MALAYSIA, INDONESIA DISCUSS STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE

KOTA KINABALU (Malaysia), Sept 7 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and Indonesia will
work on a standard operating procedure and rules of engagement as a guideline
for their respective officers when carrying out duties at sea borders to prevent
a recurrence of the Aug 13 incident, Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said.

Both countries also agreed to include Indonesia's Maritime Security
Coordination Agency and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency in the
existing structure of the General Border Committee.

For the time being, Malaysia decided that if there were similar arrest
involving Indonesian enforcement officers in the future, they would not be
handcuffed or asked to wear clothing for detainees, he told a joint news
conference with his Indonesian counterpart, Dr Marty Natalegawa, here Monday.


Three Indonesian maritime and fisheries officers were arrested by Malaysian
police off the coast of Johor on Aug 13, sparking anti-Malaysia protests in
Indonesia.

Seven Malaysian fishermen were also arrested by the Indonesian authority in
the
incident. Both countries later released the detainees.

Dr Marty flew to Kota Kinabalu Monday for a delegation meeting with Anifah,
which lasted about two hours.

Anifah said that the arrest of three Indonesian officers were based on the
standard operating procedure practised in Malaysia and that the treatment given
to them were not as what the Indonesian media made it out to be.

"This operating procedure applies to all, not just to Indonesians, who
encroached into our waters.

"Although the standard operating procedure has been established, taking into
consideration our good relations with Indonesia, we will look into the procedure
further.

"But relaxing the standard operating procedure does not mean that we are
wrong;
but we value our relations with Indonesia," he said.


Dr Marty said Malaysia and Indonesia had drawn lessons from the incident,
and
said that he was satisfied with the assurance given by Malaysia to look into the
standard operating procedure should there be incident involving Indonesian
officers.

"I think none of us is happy that the episode has happened, but most
importantly we are drawing lessons from it; we are making necessary adjustments
to ensure this sort of incident does not recur.

"We should bear in mind to keep the communication line open, and not severe
it,
when problems arise. Anifah and myself will continue to communicate for the
interest of both countries," he said.

Anifah said the meeting also agreed to give focus to the border
negotiations between both countries.

"The last technical meeting between both sides was in October 2009 in Bali.
We
agree to hold two technical meeting before the end of the year, one to be hosted
by Malaysia on Oct 11-12 and by Indonesia on Nov 23-24," he said.

In a related development, Anifah said the faeces throwing incident at the
Malaysian embassy in Jakarta last month, had hurt the feelings of Malaysians but
said that Malaysia believed that Indonesia would take appropriate actions based
on its rules of law.

"I've conveyed the feelings of Malaysians to Bapak Marty. But I've also
mentioned that we understand that the act neither reflect the sentiment of the
Indonesian people nor was it condoned by the Indonesian government," he said.

Dr Marty said: "Of course, the Indonesian government will do all it can to
enforce the rules and laws to ensure no recurrence of such incident."

-- BERNAMA