Indonesia asks explanation on reports of wiretapping facility in US Embassy

Indonesia Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa said on Wednesday that Indonesian government has asked an explanation from the U.S. government about media reports on a wiretapping facility ran by U.S. embassy in Jakarta. "Indonesia cannot accept and has submitted strong protest note related to existence of a wiretapping facility in U.S. embassy in Jakarta," Marty said in a statement released by his ministry. "We have discussed this issue with head representative of U.S. embassy in Jakarta, demanding U.S. government's official explanation regarding the media reports. If the reports were confirmed, such an act is not only a security breach, it is also a serious breach on diplomatic ethics and is not in line with the spirit of friendship that has been upheld by the two nations," Marty said. Marty's statement came up after the publication of reports sourced from Edward Snowden, a former U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee and National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who is now in exile after disclosing wiretapping activities conducted by U.S. security administrations against U.S. citizens in the country. The reports were published by German magazine Der Spiegel and Australian daily Sydney Morning Herald on its Tuesday's edition. The two media reported the existence of a "secret map" ran by CIA and NSA that contains 90 U.S. wiretapping facilities located in capital cities of several countries including in Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Phnom Penh.