Albright moves to smooth ties with RI

Albright moves to smooth ties with RI

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright sought on Monday to smooth strained ties with Indonesia, assuring its foreign minister of Washington's desire for a "very close" relationship.

But her spokesman said that neither side proposed reviving the aborted sale of American-made F-16 jet fighters to Indonesia nor Jakarta's participation in a U.S. program called IMET to train foreign military officers.

Albright "really went out of her way to convey to Foreign Minister (Ali) Alatas that Indonesia is a country with which the United States wants to have a very close relationship," State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said.

"The secretary said the United States greatly values the relationship with Indonesia. It is an exceedingly important country in this part of the world and is important for regional stability," he told reporters.

She also told Alatas "we need to build on it (the relationship) and put some of the disappointments, like the F-16 issue, the IMET issue, behind us," he said.

The two ministers met on the fringes of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) annual meeting.

Many U.S. officials and non-government experts see Indonesia as the key to an effective and cohesive ASEAN and a regional counterweight to an increasingly powerful China.

On June 7, Indonesia suspended participation in the IMET (International Military Education Training) program with the United States as well as consideration of buying used F-16s.

Jakarta acted to head off attempts by the U.S. Congress to stop both programs because of alleged human rights abuses.

Indonesia felt the Clinton administration was unwilling to defend its participation in the programs because of scandals concerning Indonesian political donations to President Bill Clinton's Democratic Party.

Asia expert Richard Fisher of the Heritage Foundation said ahead of Albright's third Asia trip this year that the secretary should emphasize in her talks with Alatas that the United States placed great value on IMET training and arms compatibility and ask Indonesia to reconsider its decision.

Burns said "the IMET and F-16 issues are closed. There was no attempt by either side to resurrect them."

The spokesman made no mention of a discussion of the touchy political donations question.

But he said Albright "praised Alatas for having been a very good friend of the United States, personally and for having done a lot to promote the relationship."

The two ministers discussed East Timor -- the former Portuguese colony that integrated into Indonesia in 1975 -- and Albright said she hoped UN-sponsored talks on the issue between Portugal and Indonesia would continue.

Burns also said Albright told Alatas "we have some concerns about the human rights situation and that would have to remain a large issue in the relationship."