Indonesia's army chief today welcomed Australian plans to resume links with an Indonesian special forces unit which has been implicated in abuses in East Timor and elsewhere.

General Ryamizard Ryacudu described the restoration of links between the Kopassus special forces and Australian troops as "important," the state Antara news agency reported.

Ryacudu said Kopassus chief Major General Sriyanto would visit Australia next month to look into the possibility of resuming ties. Australia stopped joint training exercises after the Indonesian military was implicated in militia atrocities during East Timor's bloody breakaway from Jakarta in 1999.

But Australia's defence chief Peter Cosgrove said this month that resumption of ties with Kopassus was a necessary part of the regional war against terrorism.

Cosgrove said Kopassus was the major counter terrorism force in Indonesia, meaning his troops had to have some contact with it, even if in a strictly limited capacity.

"We're saying that we should focus on the here and now and what is very necessary for the safety of our people and Indonesian people," he said. "We should collaborate strictly in those areas where we can all agree that it would be folly if we didn't have some relationship and some arrangement to help save lives."

Opposition Labor foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd has called on Defence Minister Robert Hill to explain why the government did not announce the move. He said he had serious concerns about what he termed Kopassus's historical ties with paramilitary and terrorist groups.