Camelia Pasandaran – Indonesia's Presidential Palace on Tuesday denied reports that a "furious" President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had refused to take a conversation from United States President Barack Obama in the wake of the WikiLeaks allegations of abuse of power.

Presidential Spokesman Julian Pasha conceded that Friday's conversation was rescheduled but said such events were "normal and often happened." He said he could not say when the pair were next scheduled to talk, but "there is always contact between them."

Julian would not comment on suggestions in the Melbourne Age that its article that detailed leaked American diplomatic cables implicating Yudhoyono and his family in corruption and abuse of power had anything to do with the missed call.

The Age, quoting an anonymous source, said Obama was expected to call Yudhoyono on Friday, but "when the WikiLeaks thing broke, it didn't happen."

Julian also said that Yudhoyono was distancing himself from a $1 billion lawsuit lodged by an obscure group against the Age and Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday.

The Federation of National Enterprise United Workers Union are suing over the article titled "Yudhoyono 'Abused Power,'" which made a host of allegations against Yudhoyono.

The plaintiffs accuse the newspaper of not following adequate checks and balances. They have called for both the owner of the newspapers, Fairfax Media, and the US Embassy to apologize to the Indonesian people and demanded the apology take up a full page in both newspapers over three consecutive days. The plaintiffs have also demanded that the newspapers pay $1 billion in damages.

Julian said Yudhoyono knew nothing abut the lawsuit, saying it was done with the request or consent of the president. He said the public would be able to judge that the claims were "not based on truth at all."