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."