M`SIAN PM DISAPPOINTED WITH ATTACK ON MALAYSIAN EMBASSY IN INDONESIA

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 26 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Najib Razak has expressed his
disappointment at the demonstration by the People's Democratic Front or 'Benteng
Demokrasi Rakyat' (Bendera) who had hurled faeces within the compound of the
Malaysian Embassy in Indonesia on Monday.

Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said the Prime Minister had expressed his
disappointment at the Cabinet meeting Wednesday after he was given a briefing on
what had transpired.

"Of course he was very disappointed. He finds it is wrong for them to do that.
But he has faith in the Indonesian authority, he has faith in the President that
this matter will be settled," he told reporters after receiving a courtesy call
by a delegation from the Duta Belia (Youth Ambassador) 2010 Indonesia at Wisma
Putra (Foreign Ministry), here Thursday.

Anifah said the Cabinet meeting yesterday was also unanimous that the matter
should be resolved amicably and wanted Malaysians to be patient and rational by
avoiding a similar incident in this country.

He said the Home Ministry had also been asked to ensure that the safety of
Indonesian nationals in this country was not jeopardised by the incident.

However, he said, Malaysia hoped that Indonesia could take stern action against
those who had committed the 'heinous act' in view of the fact that the Malaysian
Embassy compound had special privileges and its own immunity under Article 22 of
the Vienna Convention On Diplomatic Relations 1961.

He said furthermore the Bendera head had personally admitted committing the act
in his blog, which could be used as evidence.

"If it is an offence under the Indonesian law, I hope that action would be taken
against them. But I'm not about to tell the Indonesians what to do with their
laws. We respect them," he said.

In the incident, demonstrators from the Bendera group were believed to have
taken such action to show their anger at Malaysia especially with regard to the
arrest of three officials of the Indonesian Marine and Fisheries Ministry who
were alleged to have encroached into Malaysian waters recently.

Anifah said Malaysia, however, did not expect Indonesia to apologise over the
incident as it was carried out by a small group and did not represent the whole
population and government of Indonesia.

In another development, he said the media of both countries should be more
responsible in their reporting by publishing accurate reports based on facts and
protecting the sensitivity of both countries.

Meanwhile in a statement issued here, he said the Malaysian government had not
carried out any intelligence to determine whether an Indonesian political party
was involved with the movement that had staged the demonstration outside the
Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta.

Anifah said this although it was public knowledge that Bendera was formed in the
office of a political party in Indonesia.

He said this in response to a report in the Malay daily and Malay daily Utusan
Malaysia, that an intelligence source had stated that an Indonesian opposition
party, which was once led by a former President, was behind Bendera.

The minister said the Malaysian government would continue to pressure the
Indonesian authorities to take stern action on Bendera to curb extremist acts.

In view of the threat posed by Bendera, Anifah said he and his Indonesian
counterpart, Dr Marty Natalegawa had agreed to give priority to this issue.

Meanwhile Defence Minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the protest against
Malaysia carried out by a group of Indonesians in Jakarta could have been
masterminded by a group who did not want both countries to have close relations.

"I fear that there are third parties who have interests whether in Malaysia or
Indonesia who are trying to take advantage of the situation for political or
business gains," he said.

He said the action by the group and the threats made against Malaysian interests
such as the warning that CIMB-Niaga and Petronas should leave Indonesia were
merely provocative efforts.
-- BERNAMA