Australia PM in Indonesia as More Bodies Were Retrieved from Boat

Lebanese asylum-seekers were lured by an Iraqi called Abu Saleh, who has previously helped around 500 Lebanese mainly from the impoverished northern region of Akkar to flee to Australia

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott arrived in Indonesia on Monday for talks on immigration issues as the death toll continues to climb from the latest boat tragedy involving Australia-bound asylum seekers. Abbott

The trip comes three days after a boat packed with asylum seekers sunk in Indonesian waters, killing 36, among them an indefinite number of Lebanese. Twenty-eight people escaped alive but dozens others were still missing.

Before leaving Sydney on Monday, Abbott said: "While Indonesia may not yet be our most important economic or security relationship, it is in many respects our most important relationship," Abbott said. "We will be covering a range of matters because this is an important relationship and it's important to get it right at the start of this new government."

Lebanese foreign ministry said Sunday there were 68 Lebanese, including children, on board the ill-fated vessel and that 18 survived the ordeal while at least 29 were still missing.

According to An Nahar newspaper published on Monday, the Lebanese asylum-seekers were lured by an Iraqi called Abu Saleh, who has previously helped around 500 Lebanese mainly from the impoverished northern region of Akkar to flee to Australia.

Several members of his ring from Akkar and the northern city of Tripoli have been paid commissions to convince people to seek asylum in Australia, it said.

The Iraqi, whose real name is Hussein Hmayyed Maymouneh, 34, has been serving a life sentence in the Indonesian capital Jakarta for the past 10 months for killing a Saudi man in a nightclub, it said.

But Maymouneh is running his business from inside the prison after he was granted access to a telephone and internet, said An Nahar. He is even allowed to leave the prison for around 12 hours once a week.

Abu Saleh has been running the people smuggling gang for the past eight years in return for 10,000 dollars on each person.