Jakarta Globe, August 27, 2010
Demonstrators sing songs of patriotism during a protest outside the Malaysian embassy on Thursday. Activists from a number of youth organizations staged a rally to protest against a recent incident that saw Indonesian naval officers arrested by Malaysian authorities in the disputed waters off Riau Island. (Reuters/Supri)
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Kuala Lumpur. Indonesian Foreign Minister Dr R.M. Marty M. Natalegawa will meet with Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman on Sept 6 in Kota Kinabalu, capital of East Malaysia state of Sabah, to discuss the sea boundary between the two countries.
Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Da’i Bachtiar said the bilateral meeting would also find the best solution to avoid a repeat of incidents that could affect the close relations between the two neighbors.
“We will all learn from the incident to speed up the processes that are still pending especially with regard to the boundary between Malaysia and Indonesia which frequently causes conflicts,” he said at a press conference at the Indonesian Embassy.
On Aug 13, the enforcement division of the Indonesian Marine and Fisheries Ministry detained seven Malaysian fishermen in the Malaysian-Indonesian waters near Bintan, Riau Islands, while the Malaysian Marine Operations Force detained three enforcement officers of the Indonesian ministry.
The case had resulted in various reactions where 37 members of the Indonesian Bendera movement demonstrated in front of the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta on Monday and hurled human feces as ‘gifts’ to Malaysia, which was alleged to have tarnished Indonesia’s image in an even worse manner.
Da’i had personally expressed regret on the feces-throwing incident and attributed the demonstration to the anger and dissatisfaction of the Indonesian people accumulated over cases involving the two countries in the past.
“In terms of ethics, I certainly don’t agree to the throwing of feces, but in terms of jurisdiction, are there any legal provisions that the police can use to prosecute in court, the demonstration is considered as an accumulation of past cases,” he said.
He said the Indonesian government also gave an assurance on the security of Malaysian nationals and other nationalities residing in Indonesia and the police were also raising security measures at the embassy and the official residence of the Malaysian Ambassador in Jakarta.
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