JAKARTA, March 9 (Xinhuanet) -- As Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar is scheduled to arrive here Wednesday for a three-day talk with Indonesia, the tension over the disputed water territory in Ambalat seems further eased and reconciliation prevailed.

    The first and most important signal of reconciliation was sent by leaders of the two neighboring countries. On Monday, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi talked through telephone, reaching an agreement on seeking a solution over the dispute through peaceful negotiations.

    After the 10-minute telephone talk, Malaysia decides to send its foreign minister to Jakarta to have talks with his Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirayuda over the water disputes.

    On Tuesday, President Susilo paid an inspection visit to Sebatik Island, off East Kalimantan and only some 5 miles near thedisputed ocean area of Ambalat. Half of Sebatik Island is owned byIndonesia and the rest owned by Malaysia. After the tour, the president reaffirmed that the two nations should seek diplomatic dialogue, not confrontation.

    Another signal came on the same day in the wake of President Susilo's inspection to Sebatik Island. The Indonesian Navy began to pull out some of its warships deployed in the disputed area.

    Chief of the Indonesian Navy Eastern Fleet Rear Adm. Sosialisman, who was among the President's entourage to the island,revealed that he had ordered five of the seven warships that had been sent to the Ambalat area to return to their base in Surabaya,the capital city of East Java province.

    The tension flared up following Malaysian state-owned oil giantPetronas granted contracts on Feb. 16 to the Europe-based Shell company to explore two deep-water blocks in the disputed ocean area of Ambalat off Indonesia's East Kalimantan province. Nine days later, the Indonesian government sent a protest against Malaysia over its awarding of oil concession rights to the foreignfirm in the Sulawesi Sea and thousands of protesters took the streets across the country, denouncing Malaysia's claim over the water territory, which has a huge potential of oil and natural gasdeposit underneath.

    To defend its self-claimed territories, Indonesia dispatched seven warships and four F-16 jet fighters to reinforce surveillance and defense there to counter the presence of Malaysian warships and patrolling planes.

    According to the daily Jakarta Post here Wednesday, after withdrawing five warships, the remaining two warships and four F-16 jets would continue their patrolling activities around the disputed area. "Malaysia has only sent two small patrol boats out there, so it's not necessary for us to counter with bigger vessels" , the commander of the Indonesian Military Force (TNI) Endriartono was quoted as explaining.

    The government's stance of seeking peaceful solution with Malaysia has won massive support. Indonesia's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and the Indonesian Ulema Council(MUI) voiced their backing for the stance.

    The NU leader Hasyim Muzadi stated that his organization, whichhas 40 million members across the country, supported the use of diplomacy to solve the dispute so as to prevent intervention by a third party.

    "We should learn from the conflicts between Iran and Iraq and between Iraq and Kuwait, when a third party played a hidden role. Indonesia and Malaysia, two Muslim countries in Southeast Asia, should maintain their brotherhood to keep a third party from causing disorder," Hasyim reminded.

    Indonesia is a big nation in the region with over 18,000 islands with vast water territories from Papua in the east to Acehprovince in the west and with a total population of some 220 million across the widely scattered territories.

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