Military-ruled Myanmar on Monday denied bugging telephone lines at Indonesia's embassy here, as Jakarta confirmed it was investigating suspected eavesdropping by the junta.
"The false allegations were made to discredit Myanmar in the international community as well as to harm the existing close friendship between the two countries," the junta said in a statement.
"Since Myanmar and Indonesia are very friendly countries, there exist no reason to undertake such activity," it said.
He said that the deputy foreign minister U Khin Maung Win called in the Indonesian ambassador Monday to deny the allegations and express hope that its government "would take the necessary steps to dispel the false media reports".
An investigation in June by a security team from Jakarta found that the electronic frequency of lines in the ambassador's and the security attache's rooms were lower than normal, Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Yuri Thamrin said Monday.
"There's a strong indication (of bugging) but we have to look into this further. If it's proven it's regrettable and we will lodge a protest," Tharin told AFP.
He said Myanmar's ambassador in Jakarta would be summoned to clarify the matter. But Thamrin denied an allegation made by a legislator that the wall of the ambassador's office had been fitted with listening devices.
Djoko Susilo, a member of a parliamentary commission on foreign affairs, called the alleged bugging a "stab in the back".
He said Indonesia had always stood by the Myanmar junta against international criticism and economic sanctions imposed for detaining opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Susilo said Myanmar intelligence services apparently wanted to know the real position of Indonesia and the Asean on the issue of the detained democracy icon.
Indonesia relinquished the rotating chairmanship of Asean after the annual meeting on June 30 of the group's foreign ministers. Political developments in Myanmar, which takes over the chairmanship in 2006 under the alphabetical rotation, were a major topic with some countries seeking a tougher line against the junta.
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