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Defense Minister Becomes Chairman of Malindo Border Committee
Friday, 26 August, 2005 | 10:02 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:The position of Chairman of the Malaysia-Indonesia (Malindo) General Border Committee has been handed over from Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto to Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono.

This initiative, Sutarto said, came from him and has been approved by the government.

The main consideration of this handing over was that the agreement on the two countries’ border tends to be political while the TNI is only an instrument to carry out decisions.

Sutarto stated that the handing over will not change the activities that have been conducted in securing the Malacca Straits, Singapore and Thailand.

“It is the policy of the three countries to conduct the patrol in the Malacca Straits,” stated Sutarto.

According to Sudarsono, in general the defense department has certainly become the hub as regards rearranging the borders of Indonesia with other countries. (Fanny Febiana-Tempo News Room)