26 Nov, 2013
Australia-Indonesia rift over spying deepens – Sydney Morning Herald
Indonesia has said that talks with Australia over people smuggling and asylum seekers have stalled because of the phone-tapping row, flatly contradicting Immigration Minister Scott Morrison.
As Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono declined for the third day to make a public statement about the letter he has received from Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the extent of the damage wrought by the spying revelations is becoming increasingly clear.
Indonesia’s national police have confirmed they will make no attempt to catch asylum seekers leaving Indonesia on boats. They have withdrawn co-operation from the Australian Federal Police over cyber crime and terrorism operations. The chief of the Indonesian national police, General Sutarman, was reported by website Vivanews as saying: “Their intention is to go there, so it is not in our authority [to prevent them].”
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