18 November 2013 | 13:26

Australia spied on Indonesia president: reports

Antennas of the former NSA. ©Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch

Australian spy agencies attempted to listen to the phone calls of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and targeted his wife and senior ministers, reports said Monday, drawing a demand for answers from Jakarta, AFP reports. Secret documents leaked by US whistleblower Edward Snowden, obtained by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and The Guardian newspaper, name the president and nine of his inner circle as targets of the surveillance. The embarrassing details emerged with bilateral ties between the strategic allies already strained over previous spying allegations and how to deal with boatpeople heading for Australia via Indonesia. The documents show that Australia's electronic intelligence agency, the Defence Signals Directorate, tracked Yudhoyono's activity on his mobile phone for 15 days in August 2009, when Labor's Kevin Rudd was prime minister. It reportedly intercepted at least one call. A list of targets also included his wife Ani, Vice President Boediono who was in Australia last week, former vice president Yussuf Kalla, the foreign affairs spokesman, the security minister and the information minister, the reports said. Yudhoyono's office demanded an explanation from Canberra. "The Australian government urgently needs to clarify on this news to avoid further damage," spokesman Teuku Faizasyah told AFP in a text message. "The damage has been done," he added. The ABC said one of the documents was titled "3G impact and update" and appeared to chart attempts by Australian intelligence to keep pace with the rollout of 3G technology in Indonesia and across Southeast Asia. A number of intercept options were listed and a recommendation was made to choose one of them and to apply it to a target -- in this case the Indonesian leadership, the broadcaster said. The latest release of Snowden documents comes just weeks after reports claimed Canberra's overseas diplomatic posts, including in Jakarta, were involved in a vast US-led surveillance network, which sparked an angry reaction from Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa. This was followed by The Guardian reporting earlier this month that Australia and the United States mounted a joint surveillance operation on close neighbour Indonesia during 2007 UN climate talks in Bali. In an interview with the ABC on Sunday, before the latest revelations, Vice President Boediono played down suggestions of a rift with Australia, shrugging off the disputes as normal neighbourly problems. "It's normal for next-door neighbours to have problems," he said. "I think Australians and Indonesians are quite committed to the long-term interests of both countries." But he admitted to public concern in Indonesia over the espionage allegations. "And therefore we should find some joint ways to allay public concern," he said. Alexander Downer, the foreign minister under John Howard's conservative government, said the revelations were damaging to Australia. ''It's a shocking situation in which Australia will pay a big price,'' he told Sky News, while Greens leader Christine Milne said it showed the "extent to which this country has slipped down the US path of universal surveillance". "The question here is what is the justification for trying to spy on the phone calls of the president or his wife? Is it national security, in which case are we saying we think our closest neighbour's president is a security risk to Australia?" she asked. Former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Snowden was given asylum in Russia in August, to the fury of the United States where he is wanted on espionage charges following disclosures that have provoked international uproar and strained ties with allies. He is also behind revelations of American spying in Germany, including the tapping of Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone.

Australian spy agencies attempted to listen to the phone calls of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and targeted his wife and senior ministers, reports said Monday, drawing a demand for answers from Jakarta, AFP reports. Secret documents leaked by US whistleblower Edward Snowden, obtained by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and The Guardian newspaper, name the president and nine of his inner circle as targets of the surveillance. The embarrassing details emerged with bilateral ties between the strategic allies already strained over previous spying allegations and how to deal with boatpeople heading for Australia via Indonesia. The documents show that Australia's electronic intelligence agency, the Defence Signals Directorate, tracked Yudhoyono's activity on his mobile phone for 15 days in August 2009, when Labor's Kevin Rudd was prime minister. It reportedly intercepted at least one call. A list of targets also included his wife Ani, Vice President Boediono who was in Australia last week, former vice president Yussuf Kalla, the foreign affairs spokesman, the security minister and the information minister, the reports said. Yudhoyono's office demanded an explanation from Canberra. "The Australian government urgently needs to clarify on this news to avoid further damage," spokesman Teuku Faizasyah told AFP in a text message. "The damage has been done," he added. The ABC said one of the documents was titled "3G impact and update" and appeared to chart attempts by Australian intelligence to keep pace with the rollout of 3G technology in Indonesia and across Southeast Asia. A number of intercept options were listed and a recommendation was made to choose one of them and to apply it to a target -- in this case the Indonesian leadership, the broadcaster said. The latest release of Snowden documents comes just weeks after reports claimed Canberra's overseas diplomatic posts, including in Jakarta, were involved in a vast US-led surveillance network, which sparked an angry reaction from Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa. This was followed by The Guardian reporting earlier this month that Australia and the United States mounted a joint surveillance operation on close neighbour Indonesia during 2007 UN climate talks in Bali. In an interview with the ABC on Sunday, before the latest revelations, Vice President Boediono played down suggestions of a rift with Australia, shrugging off the disputes as normal neighbourly problems. "It's normal for next-door neighbours to have problems," he said. "I think Australians and Indonesians are quite committed to the long-term interests of both countries." But he admitted to public concern in Indonesia over the espionage allegations. "And therefore we should find some joint ways to allay public concern," he said. Alexander Downer, the foreign minister under John Howard's conservative government, said the revelations were damaging to Australia. ''It's a shocking situation in which Australia will pay a big price,'' he told Sky News, while Greens leader Christine Milne said it showed the "extent to which this country has slipped down the US path of universal surveillance". "The question here is what is the justification for trying to spy on the phone calls of the president or his wife? Is it national security, in which case are we saying we think our closest neighbour's president is a security risk to Australia?" she asked. Former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Snowden was given asylum in Russia in August, to the fury of the United States where he is wanted on espionage charges following disclosures that have provoked international uproar and strained ties with allies. He is also behind revelations of American spying in Germany, including the tapping of Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone.

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