KOTA KINABALU, Sept 6 — Malaysia and Indonesia will work on a standard operating procedure and rules of engagement as a guideline for their respective officers when carrying out duties at sea borders to prevent a recurrence of the August 13 incident, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman said.

Both countries also agreed to include Indonesia’s Maritime Security Coordination Agency and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency in the existing structure of the General Border Committee.

For the time being, Malaysia decided that if there were similar arrests involving Indonesian enforcement officers in the future, they would not be handcuffed or asked to wear clothing for detainees, he told a joint news conference with his Indonesian counterpart Dr Marty Natalegawa here today.

Three Indonesian maritime and fisheries officers were arrested by Malaysian police off the coast of Johor on August 13, sparking anti-Malaysia protests in Indonesia.

Seven Malaysian fishermen were also arrested by the Indonesian authorities in the incident. Both countries later released the detainees.

Marty flew to Kota Kinabalu today for a delegation meeting with Anifah (picture), which lasted about two hours.

Anifah said the arrest of three Indonesian officers was based on the standard operating procedure practised in Malaysia and that the treatment given to them was not as what the Indonesian media made it out to be.

“This operating procedure applies to all, not just to Indonesians, who encroach into our waters.

“Although the standard operating procedure has been established, taking into consideration our good relations with Indonesia, we will look into the procedure further.

“But relaxing the standard operating procedure does not mean that we are wrong; but we value our relations with Indonesia,” he said.

Marty said Malaysia and Indonesia had drawn lessons from the incident, and said that he was satisfied with the assurance given by Malaysia to look into the standard operating procedure should there be incidents involving Indonesian officers.

“I think none of us is happy that the episode has happened, but most importantly we are drawing lessons from it; we are making necessary adjustments to ensure this sort of incident does not recur.

“We should bear in mind to keep the communication line open, and not severe it, when problems arise. Anifah and myself will continue to communicate in the interest of both countries,” he said.

Anifah said the meeting today also agreed to give focus to the border negotiations between both countries.

“The last technical meeting between both sides was in October 2009 in Bali. We agreed to hold two technical meetings before the end of the year, one to be hosted by Malaysia on October 11-12 and the other by Indonesia on November 23-24,” he said.

In a related development, Anifah said the faeces-throwing incident at the Malaysian embassy in Jakarta last month had hurt the feelings of Malaysians, adding that Malaysia believed that Indonesia would take appropriate actions based on its rules of law.

“I’ve conveyed the feelings of Malaysians to Bapak Marty. But I’ve also mentioned that we understand that the act neither reflect the sentiment of the Indonesian people nor was it condoned by the Indonesian government,” he said.

Marty said: “Of course, the Indonesian government will do all it can to enforce the rules and laws to ensure there is no recurrence of such incidents.” — Bernama