Indonesia angry at Australia's response to spying revelations I regard President Yudhoyono as a good friend of Australia, indeed as one of the very best friends that we have anywhere in the world. That's why, I sincerely regret any embarrassment recent media reports have caused him. But Mr Abbott made clear Australia should not be expected to apologise for working to protect the nation. "Australia should not be expected to apologise for the steps we take to protect our country now or in the past, any more than other governments should be expected to apologise for the similar steps that they have taken," he said. Indonesia had already announced that it was recalling its ambassador from Australia following reports that Australian spies attempted to listen to the president's mobile phone in 2009. Australian Broadcasting Corp. and The Guardian reported that they had documents from National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden showing that the top-secret Australian Signals Directorate also targeted the phones of Indonesian first lady Kristiani Herawati and eight other government ministers and officials. Mr Yudhoyono tweeted that Indonesia wanted an official response from Australia "that can be understood by the public." We will also review a number of bilateral cooperation agreements as a consequence of this hurtful action by Australia. Indonesian Presidential Spokesman for Foreign Affairs Teuku Faizasyah confirmed the tweets. Mr Abbott earlier had declined to publicly comment in the diplomatic row for fear of inflaming the division in what he describes as Australia's most important bilateral relationship. "Obviously today may not be the best day in that relationship, but nevertheless we do have a very good and strong relationship with Indonesia," he told reporters. "It's in no one's interest to do anything or to say anything that would jeopardize that relationship and certainly I'm not going to," he added. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Tuesday that her government took "exceedingly seriously" Indonesian concerns about the allegations, but told reporters in India that she would not publicly discuss Australia's espionage activities. "We are aware of their concerns, and we take them exceedingly seriously, but I'm not going to comment on intelligence matters," she said. Indonesian Ambassador Nadjib Riphat Kesoema left the Australian capital Canberra on Tuesday morning for Jakarta, urging the Australian government to come clean on the spying episode. "I think a good explanation will be the best way ... to ease the problem," Mr Kesoema told reporters at Canberra airport. The diplomatic spat is the second in less than a month between Indonesia and Australia stemming from Snowden's revelations linking Australia with U.S. espionage. It's an early test for Mr Abbott's government, which was elected in September and is anxious to cement ties with it populous near-neighbor before the uncertainty of Indonesian presidential elections next year. Australia wants to increase cooperation with Indonesia to solve a politically sensitive problem of asylum seekers paying human traffickers to bring them by boat from the Indonesian archipelago to Australian shores.