Indonesia's president plans to visit an island near the border with Malaysia after sending warships to nearby waters following Malaysia's move to award oil exploration rights there, a government official said Sunday.

The dispute comes as relations between Malaysia and Indonesia - both predominantly Muslim, ethnic Malay states - are also being tested by a Malaysian crackdown on illegal workers, many of them from Indonesia.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono "will depart (this) morning to Sebatik Island, partly to visit Indonesian workers as well as to see the border area," a presidential palace official said.

He was referring to Indonesian overseas workers who sought temporary shelter in the Indonesian part of Sebatik Island after the Malaysian crackdown on illegal workers.

The northern sector of the island is part of the Malaysian state of Sabah and the southern sector is in Indonesia's East Kalimantan province.

The island lies close to the Sipadan and Ligitan islands which Indonesia lost to Malaysia in a legal battle in the International Court of Justice in December 2002.

Three Indonesian ships were already patrolling off the coast in the area while a fourth was on the way, the official Antara news agency quoted a navy spokesman as saying on Saturday.

Indonesia sent the ships in a show of strength after Malaysia struck an exploration deal for nearby blocks with Anglo-Dutch giant Royal Dutch/Shell.

Both countries have however said they will work through diplomatic channels to resolve the issue.

Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said the deployment of the warships was in line with the country's policy to maintain its sovereignty while continuing to pursue diplomatic channels.

"The Indonesian Government stands ready, it has consistently and continues to stand ready, to address the issues through diplomatic channels," he said.

"While pursuing this, it is also the sovereign right and the responsibility of the Indonesian Government to patrol those Indonesian waters," he said.

Last year, Indonesia awarded another oil giant, US-based Unocal Corp, the right to explore for hydrocarbons in the same area.

Malaysia, Southeast Asia's second-biggest crude producer after OPEC member Indonesia, has a similar dispute with neighboring Brunei.

(China Daily March 7, 2005)