MALAYSIA-INDONESIA TO SIGN KEY AGREEMENT ON AIRSPACE USAGE THURSDAY

By Mohd Nasir Yusoff

JAKARTA, Dec 11 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and Indonesia are expected to sign a
key agreement Thursday that will allow limited use of each other's airspace
without prior diplomatic permission, Malaysia's Chief of Defence Force Gen Abdul
Aziz Zainal said.

He said the agreement would allow military aircraft of both countries to
enter the airspace over the joint command posts along the 1,000km
Kalimantan-Sarawak border.

Speaking to Malaysian journalists here, Abdul Aziz said, the agreement
would
strengthen cooperations in combating illegal activities at the border such as
smuggling, terrorism and other trans-boundary crimes.

"With the agreement, military aircraft will be able to enter the airspace
over the joint command posts, for instance, to carry out humanitarian relief
operations," he said.

At the moment, a period of two weeks was needed to obtain the necessary
diplomatic approval to do so.

"However, the permission will only be given to the first flight. Prior
approval is still needed for the subsequent flights," he said.

Malaysian Prime Minister and Defence Minister Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi, who arrived here Wednesday afternoon, would lead the Malaysian
delegation to the GBC meeting.

Abdul Aziz said the meeting would also mark another milestone in bilateral
cooperation with the setting up of a joint command post in Seliku, the first in
Sabah, which started its operation Wednesday.

This is the third post in the Malaysian border after the Biawak and Lubuk
Antu posts in Sarawak, he said.

He said Malaysia was expected to proposed to Indonesia that the country set
up another post apart from the existing ones in Simanggaris and Entiko in
Kalimantan.

-- BERNAMA