House Speaker Urges Government to Protest over Wiretapping

Bandung, West Java (Antara) - Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) Marzuki Alie has urged the government to lodge strong protests with the United States and Australia over reports of wiretapping. "I think we need to protest strongly. As a sovereign nation, we must take a stance against that what had been done by the foreign countries' intelligence agents," Marzuki Alie said here on Friday. Indonesia must not let foreign countries interfere with its independence, he added. Wiretapping is a form of interference by other countries, he said, adding that the government must seek clarification of the wiretapping, the House Speaker added. Indonesia has asked for clarification from the US and Australian governments regarding wiretapping facilities located in their embassies in Jakarta. Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa earlier said if the facilities exist, they did not only seriously violate the nation¿s security, but also diplomatic norms and ethics. News stories about wiretapping, allegedly conducted by the US and Australia on Indonesia, were reported in Australia's Sydney Morning Herald on October 31. The minister, meanwhile, blasted critics who accused Indonesia of being "soft" in its reaction to alleged wiretapping by the US and Australia. "Nothing was weak in the statement of rejection. Nothing was weak in a statement of strong protest. We have said we would review our exchange of information with the two countries," he said at a press conference, after closing the 6th Bali Democracy Forum in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Friday. He noted that the term "review" was full of meanings and significance in a diplomatic manner. To review means conducting a continuing process until a solution is found, he said. Mutual trust with the two countries must be restored and improved, he added. "The ball is in the hands of the countries that have committed it, not in Indonesia," he said. (*)