The Indonesian ambassador to Australia is to return to Canberra, a foreign ministry spokesman said yesterday, effectively ending a diplomatic row between the nations over Papuan asylum seekers.
"I can say that Ambassador [Hamzah] Thayeb will return to Canberra, Australia, within several hours and he is expected to arrive in Canberra over the weekend," foreign ministry spokesman Desra Percaya told reporters.
Thayeb was recalled to Jakarta in March over Australia's decision to grant visas to 42 asylum seekers who arrived there by boat from restive Papua province, which infuriated Indonesia's leadership.
"The prime motive to send him back to Canberra is there is a necessity for him to be there, especially to prepare for the visit of Prime Minister [John] Howard to Indonesia" on June 26, he said, confirming the date for the trip.
Howard's visit to the island of Batam to meet with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had been expected later this month with discussions between the leaders to include a new security agreement between the neighbors.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said last month that Canberra will formally recognize Indonesia's sovereignty over the troubled province of Papua in the pact.
Spokesman Percaya said that it was "rather unlikely that both countries will sign the agreement during that meeting" as more issues needed to be discussed and clarified before it was inked.
Australia has already proposed new immigration laws in an attempt to placate Jakarta, which protested that the granting of visas to the Papuans signified support for the province's independence.
Under the new legislation asylum seekers arriving by boat will be sent to remote offshore detention centers for processing and are unlikely to ever be admitted into Australia.
The spat over the Papuans sent relations between the neighbors plunging to their lowest point since Australia sent peacekeeping troops to East Timor after it voted in 1999 for independence from Indonesia.
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