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Recalling ambassador is minor, JK says
Former vice president Jusuf Kalla said the governmentâs decision to recall the Indonesian ambassador to Australia over the wiretapping scandal was a relatively minor action
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ormer vice president Jusuf Kalla said the government's decision to recall the Indonesian ambassador to Australia over the wiretapping scandal was a relatively minor action.
'Recalling our ambassador from Australia is just the initial step,' he said during a discussion at Sunan Kalijaga Islamic University (UIN) in Yogyakarta on Wednesday, as quoted by Antara news agency.
Kalla said the Indonesian government should take tougher action in protest at the alleged snooping activities, especially as the Australian government had refused to apologize for its actions. According to Kalla, a statement of apology from the Australian government was crucial to maintain bilateral relations.
'The one and the only way out of this current situation is that Australia agrees to apologize for what it has done,' he said.
Kalla, who had his own phone tapped when he was vice president, said he was surprised to learn about the alleged spying operations conducted by Australia.
Australia's Sydney Morning Herald and the UK's The Guardian reported on Monday that since 2007, the US National Security Agency (NSA) had bugged the phones of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his wife Ani Yudhoyono and several ministers and officials. (ebf)
