With the patch in the link that Stigmata gave you, you would be able to differentiate both "Idle" and "Away".
You would see your contact in the contact list as "Idle" at the same time you see his status as "Idle" in the event log window if that user si Idle.
And you would see his status as "Away" in the contact list and in the event log window if the user is just "Away"
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