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Indonesia's President Yudhoyono and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong agreed in October 2005 to negotiate the Extradition Treaty and Defence Cooperation Agreement in parallel and as a package.
Singapore's Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Wednesday that this is not a claim but a fact.
A Ministry spokesman was responding to media queries on Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla's reported dismissal of the "claim" in an interview with the Financial Times, that both President Yudhoyono and PM Lee "agreed in 2005 that any Extradition Treaty could only be signed together with a Defence Cooperation Agreement".
The spokesman said it is not a claim but a fact, adding that one agreement cannot be concluded without the other.
He also reiterated that Singapore would like both agreements to be concluded early.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla had lashed out at Singapore for refusing to sign an extradition treaty with Indonesia.
He said that Singapore was thinking of the business side and if this treaty is signed, then the corrupt Indonesians would not want to live in Singapore any more.
Earlier, Singapore's Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo had explained that comments about Singapore harbouring corrupt Indonesians are connected with Indonesia's domestic politics and Singapore does not want to be involved.
Mr Yeo also said that one reason why the extradition treaty is not easy to negotiate is that if Indonesia makes a case for someone to be extradited from Singapore, then a cause of defence will be whether proper procedures have been observed in Indonesia, which means that inevitably a judge in Singapore will have to examine the conduct of Indonesia's police and judges.
Mr Yeo stressed that the last thing Singapore wants is for the extradition treaty to further complicate bilateral relations with Indonesia. - CNA/ch
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