Mega returns to souring U.S.-Indonesia ties<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri returned from a two-week
\nvisit to the United States and Japan on Sunday, as diplomatic
\ntension with Washington escalated in the wake of rising anti-
\nAmerican protests at home.<\/p>\n
Megawati addressed the concerns raised by the U.S. about the
\nsafety of Americans in Indonesia amid threats by radical
\norganizations that they could be harmed if the U.S. attacked
\nAfghanistan in its campaign against terrorism.<\/p>\n
"I call on the Indonesian people everywhere not to threaten
\nforeigners. They are our guests," she told reporters on board the
\nGaruda Indonesia Airbus that flew her from Tokyo.<\/p>\n
If the situation were to get out of control, many Indonesians
\nwho live abroad might feel the heat, she said.<\/p>\n
"Can you imagine what would happen to the son of Pak Gogon
\nhere who lives in America?" she asked, referring to Ahmad
\nSumargono, a legislator of the Muslim Star and Crescent Party
\n(PBB), who participated in her trip in Tokyo.<\/p>\n
Megawati also said that the government would clamp down on
\nradical groups if they carried out their threats.<\/p>\n
U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Robert S. Gelbard was criticized
\nby politicians and some Cabinet officials for his protestations
\nlast week at the failure of the Indonesian police to clamp down
\nagainst militant organizations that had openly threatened to harm
\nAmerican citizens in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Police have imposed extra security around the U.S. Embassy
\nbuilding, the target of noisy but peaceful daily anti-American
\nprotests last week, but they have refused to arrest leaders of
\norganizations that have made the threats.<\/p>\n
While the authorities were dismissive of the threats, the U.S.
\ngovernment took them very seriously by authorizing its embassy in
\nJakarta to evacuate dependents and non-essential staff.<\/p>\n
The last time the U.S. embassy evacuated its non-essential
\npersonnel and dependents was in May 1998 just prior to massive,
\nviolent antigovernment unrest in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
A few days later, the regime of president Soeharto collapsed.<\/p>\n
It was not immediately clear on Sunday whether the embassy had
\nbegan evacuating people but many other Americans said they were
\nwatching the situation very closely. Some had already begun to
\npack their bags, ready to leave at short notice.<\/p>\n
Major American oil and mining companies such as PT Caltex
\nPacific Indonesia, ExxonMobil and PT Freeport Indonesia said on
\nFriday that they had taken various precautions for their American
\nworkers, but their operations were continuing.<\/p>\n
Megawati said she would quickly convene a Cabinet meeting to
\ndiscuss the issue of foreigners' safety and security.<\/p>\n
The President also faced criticism from some quarters for her
\nunequivocal support of President George W. Bush in the U.S.
\ncampaign against international terrorism.<\/p>\n
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirajuda, who accompanied
\nMegawati during the visits to the U.S. and Japan, told reporters
\non Sunday that there had been no request from Washington for
\nIndonesia to join in any U.S.-led military campaign.<\/p>\n
Hassan said that during the meeting Megawati had asked Bush to
\nconsider the sensitivities of the Muslim people around the world
\nin its campaign against international terrorism.<\/p>\n
Megawati's presence in Washington was widely billed by the
\nAmerican media as a visit by the leader of the world's most
\npopulous Muslim nation.<\/p>\n
Some Muslim leaders in Indonesia have said that any U.S.
\nattack against Afghanistan would be construed as an attack on an
\nIslamic country. Other leaders, while opposing the U.S. plan,
\nhave cautioned against turning it into an "Islam vs. the West"
\nissue.<\/p>\n
The plane that flew the President and her entourage of about
\n100 people from Tokyo touched down at Halim Perdanakusuma airport
\nat precisely 3 p.m.<\/p>\n
Megawati was greeted on the tarmac by Vice President Hamzah
\nHaz, whose remarks that the U.S. should "cleanse its sins" in the
\naftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks drew sharp rebukes from the
\nU.S.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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