(AFP) The attendance of an Indonesian diplomat at a meeting to discuss the health of jailed Malaysian politician Anwar Ibrahim was a mistake and not a political gesture, Jakarta has said.

In a lengthy statement published by newspapers Saturday, Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab said the diplomat who attended the meeting with Anwar's wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail did so out of "human error".

"It is a matter of human error, as before attending the meeting, our diplomats received assurances that the meeting had clearance from the Malaysian government," Shihab was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Post .

"The problem was we did not cross check the information. There was no political motive at all. It was totally a matter of miscommunication," Shihab said.

Political issue

On Wednesday, Malaysia accused the diplomats who attended the meeting - including envoys from the United States, Canada, France, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Holland, Germany, New Zealand and Australia - of interfering in its internal affairs.

"We are not happy because the closed-door meeting had discussed the Anwar issue, a political issue and not a medical issue which can be resolved in the country," Foreign Minister Syed Hamid said.

In Jakarta, Shihab said he thought the Malaysian government understood that "we have no intention in meddling in their internal affairs and will always respect Malaysia's sovereignty as our close neighbour".

"We completely understand if (Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad) was upset because of the matter," Shihab said, adding that in future Indonesian diplomats in Kuala Lumpur would only attend meetings which had prior Malaysian government clearance.

Surgery needed

Anwar, who is serving a 15-year jail term for abuse of power and sodomy but considers himself a political prisoner, has been in a government hospital since Nov 25 with acute back pain due to a slipped disc.

Visiting Dutch specialist Thomas Hoogland, who examined Anwar on March 11, said in a report the politician needed endoscopic spinal surgery within four to six weeks, which would be best performed in Munich.

But Mahathir has said that Anwar would not return to Malaysia if he was allowed to go overseas for surgery.

The government says Anwar is making political capital out of his condition, and insists specialists and equipment can be flown into the country.