Det danske Fredsakademi

Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 26. August 2004 / Timeline August 26, 2004

25. August 2004, 27. August 2004

08/26/2004
Indonesia concern on missile plan
Indonesia today expressed concern about Australia's plans to acquire long-range cruise missiles which Canberra said would give it the "most lethal capacity" for air strikes.
"We are talking here of an offensive capability, no longer defensive capability, and we have to ask ourselves against whom is this long- range cruise missile being directed," Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said.
Defence Minister Robert Hill said earlier that Australia planned to acquire air-to-surface missiles able to destroy air and sea targets up to 400km away.
The range of the new missiles, which will begin coming into service in 2007, would be up to four times the range of any missile now available to the air force, The Australian newspaper reported.
The plan comes amid mixed relations with neighbouring Indonesia, widely perceived among the Australian public as the country's biggest security threat.
"The Australian Government I believe has been very pronounced, very forceful in expressing their opposition to missile technology proliferation," Mr Natalegawa said.
"We'll be looking at this very carefully and we'd like to be enlightened against whom such an offensive capability is being directed," he said.
A study by an Australian think-tank revealed yesterday that the Australian public ranked Indonesia as the country's greatest military threat.
Relations with Indonesia have been rocky since Australia in 1999 led international intervention in East Timor following a violence-marred vote for independence from Jakarta, writes Agence France-Presse.

08/26/2004

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