Indonesia recalling envoy to Australia over spying claims

JAKARTA, Indonesia (UPDATED) – Indonesia recalled its amabassador to Australia Monday, November 18, in a furious response to reports that Australian spy agencies tried to listen to the phone calls of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as well as his wife and ministers.

Jakarta, which said it was “devastated”, also vowed to review all cooperation with Canberra after secret documents leaked by US intelligence fugitive Edward Snowden said members of the president’s inner circle were spied on.

The escalating row came with ties between the strategic allies already strained over previous spying allegations and over ways to deal with boatpeople heading for Australia via Indonesia.

“This is an unfriendly, unbecoming act between strategic partners,” Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told reporters as he announced the ambassador would be recalled for consultations.

“This isn’t a smart thing to do,” he said, adding that it “hasn’t been a good day in the relationship between Indonesia and Australia”.

The documents, obtained by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and The Guardian newspaper, showed that Australia’s electronic intelligence agency tracked Yudhoyono’s activity on his mobile phone for 15 days in August 2009, when Labor’s Kevin Rudd was prime minister.

Weeks before, twin blasts at luxury hotels in the Indonesian capital – the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton – had killed 7 people, including 3 Australians, as well as two suicide bombers.

The directorate reportedly intercepted at least one call.

The list of 10 tracking targets also included Yudhoyono’s wife Ani, Vice President Boediono – who was in Australia last week, former vice president Jusuf Kalla, the foreign affairs spokesman, the security minister and the information minister, the reports said.

Natalegawa said he was “flabbergasted” by the claims, adding that he could not see “how it may even have a hint of relevance to the security of Australia.”

“It violates every single legal instrument that I can think of in Indonesia and Australia and on an international level as well.”

Asked for how long the ambassador, Nadjib Riphat Kesoema, would be recalled, Natalegawa said: “My advice to the ambassador is to not bring only a cabin bag.”

Daniel Sparringa, a political adviser to Yudhoyono, added: “We feel devastated because it has happened only weeks after we were confronted with similar issues.”

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott refused to comment on the latest claims when pressed in parliament, but said Indonesia was an important partner.

“I will never say or do anything that might damage the strong relationship and the close cooperation that we have with Indonesia, which is all in all our most important relationship,” he said.

But the spying row heaped fresh pressure on the links between Canberra and Jakarta, which were already under pressure due to Abbott’s policy of turning asylum boats heading for Australia back to Indonesia.

Following Monday’s new allegations, Natalegawa said all cooperation between Jakarta and Canberra would be reviewed, including on the issue of boatpeople.

A senior diplomat was also summoned from the Australian embassy in Jakarta on Monday, since the ambassador himself was out of town, to hear Indonesian officials’ complaints.

The ABC said one of the documents was entitled “3G impact and update” and appeared to chart attempts by Australian intelligence to keep pace with the rollout of 3G technology in Indonesia and across Southeast Asia.

A number of intercept options were listed and a recommendation was made to choose one of them and to apply it to a target — in this case the Indonesian leadership, the broadcaster said.

The latest release of Snowden documents comes weeks after reports claimed Canberra’s overseas diplomatic posts, including in Jakarta, were involved in a vast US-led surveillance network, prompting Indonesia to summon the Australian ambassador.

This was followed by claims that Australia and the United States mounted a joint surveillance operation on Indonesia during 2007 UN climate talks in Bali.

Former US National Security Agency contractor Snowden was given asylum in Russia in August, to the fury of the United States where he is wanted on espionage charges following disclosures that have provoked international uproar and strained ties with allies.

He is behind revelations of American spying in Europe, including the tapping of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone. – Rappler.com