National

Indonesia Protests to Malaysia over Ambalat Incident
Saturday, 16 April, 2005 | 14:06 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:The Indonesian government has filed a protest regarding the collision incident between the Indonesian patrol ship Tedong Naga and the Malaysian warship Rencong in Karang Unarang waters near Sulawesi.

“We filed this protest to the Malaysian government on Tuesday (12/04),” said Indonesian foreign minister Nur Hassan Wirajuda on Wednesday (13/04) at the foreign ministry in Jakarta.

Wirajuda said that while attending the ASEAN foreign ministers meeting in Cebu, the Philippines, he had delivered the protest to Malaysian foreign minister Syed Abdul Hamid.

“We also exchanged thoughts regarding this case, about what could happen in the field,” he stated.

For example, according to Wirajuda, it could happen that one party would see things differently than the other party.

“Therefore, we have agreed to reduce the tension,” said Wirajuda.

Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) Defense and Foreign Affairs Commission chairman Theo L. Sambuaga said that the DPR had sent a memo of protest regarding the Malaysian government’s stance prior to the collision incident between the two ships taking place.
The DPR requested that the government deliver this memo to the Malaysian government.

The collision incident between the Malaysian warship and Indonesian patrol ship took place on Friday (08/04) at 7am local time.

There were a total of three collision took place three times as the Indonesian ship Tedong Naga tried to chase away the Malaysian ship that wanted to enter Indonesia’s patrol area.

The Indonesian patrol ship suffered no serious damage as a result of the collisions. (Yophiandi-Tempo News Room)