Indonesia has recalled its ambassador to Australia and is reviewing all co-operation with the country after revelations that Australian spy agencies attempted to listen in to the phone calls of the Indonesian president and his inner circle.
Documents, published by the Guardian and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and leaked by the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, show that the Defence Signals Directorate (DSD) targeted the phones of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife as well as those of eight other high-profile Indonesian politicians, among them possible successors to Yudhoyono.
The documents show that in August 2009 DSD (now called the Australian Signals Directorate) attempted to listen in on a phone call to Yudhoyono from Thailand. Because the call was too short, "nil further info" was gathered.
A further slide, entitled "Indonesian president voice events", has a graphic of calls on Yudhoyono's Nokia handset over 15 days in August 2009.
The revelations sent shockwaves across Indonesia, with the country's television channels showing copies of the slides on news bulletins on Monday.
The Indonesian foreign minister, Dr Marty Natalegawa, known as a diplomatic and reserved politician, called a press conference in which he said he was "flabbergasted" by the revelations. Indonesia will also review the placement of some Australian officials in Jakarta.
"This was not a clever thing to do. This was not a smart thing to do. It violates every single decent and legal instrument I can think of; national in Indonesia, national in Australia, international as well," Natalegawa said.
"It is nothing less than an unfriendly act, which is already having a very serious impact on bilateral relations," he said, before adding that Jakarta would be calling back its ambassador to Canberra for "consultations" on the matter and reviewing all co-operation with Australia.
Natalegawa, visibly angered during the conference, urged the Australian government to offer clarity and issue a public response. He was "desperately" seeking an explanation over "how a private conversation involving the president of the Republic of Indonesia, involving the first lady of the Republic of Indonesia … can even have a hint … of relevance impacting on the security of Australia."
In Canberra, where news of the leaks has also dominated the media, the prime minister, Tony Abbott, declined to comment directly on the revelations. But he insisted that "all governments gather information and all governments know that every other government gathers information".
He added that Australian governments of all political persuasions used "resources at [their] disposal, including information, to help our friends and our allies, not to harm them".
Natalegawa dismissed these claims directly. "I have news for you," he said: we don't do it. We certainly should not be doing it among friends." He said he was unhappy with the "dismissive answers being provided" by Canberra.
The revelations have caused a further rift between the two countries, already at odds over the new Australian government's policy of turning back boats carrying asylum seekers, which Indonesian politicians have said risks breaching their sovereignty, and earlier revelations that Australian embassies were being used to spy on Indonesia.
The new Australian government has said on numerous occasions that it depends on information-sharing with Indonesia to combat the smuggling of asylum seekers. This makes the reported co-operation review potentially damning for the Abbott administration: Abbott earlier described Australia's link with Indonesia as "our most important relationship".
The Australian Green party has called for a parliamentary inquiry into surveillance "overreach" and the damage it has caused to Australian diplomacy.
On Monday morning, Indonesia's co-ordinating minister for economic affairs, Hatta Rajasa – also one of those shown to have been targeted by DSD – expressed serious concern that Indonesian state secrets may have been divulged as a result.
Rajasa, who was secretary of state at the time he was targeted, and is seen as a potential candidate at the presidential election next year, said: "There were talks that shouldn't be made public. We have our own transparency law on information, and there is no need to tap. State secrets are protected by the law and they shouldn't be made public. If the tapping were true, you know very well that it isn't good. It is not right."
The documents also show that the Indonesian vice-president, Boediono, and former vice president Jusuf Kalla were targeted.
Kalla, who is also seen as a potential presidential candidate, said the phone targeting was "illegal", adding: "We don't expect that our friend will be tapping our personal communications."
The leaked documents show mobile phones were targeted as 3G technology was introduced into south-east Asia in 2009. One slide, which shows the 10 high-profile targets, lists their 3G phone models.
The fallout is expected to continue, the powerful Indonesian co-ordinating minister for legal, security and political affairs, Djoko Suyanto, said he expected a detailed response from the Australian government within the next few days.
He added that the removal of the Indonesian ambassador to Australia, , was not being seen as a permanent measure.
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