Canberra and Djakarta agree on a security deal

AUSTRALIA and Indonesia have agreed to a new broad-ranging security treaty, seven years after Jakarta tore up a previous agreement secretly negotiated by president Suharto and Paul Keating. Under the terms of the new pact, Jakarta and Canberra have pledged not to support separatist causes in each other's country. This was a key demand made by Jakarta in the wake of the crisis generated by the granting of temporary protection visas to 43 Papuan asylum-seekers earlier this year after they landed on Cape York. The two countries have also agreed to "do everything possible, individually and jointly, to eradicate international terrorism and extremism", including rapid, practical and effective responses to terrorist attacks. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and his Indonesian counterpart, Hassan Wirajuda, will sign the new pact on the Indonesian island of Lombok on Monday after nearly two years of discussions and negotiations.