[list_indonesia] [ppiindia] Sulawesi Sea row dredges up defenses
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- Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2005 23:57:07 +0100
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http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/GC09Ae02.html
Mar 9, 2005
Sulawesi Sea row dredges up defenses
By Bill Guerin
JAKARTA - Demonstrators held a noisy protest outside the Malaysian Embassy
in Jakarta on Monday, chanting slogans and asserting Indonesia's claim to a
disputed area off the coast of Malaysia's Sabah state and Indonesia's East
Kalimantan province in the first territorial dispute since Indonesian
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took office last October.
Indonesia has sent four F-16 fighter planes and three more warships to join
the four already stationed in the oil-rich waters off Borneo Island. The
Royal Malaysian Navy has also deployed two warships to the area, further
adding to the tensions. Though both governments continue to insist that the
dispute over conflicting claims as to who controls the resource-rich
offshore area will be resolved diplomatically, the buildup of military
forces in the waters continues to be a cause for concern.
After a cabinet meeting chaired by Yudhoyono on Sunday, Indonesian air force
chief of staff Rear Marshal Djoko Suyanto said the additional military
strength "isn't aimed at provocation", but that the fighters were sent to
strengthen patrols maintaining sovereignty over Indonesia's territorial
waters.
This latest military buildup came after a report last Thursday that a
Malaysian navy Beechcraft had apparently breached Indonesian airspace over
the Sulawesi Sea in the fifth such incident in less than two weeks.
According to Colonel Marsetio, commander of the Indonesian navy's Eastern
Fleet Command's Combat Task Force, "The aircraft was flying close to our
warships near the Ambalat Island, and was three miles into our territory
according to map and visual observation."
In a telephone conversation on Monday morning between Malaysian Premier
Abdullah Badawi and Yudhoyono, who was about to leave Jakarta's Halim
Perdanakusumah military airfield to visit Sebatik Island, just west of
Ambalat, where the disputed area lies, the two leaders agreed that both
their foreign ministers would meet in Jakarta on Wednesday to try to defuse
the long-running maritime row.
Sebatik is just off the land border between East Kalimantan and Sabah and is
split between both countries. To the east lie the Sipadan and Ligitan
Islands, which were disputed for years before Malaysia was given sovereignty
over them by the International Court of Justice in 2002 (see Indonesia:
Islands in the storm, December 21, 2002).
The visit to Sebatik by the president, who was accompanied by Indonesia's
former military commander in chief and current coordinating minister for
political, legal and security affairs, Widodo A S; Minister of Energy and
Natural Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro; Minister of Manpower and
Transmigration Fahmi Idris; Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi; and current
military chief General Endriartono Sutarto, was aimed at seeking direct
reports on the situation in the border areas, presidential spokesman Andi
Mallarangeng said.
Yudhoyono told a local radio station during his visit that he had agreed
with Prime Minister Badawi to reduce tensions. "Our hope is that this
problem can be solved through diplomatic channels with a fair solution in
respect to Indonesia's sovereign and territorial rights," the president
said.
Oil concessions add fuel to the fire
On February 16 Malaysia's state oil firm Petronas awarded oil-exploration
rights in two exploration blocks in the disputed Ambalat area to its own
exploration arm along with Anglo-Dutch giant Royal Dutch/Shell. However,
Indonesia already had granted a concession to US-based oil giant Unocal Corp
in November to pump liquefied natural gas (LNG) from deepwater blocks in
that area.
Jakarta has warned Royal Dutch/Shell not to meddle in the offshore oil
concessions. Arif Havas Oegroseno, director for political, security and
territorial agreements with the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told
local media that a letter had been sent to Shell Malaysia and Shell in the
Netherlands warning that "the waters around the Sipadan and Ligitan Islands
are our territory, and we regard giving this award as violating our
sovereignty".
"We have warned Shell, do not enter our waters," he said. When asked about
the International Court of Justice's decision to award sovereignty over the
Sipadan and Ligitan Islands to Malaysia, Oegroseno said the judges had
stated that the interests of mapping Malaysian sovereignty over the two
islands did not have a direct influence on the delineation of the
continental shelf. "In other words, the maritime region still belonged to
Indonesia," he said.
Malaysia claims that the waters around the islands are part of its
territory, though Indonesia says Malaysian waters extend only 19 kilometers
from Sipadan and Ligitan. The Malaysian claim is erroneous, according to
Jakarta, as it is based on a self-made and outdated 1979 map of the area
that is not recognized by the Indonesian government or most other Southeast
Asian countries.
Badawi calls for diplomacy
After his call to Yudhoyono, Badawi said he hoped the dispute could be
managed in a "cordial manner". He added that, "to prevent any undesirable
incidents which may create tension in the relationship between Indonesia and
Malaysia, both of us agreed for the matter to be discussed at the diplomatic
level". But back in Jakarta, leading legislators were beginning to push for
a hardline stance, with Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR) Agung
Laksono urging stern action, including the use of military force if
necessary, to "solve" the dispute.
"We will support such moves as we believe the people will also support such
a move," Laksono said. The Ambalat block is well inside Indonesian territory
and undeniably part of Indonesia, he added.
Separately Theo Sambuaga, chairman of Indonesia's powerful Commission I on
Political and Security Affairs, urged the government to recall its
ambassador to Kuala Lumpur, and demonstrators protested outside the
Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta.
Ties between the two predominantly Muslim nations already are being severely
tested by a Malaysian crackdown on an estimated 1 million illegal
immigrants, some 400,000 of whom come from Indonesia. Malaysia's
controversial operation to round up, whip and even deport the illegal
workers has attracted widespread condemnation by rights groups and the
governments of affected Asian countries.
Though Malaysia needs the Indonesian workers to support vital industries
such as construction, it wants their stay legalized, as does Jakarta. Many
Indonesians who fled Malaysia last week after an amnesty for illegal workers
expired have sought shelter on Sebatik Island, where both countries have
military garrisons.
Indonesia flexes its muscle
On the territorial dispute, Abdul Razak Baginda, a Malaysian analyst from
the Malaysian Strategic Research Center, told Reuters, "Indonesia was once
the Big Brother in the region but has never been the same since the fall of
Suharto. This [dispute] is the first time it is getting a chance to assert
itself."
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak expressed his own view:
"I think the new president is flexing his muscle."
This suggestion, however, may be somewhat at odds with Indonesia's readiness
to attempt to resolve the spat diplomatically.
On Friday, Marty Natalegawa, the main spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, said the government will "utilize all options to convey our
position on Ambalat", but would not bring the dispute to The Hague. "It is
not on our agenda," said the spokesman, who explained that the government
would try to settle the dispute through diplomatic channels.
Even Yudhoyono himself has said, "We want to settle this in a good manner
... It should be settled well without falling into the trap of
confrontation, especially armed confrontation."
Nonetheless, Jakarta is unlikely to be the first to back down. If the
undoubted goodwill between both leaders and the ongoing high-level talks
fail to produce a compromise, the only other option may be to return to the
International Court of Justice, particularly given the strong national
sentiment in Indonesia's fractured parliament and the fact that
anti-Malaysia sentiment has already surfaced on the streets in Jakarta.
Former People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais has urged the
government to make all efforts to continue the fight for Ambalat. "If the
government is softhearted and weak, they [Malaysia] will really put pressure
on us. So the ball is really in the government's court," Rais said in
Makassar, South Sulawesi, where a small "Front for Crushing Malaysia" center
has been set up to defend the country should tensions continue.
The Indonesian military is clearly ready to assume battle positions in the
unlikely event that this recent bout of gunboat diplomacy leads to shots
being fired in anger. On Monday the navy's main spokesman, First Admiral
Abdul Malik Yusuf, was quoted as saying: "We will not let an inch of our
land or a drop of our ocean fall into the hands of foreigners."
Bill Guerin, a Jakarta correspondent for Asia Times Online since 2000, has
worked in Indonesia for 19 years in journalism and editorial positions. He
has been published by the BBC on East Timor and specializes in
business/economic and political analysis in Indonesia.
(Copyright 2005 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact
us for information on sales, syndication and republishing.)
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