Indonesia halts Australia drills as protesters call for ‘war’

Protesters shout slogans during a demonstration in front of the Australian embassy in Jakarta, on Thursday.

Indonesia’s military halted training with Australia as a decision to suspend cooperation over spying claims took effect, while angry demonstrators in Jakarta declared Thursday they were ‘ready for war’ with Canberra.
In the Australian capital, the scandal took an embarrassing twist for the prime minister, Tony Abbott, when one of his party’s strategists described someone reported to be the Indonesian foreign minister as resembling ‘a 1970s Filipino porn star’.
 The crisis — triggered by reports that Australian spies tried to tap the phones of the Indonesian president, his wife and ministers — has pushed ties between Jakarta and Canberra to their lowest level since the turn of the century.
Jakarta has recalled its ambassador from Canberra and the president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Wednesday ordered cooperation suspended in several areas, including on people-smuggling, military exercises and sharing intelligence.
Speaking just hours after Yudhoyono made his announcement, military chief Moeldoko said two current exercises with Australia were being halted.
‘What’s the point of joint training when they don’t trust us?’ said the head of the armed forces, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.
He said a joint exercise in the northern Australian city of Darwin, which had been due to end Sunday, was being halted and six F-16 fighter jets involved in it would return to Indonesia.
A joint training exercise with the Indonesian army’s special forces, Kopassus, in Lembang in West Java province, was also being suspended, he said.
The anger over the alleged spying spilled over to the public in Jakarta, where demonstrators wearing military-style uniforms protested outside the Australian embassy, pumping their fists in the air and waving the Indonesian flag.
‘We’re ready for war with Australia,’ read one of the banners waved by the crowd of about 100 demonstrators, who used red-spray paint to daub red graffiti on the Australian mission.
Indonesian hackers also vented their anger, claiming responsibility for a cyber attack on the websites of the Australian Federal Police and the Reserve Bank of Australia.
The growing row, sparked by reports in Australian media based on documents leaked by US intelligence fugitive Edward Snowden, has dealt a heavy blow to the government of the new Australian leader.
The decision to stop cooperation on people-smuggling is especially difficult for Prime Minister Abbott, as he desperately needs Jakarta’s help to stop the influx of asylum-seekers who head to Australia via Indonesia.