Indonesia suspends military cooperation with Australia

Jakarta : Indonesia has suspended military cooperation with Australia after teaching materials deemed offensive to Jakarta were found at an Australian army base, officials said Wednesday, in a fresh flare-up of tensions. 

Cooperation including joint exercises and education and exchange programmes were put on hold last month after a visiting Indonesian officer raised concerns about the materials, officials from both countries said.

Authorities did not say what exactly caused offence. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported it related to posters of West Papua, an eastern Indonesian province where a low-level insurgency has been simmering for decades. 

"Military cooperation with Australian forces has been suspended temporarily due to technical matters," Indonesian military spokesman Wuryanto told AFP without giving details, but added he hoped the problem would "be resolved soon".

It was just the latest row between the key allies and neighbours, whose relationship has been beset in recent years by disputes over Jakarta's execution of Australian drug smugglers and Canberra's hardline policy of turning migrant boats back to Indonesia.

Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne said Indonesia had notified Canberra about the suspension, adding in a statement: "Some interaction between the two defence organisations has been postponed until the matter is resolved."

She said it related to "some teaching materials and remarks" at an Australian army language training facility, without giving details.

Indonesian newspaper Kompas said the row erupted after a visiting special forces instructor found teaching materials he deemed disrespectful towards his country's armed forces, as well as materials he thought insulted Indonesia's founding philosophy of "Pancasila".

The ABC reported that the instructor had complained about training posters of West Papua displayed at the Australian Special Forces base in the western city of Perth last November, citing unidentified sources.