REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa has stated that the Indonesian government had no intention of offending Singapore by naming a new naval ship after its marines, the late Usman and Harun.
"We have stated that there is no intention of being unfriendly, not at all," Marty Natalegawa reiterated, here on Tuesday.
The government is currently communicating with Singapore to ease the tension, he explained. "We are dealing with the problem right now. Communication with Singapore has been carried out," he assured.
Reuters earlier reported that anger was mounting in Singapore over Indonesia's decision to name a new naval ship after Usman Haji Mohamed Ali and Harun Said, the two Indonesian marines executed for a 1960s bombing in the city state's main shopping district that left three people dead.
The attack was part of an effort by the then Indonesian President Sukarno to stage an armed confrontation against the newly formed federation of Malaysia, which included Singapore.
The two men were charged in Singapore, which gained independence in August 1965, and hanged for the bombing in 1968. In Indonesia, however, they received the status of national heroes with a ceremonial funeral.
That incident intensified the tension between the two neighboring countries for several years. The bilateral relations recovered when, in May 1973, the then-PM Lee Kuan Yew visited and scattered flowers on the graves of the two marines in Jakarta.
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