Indonesia loosens ties with Australia over spy row Indonesia's President Yudhoyono announces the suspension of intelligence sharing with Australia Relations between Jakarta and Canberra have deteriorated further after Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono suspended intelligence sharing and anti-people smuggling operations with Australia in response to claims that Australian security services had spied on him. Mr Yudhoyono said he was halting some security co-operation with Australia until he received an explanation from Tony Abbott, Australia's prime minister, about allegations that the Australian security services tapped his mobile phone and those of his wife and close advisers. "It is impossible for us to continue all of this [co-operation] if we are not sure that there is no spying against the Indonesia military and against those of us who are working together on missions to benefit both countries," said Mr Yudhoyono, who steps down next year after reaching the two-term limit. If Australia wants to maintain good relations with Indonesia in future, I'm still waiting for an official explanation. The Guardian and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation published leaked documents on Monday alleging that Canberra's Defence Signals Directorate (now the Australian Signals Directorate) tapped the phones of Mr Yudhoyono and his entourage in 2009. Marty Natalegawa, Indonesia's foreign minister, said on Monday that Jakarta was recalling its ambassador from Canberra and reviewing co-operation with Australia because of this "unfriendly act" between strategic partners, which he said was "not cricket." The spying allegations are the latest to emerge from documents leaked by Edward Snowden, the former US National Security Agency contractor, to The Guardian. In a statement to the Australian parliament, Mr Abbott said there were "very serious issues" that needed to be addressed by both countries but he again declined to provide the full clarification that has been demanded by Indonesia. "I want to express here in this chamber my deep and sincere regret about the embarrassment to the president and to Indonesia that's been caused by recent media reporting," he said. Mr Yudhoyono's retaliatory measures are a major blow to Mr Abbott, who promised to reset the often-troubled relationship with Indonesia and has been relying on Jakarta's support to stem the tide of seaborne refugees travelling to Australia. Mr Abbott was elected in September after pledging to "stop the boats." Andrew Carr, a defence lecturer at the Australian National University in Canberra, said the deepening spying row would harm Australia's strategic push to expand its economic and political ties with fast-growing Indonesia. "There's also a short-term fear that this could restart the flow of asylum seeker boats and impact on counter-terrorism operations that have been successful," Mr Carr said. The argument that Mr Abbott has to make is that on issues such as counter-terrorism, southeast Asia benefits as much as the west from the Australian and US intelligence capacity. The Indonesian president, who is in under pressure to take a firm stance against Australia amid his dwindling personal popularity, said he had laid out his position in a letter that he was sending to Mr Abbott on Wednesday. He called for Australia and Indonesia to agree on a binding code of conduct and guiding principles to ensure that such problems do not arise again. He also urged Indonesians working and studying in Australia to "stay calm and carry on working and learning," adding that he hoped the people of both countries "could maintain a good relationship while we tackle this issue." On Tuesday, Mr Yudhoyono said on his Twitter account that allegations of spying by Australia and the US had damaged their strategic partnerships with Indonesia, a fellow democracy. He also hit out at Mr Abbott for "belittling" the hacking allegations "without remorse" after the Australian prime minister refused to comment on the latest claims, saying only that "all governments gather information."