MELBOURNE: Protesters in Yogyakarta are burning Australian flags as anger mounts over the presidential phone tapping revelation, the Australian Associated Press (AAP) reports.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says it also expects a rally outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta on Thursday, advising visitors to avoid the protest and “maintain high levels of vigilance and security awareness”.
The protests come after Indonesia announced on Wednesday it was halting all co-operation with Australia on efforts to combat people smuggling and defence following the phone-tapping controversy.
AAP says Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is writing to Prime Minister Tony Abbott demanding an official apology and a full explanation as to why Australian spies targeted his mobile phone in 2009, as well as his wife’s and some of his closest confidants.
The protest group in Indonesia is calling itself the People’s Coalition for Defence and Security.
Addressing parliament on Wednesday night, Abbott expressed his “deep a nd sincere regret about the embarrassment to the president and to Indonesia caused by recent media reporting” about the tapping.
Abbott said he would respond to the president’s letter “swiftly, fully and courteously”.–BERNAMA