Indonesian MPs have accused Australia of bugging Indonesia’s embassy in Canberra. The claim that Australia had installed microphones in the embassy threatens to strain relations with Jakarta as ministers from the two countries meet in Bali for a counter-terrorism summit meant to showcase improving ties. Indonesian MPs made the accusation at a closed-door meeting with State Code Institute (LSN) chairman Major-General Nachrowi Ramli in Jakarta. Parliamentary foreign affairs committee member Djoko Susilo said a delegation of MPs who recently visited Canberra found microphones attached to alarm systems at the embassy and at the ambassador’s official residence. He said Indonesia believed the bugs were installed by Australian Federal Police as part of Canberra’s decision to boost security measures at the embassy following the Bali bombings. An Australian embassy spokesman in Bali said he would not comment on security matters affecting the two countries. And a spokesman for the Indonesian foreign ministry, Marty Natalegawa, dismissed the possibility of bugging. He said embassy communications had been intercepted, but it was due to a technical problem whereby a frequency used by the embassy had overlapped with a signal from a local private television station.
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