KUALA LUMPUR, June 27 — Indonesia must acknowledge that it was the source of the haze choking Southeast Asia, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said yesterday in fending off barbs sent his way over a mea culpa to neighbours Malaysia and Singapore.

Yudhoyono (picture) has come under scathing attack from detractors in the republic since offering the unusual apology two days ago and was accused of, among others, “hurting the [Indonesian] people” and shaming the nation.

“The fact is the haze was from Indonesia, so we take responsibility, and saying sorry in that context, to me, is not excessive,” the president was quoted by Singapore newspaper The Straits Times today as saying in Jakarta yesterday.

“At the same time, I said that what was happening was not intentional, and Indonesia had no intention to trouble its neighbours.”

On Monday, Yudhoyono made a marked departure from past retorts aimed at Jakarta’s irate neighbours over the annual issue.

“For what has happened, as president, I say sorry and seek the understanding of our relatives in Singapore and Malaysia,” he was quoted by The Straits Times in a report then.

“Indonesia had no intention to cause this. And we will continue to bear responsibility to overcome what has happened.”

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday applauded Yudhoyono for the unreserved apology, calling the president gracious for having done so.

“It was gracious of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to apologise to the people of Singapore and Malaysia for the current haze situation. We accept his apology wholeheartedly,” Lee said in a press statement.

“I welcome President Yudhoyono’s promise to spare no efforts to tackle t his serious problem which has caused suffering to the people of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.”

Yesterday, Yudhoyono also denied his apology was the result of external pressure.

“No one instructed me as president of a sovereign country,” he was quoted as saying in the ST report. “What I have done in the past two to three days ― massive handling, deploying more officers ― is fully my decision,” he said.

Yudhyono and Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak both said on Tuesday that the culprits for the pollution crisis must be punished without regard to their nationality.

The haze that plunged parts of Malaysia into a brief emergency has lifted for now, but it is uncertain how long the reprieve will last. Weather analysts have predicted variably that the current crisis may stretch to August and possibly September, based on previous years’ data and existing climate conditions.

Southeast Asia’s worst haze crisis took place in 1997-1998, causing widespread health problems and costing the regional economy billions of dollars as a result of business and air transport disruptions.

The now-annual affair triggered allegedly due to land-clearing activities by plantation firms in Indonesia has also caused friction among the ASEAN neighbours, with regular bouts of finger-pointing over which was ultimately to blame for plunging the region into smog.