When Australia's Prime Minister John Howard met last week with Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid at the apec summit in Brunei, the picture was one of distant friends trying to smooth over awkward differences. Both men know the relationship is strained; some analysts say it's seldom been worse. The meeting, their third since Wahid took office in 1999, offers hope for improvement. But the apparent discovery of Free Papua Movement (o.p.m.) guerrilla bases in neighboring Papua New Guinea could add further strain.

In recent weeks, Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer have gone to great lengths to reassure Jakarta that despite the West Papuans' growing push for independence Canberra recognizes Indonesia's sovereignty over the province. Yet if confirmed, o.p.m.'s presence in P.N.G. would be a problem not only for Port Moresby but also for Canberra, which is seen by some in Indonesia as P.N.G.'s defense underwriter.

According to Indonesian news agency Antara, Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri sought assurances from P.N.G. in September that it would not support the separatist movement. Megawati is also reported to have gained a commitment from P.N.G. Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta to improve border security.

P.N.G. Chief Secretary Robert Igara told Time that Port Moresby is aware of its obligations "not to allow our territory to be used as a base for hostile acts against a neighboring country." But securing the border will not be easy. A review in October found that the P.N.G. Defence Force could not maintain national security interests. Igara cites other "challenges involved in effective management of the border area": rugged terrain; inadequate communications and transport infrastructure; and the rights of local landowners.

The border is a key security issue for Australia as well as P.N.G. Illegal crossings-whether by West Papuan refugees fleeing repression, by Indonesian armed forces (t.n.i.) pursuing rebels, or by rebels seeking sanctuary in P.N.G.-could worsen both countries' relations with Indonesia. The refugee problem is not pressing, although the Australia West Papua Association's John Wing says there are "unrecognized refugees" still on the border. A number of alleged t.n.i. incursions have been investigated in recent years-each time prompting P.N.G. to deal, says Igara, "firmly through diplomatic channels with alleged violations of sovereignty."

But what of the guerrilla camps? o.p.m. Supreme Commander John Koknak says P.N.G. is an appropriate site, given the artificiality of the border and the kinship between West Papuans and local people. Any attempts by P.N.G. authorities to remove them, even at Australia's insistence, would be resisted, he adds. But failure by P.N.G. to act effectively could provoke the t.n.i. Announcing a three-month offensive code-named Tuntas, which began on Nov. 10, Indonesian police Senior Superintendent Kusnadi told the Jakarta Post a special operation might be launched to disperse the separatist camps: that could mean further, more serious incursions.

If Jakarta presses the issue of secret bases, or if the t.n.i. goes on the attack, Canberra would have to intercede, however much it might wish to compartmentalize the question as one for P.N.G. and Indonesia alone. As senior Australian Parliamentary Library researcher June Verrier has found: "For Australia, because of proximity, because of history and because of its ongoing links with P.N.G., [West Papua] is likely to be just as challenging to its relations with Indonesia as was the situation in Timor." A P.N.G. failure to police the border could be construed in Indonesia as Australia's failure, or-in the worst case-as tacit support for the o.p.m. According to an Australian government insider, separatist bases in P.N.G., while "not quite Australia's nightmare scenario," would be a "significantly thorny issue."