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Singapore bans Usman-Harun from docking
An Indonesian corvette named after two marines whocarried out a deadly bombing in Singapore in the 1960s would not be allowed todock in the city-state or take part in joint exercises, Singapore DefenseMinister Ng Eng Hen said Tuesday
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A
n Indonesian corvette named after two marines whocarried out a deadly bombing in Singapore in the 1960s would not be allowed todock in the city-state or take part in joint exercises, Singapore DefenseMinister Ng Eng Hen said Tuesday.
Ng told parliament that the naming of the ship would 'have consequences on bilateral relations'.
'Already suspicions and resentments have heightened on both sides, setting back many decades of relationship building in defense ties,' he said as quoted by the Associated Press.
The KRI Usman-Harun was named after marines Usman Haji Mohamad Ali and Harun Said, who were sent by Indonesia to bomb an office on what is now Orchard Road in 1965 as part of former president Sukarno's 'confrontation' policy with the Federation of Malaysia, which at that time included Singapore. Three civilians were killed.
Indonesian officials have defended the ship's naming as an internal affair.
It is unclear whether Indonesia's government was aware that the ship's name would offend Singapore. Analysts have said there is little chance that it will reconsider because it is an election year, and doing so would leave it open to attacks by nationalists.
Indonesian officials did not attend this month's Singapore Airshow because of tensions triggered by the naming.
