MFA responds to Indon VP's comments on treaty

The Straits Times, February 28, 2007


SINGAPORE'S Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has responded to Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla's reported dismissal of the 'claim' that both Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong 'agreed in 2005 that any Extradition Treaty could only be signed together with a Defence Cooperation Agreement'.

Mr Kalla's comments appeared in The Financial Times, 'Indonesian vice-president forecasts growth up to 7%'.

'It is not a claim but a fact that President Yudhoyono and Prime Minister Lee had agreed in October 2005 to negotiate the two Agreements in parallel and as a package,' the MFA said.

'One cannot be concluded without the other. We would like both Agreements to be concluded early,' it said on Thursday.

In the FT report, the Indonesian vice-president had also accused Singapore of refusing to sign the extradition treaty because it wants to retain billions of dollars in allegedly corrupt money.

The cash was allegedly taken out of Indonesia by fleeing tycoons during the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, Mr Kalla was quoted as saying in the Financial Times.

'They’re thinking on the business side. If this treaty is signed, then the corrupt Indonesians won’t want to live in Singapore any more. That’s all it is. It strengthens Singapore’s economy,' he was quoted as saying.

The absence of a bilateral extradition treaty is a thorn in relations between the two countries.

Jakarta considers it crucial to the fight against corruption and claims many suspects wanted in Indonesia for corruption have fled to Singapore.

Indonesian lawmakers have said that Singapore is used by Indonesian criminals to launder money.

Singapore says it has sufficient safeguards against becoming a magnet for laundered funds. -- STI, AFP