Paul Maley – Indonesia has put Kevin Rudd on notice that the special treatment offered to the 78 Tamils aboard the Oceanic Viking must be extended to the 255 Sri Lankans moored off the port of Merak.

With the first big group of Oceanic Viking Tamils expected to arrive in Australia tomorrow, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry has revealed that Canberra has been told it must help resettle the 255 Tamils whose boat was stopped following a personal plea from Mr Rudd.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said that while Jakarta had no wish to repeat the "unpleasant" experience of the Oceanic Viking, the government considered resolution of the Merak stand-off "part and parcel" of ending the Viking incident.

"Looking back on how the efforts by the Australians to try to assist the resolution of the Tanjung Pinang (detention centre) problem, certainly we might expect similar efforts might be put on the Merak situation," Mr Faizasyah told The Australian.

Jakarta's demands will increase the pressure on the Rudd government, which was attacked for caving in to the Sri Lankans.

They will also test Canberra's dwindling diplomatic resources, with key figures in the refugee resettlement sector privately warning that Australia has used up all of its favours in broking the Oceanic Viking deal.

Mr Faizasyah said Jakarta expected Australia might take some of the 255 Tamils. That would create a potential security headache for the Rudd government following claims by the Sri Lankan government that at least three of the Merak Tamils had been identified as former members of the Tamil Tigers.

The boat's self-appointed spokesman, Sanjeev "Alex" Kuhendrarajah, has been identified as a convicted criminal and gang member who was deported from Canada after a stint in jail.

Mr Faizasyah said there was disagreement within the Indonesia government about how to handle the Merak stand-off, including whether or not to use force.

"That's the debate that we have," he said. "We have so many actors involved on our side, the police, the navy, the immigration, each with their own suggestion."

And Mr Faizasyah undermined the Rudd government's claim that the deal offered the Tamils was normal, saying their rapid resettlement was proof that the arrangements were unique.

"If it was normal, it would take years for the Sri Lankans to be resettled in third countries," he said.

Mr Faizasyah's blunt remarks came as authorities in Tanjung Pinang prepared to move dozens of the Tamils rescued by the Oceanic Viking to Australia and Romania.

Some are expected to leave Tanjung Pinang today bound for Australia, Norway and the US. At least seven are expected to arrive in Australia on Wednesday.

The US has emerged as the Prime Minister's unlikely political saviour, with sources telling The Australian it was expected to take up to 30 of the refugees.

Two of the Tamils have already arrived in Australia and another 13 were flown to a UN transit centre in Romania, where they are being vetted by Canadian immigration officials before being admitted to Canada.

Those Tamils accepted by the US are also expected to be flown to Romania. Another 16 Sri Lankans could be flown to a similar facility in The Philippines before being resettled in New Zealand.

The highly complex logistical arrangements are the product of a deal made by the Australian government to resettle the 78 Tamils within four to 12 weeks.

In exchange, the Tamils agreed to end their month-long stand-off aboard the Oceanic Viking, which rescued them on their way to Australia on October 18.

A week earlier, a boat carrying about 255 Tamils was intercepted by Indonesian authorities after Mr Rudd had phoned Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

That boat, the largest intercepted so far, was taken to the Indonesian port of Merak, where it remains with those on board refusing to get off. Last week, one of the men on the boat died from what Mr Faizasyah said was a stomach complaint. Mr Faizasyah said yesterday that resolving the Oceanic Viking situation on Australia's behalf had burdened Indonesian officials and strained relations between Jakarta and local authorities.

He said it had been an "unpleasant situation". "I don't think we would be (interested in repeating) the situation again in the future," he said.

His comments echo recent remarks by the Indonesian Foreign Ministry's director of diplomatic security, Sujatmiko, who told local media that Canberra could not expect similar assistance in the future. "This will be the last time we are helping Australia deal with its foreign refugee influx problem," Sujatmiko said.