|
Rice to boost ties to Indonesia
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice began a trip to Indonesia on Tuesday, seeking closer ties with the moderate Islamic country in a region where China's influence is growing.Since the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington, Indonesia has become a firm U.S. ally in fighting terrorism. Security issues are expected to dominate Rice's discussions with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, along with closer military ties between the two nations. "The Indonesians are making a real effort to rid the region and not just themselves, but in cooperation with the region, of the terrorist threat that has plagued southeast Asia," Rice told reporters traveling with her to Jakarta. The end of autocratic President Suharto's 32-year rule in 1998 allowed democracy to flourish in Indonesia and encouraged better U.S. relations. Yudhoyono, a former general with U.S. training, became Indonesia's first directly elected president in 2004 on a strong security platform. Last November, the United States restored military ties with Indonesia as a reward for cooperation against al Qaeda-linked militants and cited reforms in the military and efforts by the government to improve its human rights record. "Rice has often said that democratization in Indonesia has transformed the degree of the bilateral relationship as well as U.S. appreciation toward Indonesia's role in Southeast Asia and East Asia," Indonesia Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying ahead of the visit. Indonesia has seen large anti-American protests over the past few weeks, but Rice said she was not concerned about that during her visit, adding such protests showed democracy was working. Militant Islamic groups have already announced plans for at least one protest, at midday on Tuesday at the U.S. embassy. Rice's first appointment was a visit to one of Jakarta's oldest Islamic schools located in a busy area of the city. A small crowd gathered outside the school and about 100 police, some carrying riot shields, fanned out in the neighborhood. Rice, due to give a speech on democracy on Wednesday before going on to Australia, dismissed criticism from human rights groups that Washington had moved too quickly to restore military relations with Indonesia. She said it was a better strategy for the United States to have contact with the Indonesian military than to isolate it. Some human rights groups say progress in reforming Indonesia's military and police has been too slow and that the United States has not paid enough attention to abuses committed by the military, losing important leverage to push for change. Before U.S. President George W. Bush's administration provided any assistance to the Indonesian military, it should demand to see evidence of real reform, said Lisa Misol of the New York-based Human Rights Watch group. "(Rice) also should use her trip to announce that the U.S. will refuse to provide them with lethal weapons and will insist on robust monitoring of whatever aid it sends," Misol said. But the United States sees Indonesia as a voice of moderation in the Islamic world and Rice hopes it might have some influence in the Middle East, particularly over the militant group Hamas, which won Palestinian elections in January. "Indonesia is home to the world's biggest Muslim population, and is expected to help the peace process there," Wirajuda said. Our stance is that we support the process there, one which is democratic and transparent." One area where Rice may face prickly questions will be Jakarta's demand for direct access to Indonesian militant Hambali, who has been held by the Americans since 2003. Hambali is suspected to be the mastermind behind the bombings on Indonesia's holiday island of Bali in 2002 in which more than 200 people were killed. Wirajuda said Hambali would not be a "central issue" of official meetings but could be mentioned. Another topic that could have been contentious, a long-running dispute over whether U.S. company Exxon Mobil Corp or Indonesia's state-owned energy firm would operate a promising new oil field, was settled on the eve of Rice's visit with a compromise giving the U.S. firm the dominant role. Posted by: Dan Darling 2006-03-14 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=145409 |