AUSTRALIAN intelligence agencies targeted the mobile phone of Indonesia's first lady in 2009 because she had become the single most influential adviser to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and was thought to be hatching a presidential succession plan for her eldest son.

The decision to target Kristiani Herawati's phone was not done on a whim but was part of a deliberate and calculated strategy to learn more about the shifting balance of power inside Jakarta's ruling elite.

National security was also a factor, as Canberra wanted to learn more about the relationship between the presidential palace and Islamic groups at a time when three Australians had been killed in the twin hotel bombings in Jakarta in July 2009 and notorious bomber Noordin Mohammad Top was still on the run.

The decision to monitor the first lady, known in Indonesia as Ibu Ani, has been the most controversial part of the Indonesian spy scandal. Commentators in both countries accused Australian agencies of going too far in targeting the wife of Dr Yudhoyono because she was merely the spouse of the President. The Weekend Australian understands Australian agencies believed there were clear political and security grounds to target the first lady, who was becoming increasingly influential with the President by 2009 as he became more distant from his senior advisers.

A secret cable written by the US embassy in Jakarta in late 2007 said: "Ibu Ani (as she is known in Indonesia) was the only person the President could truly trust on every issue and as the President moved into the second half of his term, he was increasingly moving in lock step with his wife.

"Indonesia's first lady had expanded her influence with the palace and emerged as the President's undisputed top adviser."

It is believed that Australian agencies in 2009 were keen to learn more about a suspected plan by Ibu Ani to create a family presidential dynasty. Under the plan - which never came to fruition - Ibu Ani would have run for the presidency next year after Dr Yudhoyono had completed his constitutional two-term limit. She would then serve as a stop-gap leader for a single five-year term until her eldest son, Agus Yudhoyono Harimurti, was old enough to stand for president in his own right.

The targeting of Ibu Ani's phone was carried out by the Defence Signals Directorate (now called the Australian Signals Directorate) in 2009. The US National Security Agency is believed to have been aware of the surveillance and supportive of it.

It is understood that, in 2009, both Australian and American intelligence wanted to learn more about the first lady's relationship with Islamic groups, which were an important constituency in an election year and whose vote she was trying to win on behalf of her husband.

Both Dr Yudhoyono and his wife are staunchly opposed to Islamic extremism but, at a time when Australians had been killed in a series of terror bombings since 2002, intelligence agencies wanted to learn what they could about the relationship between the presidential palace and some of the country's largest Islamic groups, some of which contained extremist elements.

It was believed that by targeting Ibu Ani, Canberra might gain a first-hand glimpse of the fast-changing power structure in Jakarta at a time when she was one of those who was forcing high-level changes.

One US diplomatic cable in October 2007, later revealed by WikiLeaks, said: "Kristiani Herawati's ascendancy has apparently come at the expenses (sic) of other key advisers.

"The first lady has allegedly leveraged her access to the President to help her friends and disparage her foes, including vice-president (Jusuf) Kalla."

Ibu Ani's influence was widely seen as the reason why the President decided to drop Mr Kalla as his running-mate in the 2009 election. Tony Abbott's office declined to answer questions about the targeting of the first lady.

A spokeswoman said the government did not comment on intelligence matters.

Last month, leaked documents from fugitive NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed that, in 2009, DSD monitored the mobile phones of the President, his wife and eight senior leadership figures in Indonesia.

The revelations sparked an angry response across Indonesia and led the President to freeze joint co-operation on defence and people-smuggling.

Australia said last week it would agree to a six-point road map to restore relations, including protocols on behaviour, and intelligence-gathering and sharing.

Keputusan untuk menjadikan Kristiani Herawati (Ibu Ani Yudhoyono) sebagai target dari penyadapan yang dilakukan Australia bukan sekedar kemauan tanpa tujuan, tapi merupakan salah satu bagian dari strategi yang diperhitungkan dan direncanakan. Tujuannya dalah untuk mempelajari lebih lanjut tentang pergantian kekuasaan yang terjadi dalam elit politik di Jakarta.

Keamanan nasional memang menjadi faktor utama karena sepertinya Canberra sangat ingin mempelajari hubungan antara istana dan kelompok Islam yang telah membunuh 3 orang Australia di salah satu hotel di Jakarta dan hubungan antara istana dengan pelaku pemboman Noordin M.Top.

Keputusan untuk memata-matai Ibu Ani telah menjadi bagian yang paling kontroversial dalam skandal mata-mata di Indonesia. Berbagai macam komentar muncul dan kebanyakan menuduh lembaga Australia yang melakukan penyadapan dianggap terlalu berlebihan karena yang ditargetkan hanyalah Ibu Ani Yudhoyono.

Tapi, Surat Kabar The Australian paham pasti ada alas an politik dan keamanan yang jelas untuk menargetkan Ibu Ani sebagai target penyadapan. Ia dianggap memiliki pengaruh yang semakin besar pada Presiden pada tahun 2009 bahkan pengaruhnya terlalu besar di Istana mengalahkan para staf ahlinya.

Sebuah kabel rahasia yang ditulis oleh Kedutaan AS di Jakarta pada akhir 2007 menyatakan: “Ibu Ani, adalah satu-satunya lingkar 1 presiden yang paling berpengaruh dan pengaruhnya menjadi kunci dalam masa jabatan presiden selanjutnya dan ia menjadi faktor kunci Presiden.”

“Ibu Ani di Indonesia semakin memperluas pengaruhnya di Istana dan menjadi penasihat tak terbantahkan oleh Presiden.”

Hal ini diyakini oleh Pemerintah Australia pada tahun 2009 untuk mempelajari rencana Ibu Ani apalagi muncul dugaan bahwa Ibu Ani berniat untuk membuat dinasti politik dalam lingkungan istana. Berdasarkan pengamatan, Ibu Ani akan mencalonkan diri sebagai presiden setelah SBY lengser, namun ini hanya isu yang dilemparkan. Dalam Isu tersebut, Ibu Ani akan menjadi presiden sampai 5 tahun lalu Agus Yudhoyono anak tertuanya akan menggantikannya sebagai presiden.

Penargetan untuk memata-matai Ibu Ani dilakukan oleh Direktorat Pertahanan Australia pada tahun 2009 yang hal ini diamini oleh National Security Agency United States bahkan didukung oleh Amerika.

Hal ini dikarenakan Amerika dan Australua ingin mempelajari hubungan lebih lanjut tentang Ibu Ani dengan kelompok-kelompok Islam yang merupakan konstituen penting dalam tahun pemilihan demi pemenangan SBY. Walaupun pada saat ekstrimis Islam melakukan pemboman di Indonesia, SBY dan Ibu Ani menentang aksi pemboman tersebut.

Canberra percaya bahwa dengan menjadikan Ibu Ani sebagai target penyadapan maka Australia akan mendapatkan perputaran roda politik yang terjadi di Jakarta karena Ibu Ani menurut Canberra merupakan salah satu dari orang-orang yang bisa melakukan politisasi tingkat tinggi di Jakarta.

Salah satu kabel diplomatic AS pada bulan Oktober yang dibocorkan oleh Wikileaks menyatakan bahwa Ibu Ani merupakan salah satu penasihat presiden tak resmi dan hal itu terjadi dengan memanfaatkan akses pribadi bahkan menjadi salah satu faktor penentu pecahnya SBY dengan Jusuf Kalla.

Bulan lalu, bocoran dokumen dari kontraktor NSA Edward Snowden (kini buron) mengungkapkan bahwa pada tahun 2009, DSD dan NSA memantau ponsel presiden, istri dan 8 tokoh pemimpin senior di Indonesia. Hal ini memicu kemarahan masyarakat Indonesia dan tentu saja SBY sebagai presiden yang mengakibatkan dihentikannya kerjasama pertahanan dan imigrasi.

Australia sendiri dalam kasus ini setuju untuk memulihkan hubungan kerjasama dalan 6 poin perjanjian.