JAKARTA, April 6, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Simmering tensions between Indonesia and Austria over the latter's decision to grant visas to asylum-seekers from the restive Papua province took a new turn on Thursday, April 6, with the Association of Indonesian National Importers (Ginsi) urging a boycott of Australia's products.

"From April 6, Ginsi will boycott all imports from Australia and calls on all importers in Indonesia to join," said Amirudin Saud, the association's head, Reuters reported.

"We ask all Indonesia to boycott until the visas for the 42 Papuans are revoked," added Saud, whose association has 7,800 members across the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Ties between Indonesia and Australia have soared since Canberra's decision to grant three-year visas to 42 asylum-seekers from the Papua province despite an Indonesian request for the asylum seekers to be handed over.

The group includes prominent Papua separatists and their families, who arrived by boat in northern Australia in January.

In response, Indonesia has recalled its ambassador to Canberra and postponed an agreement on jointly fighting bird flu.

Papuan separatists have campaigned for more than 30 years to split from Indonesia, while a low-level rebellion has also simmered.

Human rights groups accuse Indonesia of widespread abuses there, but Jakarta denies the claims.

Saud said Indonesia imported Australian products worth of more than $2 billion last year, mostly meat, dairy goods, wheat, metal and oil products.

"The boycott will be very detrimental and destructive to the Australian economy while we can shift to products from other countries."

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called on Monday, April 3, for a review of all cooperation with Australia.

He said that ties between the two countries were passing through a difficult time.

A day earlier, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said relations between Canberra and Jakarta were going through a "difficult patch."

He, however, reassured Indonesia that Canberra had not changed its support for Indonesian sovereignty over Papua.

Howard maintained that the visa decision was based on foreign policy considerations.

Traditionally volatile, Canberra's ties with Jakarta hit a low in 1999, when Australia led peacekeeping forces into the former Indonesian province of East Timor.