Greg Sheridan – Indonesia has no plans to ban foreign journalists from the troubled province of Aceh, according to Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Hasan Wirayudah. But it will tighten the regulation over who goes there and make the province, on the northern tip of Sumatra, off limits to foreign tourists.
In an interview with The Weekend Australian in his Jakarta office, Wirayudah said tighter travel restrictions should have been imposed as soon as martial law was declared. This is mainly for the safety of foreigners, as the accidental fatal shooting of a German tourist and the wounding of his wife by Indonesian soldiers last week tragically illustrated. Even if foreigners took risks in the full knowledge of what they were doing, Jakarta would ultimately be held responsible for their safety, he said.
Wirayudah said he did not know the whereabouts of a missing US journalist, William Nessen, who was last heard from on Tuesday in a separatist-held part of Aceh, but knew he was not in possession of the appropriate press accreditation.
Wirayudah defended the Indonesian military, the TNI, against accusations of human rights abuses. "People on the outside too easily equate the TNI in Aceh with their performance in East Timor. But now you are dealing with a different Indonesia, a democracy with a built-in ability to check the excesses of the military.
"Here we have a very active parliament. The people urged the Government to take decisive action against GAM (the Aceh independence movement). And the parliament exercises strict control. "In addition there is a very active civil society and free press, with debates for and against [military action]. We also have strong mechanisms such as the National Human Rights Commission. I also strongly believe it is in the military's own interests to have a clean operation."
Wirayudah said the Indonesian Government was considering offering a full amnesty to GAM leaders who surrendered: "It is our long-term aim to reintegrate them into Aceh society." A number of GAM leaders had already come over to the government side, he said. Wirayudah emphasised that military action was only one part of the Government's plans for Aceh. Development funds and local autonomy were equally important.
The Foreign Minister plans to visit Australia soon, perhaps as early as August. He was upbeat on Australia-Indonesia relations, saying Canberra and Jakarta had been able to take issues of potentially explosive disagreement, such as people-smuggling, and transform them into cases of close co-operation and even joint regional leadership.
He said the assistance of the Australian Federal Police was important in the successful Bali bombing investigations. "The help of your police was important, not only in technical terms, but politically as well. It shows to the terrorist groups that we are working well with others. This was a deterrence to the terrorists. The view of all of us in the region is that terrorism is a global threat that needs international co-operation."
Wirayudah is rightly proud of the way the Bali investigations have unfolded, pointing out that not only have terrorists been arrested but that they are also being tried in open court, unlike the practice in some other countries in the region.
Most importantly for Australia-Indonesia relations, Wirayudah does not believe the disagreement between Canberra and Jakarta over the war in Iraq will have any damaging consequences for the relationship. "Even a nation like the United States expressed to us the view that we could agree to disagree," he said.
Like other Indonesians, Wirayudah expressed appreciation for Prime Minister John Howard's visit to Jakarta shortly before the war. "He [Howard] met with and talked to Islamic and other leaders. We never thought that a war against Saddam Hussein would be a war against Islam," Wirayudah said in words which must be music to Howard's ears. "I had regular consultations with our religious leaders and we all determined that the war should not be seen as a war by the US and her allies against Islam, that it should not be seen as a war of Muslims against Christians. "Our religious leaders said the war will negatively affect Iraq but should not negatively affect us."
Within Indonesia, non-Islamic religious leaders joined in the protests against the war, which lessened the risk of religious polarisation. "The Western media misread our position as being dictated by Muslim groups. In fact, the Government was at one with the people on this."
Indonesia's anti-war demonstrations, though large, were very peaceful, more peaceful, some Indonesian officials (not Wirayudah) point out, than numerous Australian anti-war demonstrations. The demonstrations were so peaceful, in fact, that during them the US Government decided to send its embassy staff back to Jakarta.
Wirayudah gets on well with his Australian counterpart, Alexander Downer. They may not be quite so much an item as Ali Alatas and Gareth Evans once were, but the collaboration, if lacking perhaps the old romance, is certainly fruitful.