Jakarta has assured that the incursion and kidnapping by its military personnel in Balai Ringin, Sarawak, will not happen again.

Deputy Foreign Minister Marzuki Yahya said this was communicated in a response to Malaysia's protest note on the Dec 11 incident.

"Indonesia has admitted their mistake and they welcomed our reminder to ensure that it will not happen again," he said in Kedah yesterday, according to the New Straits Times.

Two Indonesian soldiers had kidnapped five Malaysians some 400m from the Serian-Kalimantan border.

The two soldiers had accused the five Malaysians of harvesting wood illegally in Indonesian territory.

According to NST, the five were subjected to physical abuse by the two soldiers before being brought to an Indonesian command post in Sungai Enteli.

After Malaysian soldiers were alerted to the incident and intervened, the release of the hostages was negotiated successfully.