Indonesia is seeking an amicable solution to a dispute with Malaysia over a maritime area, armed forces chief General Endriartono Sutarto said today.

"The president is seeking the best solution. He wants the issue to be solved amicably," Sutarto told reporters after a meeting between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and several ministers to discuss the dispute.

"We are trying our best to use diplomacy to prevent this matter from becoming an open conflict," the military chef said.

Malaysia today urged Jakarta to solve the problem through diplomacy rather than military threats after officials said the Indonesian navy had dispatched four warships to the disputed area off the coast of Malaysia's Sabah state and Indonesia's East Kalimantan province.

Sutarto said the vessels were dispatched to conduct patrols "as part of efforts to maintain our sovereignty".

Formal protest

Tensions had risen between the countries after Jakarta protested a move by Malaysia's state oil company Petronas to grant energy giant Shell a concession in the area on February 16.

Jakarta says the area is part of its territorial waters and some of the concession granted by Malaysia overlaps with one granted by the Indonesian government to Italy's ENI and the US company Unocal in the 1960s.

The Indonesian government has sent a formal protest to Malaysia over the matter.

Indonesia and Malaysia previously disputed the ownership of two small islands near the same area in the Sulawesi Sea.

But in December 2002, the International Court of Justice ruled that the islands - Ligitan and Sipadan off Borneo island - belong to Malaysia.