansed with blood".
Despite a possible diplomatic backlash, Mr Howard yesterday said he would seek to take up the issue personally when he met Ms Megawati in Shanghai this weekend. "She must understand, this is not a struggle between Islam and the rest of the world," Mr Howard said in a radio interview. The campaign against terrorism had to continue, he said.
He expected to meet Ms Megawati at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co- operation forum, he said. But in Jakarta, government sources said Ms Megawati had no plans to meet Mr Howard.
Political observers in Jakarta said last night that Mr Howard's comments were likely to upset Ms Megawati's Government as interfering in Indonesia's internal affairs for political gain in Australia.
Ms Megawati has warned that attempts to stem terrorism should be carried out in accordance with principles of international law.
"It is unacceptable that someone, a group or even a government, reasoning that they are searching for perpetrators, attack a people or another country for whatever reason," she said on Monday.
Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Hassan Wirajuda, said earlier that military attacks should "not amount to an attack on the people of Afghanistan or their Islamic faith". There have been growing demonstrations in Indonesia against the US, as well as in Malaysia, where the Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, has called for a halt to the US bombing.
Australia has offered to contribute special forces troops, refuelling aircraft and Navy ships to the US attacks. This comes as Australia seeks collaboration with South-East Asian nations that have Muslim populations or majorities – notably Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines – to fight terrorism. One serious worry is the ease with which people from Muslim countries in the Middle East, as well as South and Central Asia, can enter these nations.
The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, expects to take up counter-terrorism measures with his Indonesian counterpart today in Shanghai ahead of the leaders' summit. He will press for a strongly worded APEC statement supporting the US-led coalition against terrorism.
However, China, which is to chair a special APEC meeting on terrorism tomorrow, is expected to instead push for such efforts to be pursued under the auspices of the United Nations.
The Opposition Leader, Kim Beazley, yesterday wrote to Mr Howard saying that if he insisted on going to APEC he should be accompanied by a Labor representative, the Shadow Foreign Minister, Laurie Brereton, because the government was in caretaker mode.
But Mr Beazley repeated that Mr Howard should not make the visit to Shanghai at all. "He goes to APEC with the authority only of a caretaker prime minster. What he should be doing over the weekend is continuing to participate in the Australian political debate on who should govern this country over the next three years."