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Tensions rise over terror raids
By Grant Holloway
CANBERRA, Australia (CNN) -- Political tensions between Jakarta and Canberra have resurfaced over security raids on Indonesians living in Australia. An undisclosed number of homes in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth were raided this week by Australian Federal Police officers and agents from the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO). The raids were designed to gather evidence of activities by the newly banned terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). The Indonesian government has complained through diplomatic channels to Canberra that it was not given prior notice of the raids as required by international convention. And Indonesia's Vice-President Hamid Haz told media Thursday he thought the raids would damage relations between the two countries. Australia and Indonesia are jointly investigating the October 12 terror bombings in Bali which killed about 180 people, many of them Australian tourists. But Australian Prime Minister John Howard is unrepentant, telling radio listeners Friday that the raids would continue. "We will naturally respond to any Indonesian concerns but what we have done is in accordance with Australian law and is in accordance with international law," he said. "There were reasons for those raids and I defend 100 percent what ASIO has done." Howard reiterated the government's position that the raids were targeting individuals and not a group or community within Australia, adding that cooperation between Australia and Indonesia in investigating the atrocity in Bali had been very good. But Vice-President Haz is reported saying the raids could hurt relations with Australia. He said he expected Australia to coordinate with the Indonesian embassy over any concern it had with Indonesian citizens, "in an effort to prevent any image of poor relations between the two from arising," the official Antara news agency reports him saying. Stormy relationsThe Indonesian vice-consul to Melbourne Kama Pradipta said Friday international convention required Indonesia to be informed of any investigation into foreign nationals, and this had not taken place. He said the raids were "not in the spirit of complete co-operation." Pradipta said two female university students who were Indonesian nationals and three Indonesian men who were permanent residents of Australia had been raided. Australia and Indonesia have had a tempestuous relationship over the years, frequently falling out over issues including the independence of East Timor, people-smuggling and human rights. The Australian government and ASIO, meanwhile, rejected suggestions the raids were heavy handed and unnecessary. Al Qaeda linkThe Australian Civil Liberties Council says it plans to lodge a formal protest over what it said was no more than a "stunt" by a government determined to prove its tough stance on terrorism. ASIO chief Dennis Richardson on Thursday rejected suggestions the raids had targeted people who had simply attended lectures in Australia by suspected Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir. He said ASIO could not legally conduct an entry and search on the basis that someone had attended a lecture by a cleric. Richardson said he believed the al Qaeda network was involved in the Bali blasts and that there would soon be terrorist attacks on Australian soil. Howard also hinted that there was more evidence of JI involvement by those raided than there appeared on the surface but would not be drawn on details for security reasons. Australia's Attorney-General Daryl Williams earlier confirmed that Ba'asyir and a co-founder of JI called Abdullah Sungkar had visited Australia 11 times with the purpose of establishing a JI cell in Australia.
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