Bush calls Megawati on Iraq

Bush calls Megawati on Iraq

Agencies, Jakarta

U.S. President George W. Bush telephoned Indonesian President
Megawati Soekarnoputri on Monday to discuss Iraq and the ongoing
war on terrorism, the White House said on Monday.

"The president talked to President Megawati about his speech
at the UN and his approach to Saddam Hussein's defiance of more
than a decade of UN Security Council resolutions," said White
House national security spokesman Sean McCormack as quoted by AFP
on Tuesday.

In the roughly 10-minute conversation, the two leaders also
discussed the war on terrorism Bush declared after the Sept. 11,
terrorist strikes as well as bilateral issues, McCormack said,
without providing further details.

The call was the second in the past two months. Bush had a
private conversation with Megawati on July 23 when she was
celebrating the first anniversary of her presidency.

Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa
confirmed to The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that the call was made
on Monday, but he could not provide any details about the
conversation.

"It was a private conversation and the call had been planned
some time ago," Marty said in a phone interview from New York.

He also said that Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs
Hassan Wirayuda had yet to be informed about the details of the
conversation as the minister was in New York attending a United
Nations (UN) meeting.

When asked if the phone call demonstrated a close relationship
between Megawati and Bush, Marty said: "Well, Bush makes calls to
various foreign leaders. So, I don't see anything unusual about
it."

Marty also said that there was a possibility that the call was
about Iraq, and underlined that Indonesia welcomed the latest
development in which Iraq had agreed to allow UN inspectors to
enter the country.

Last week, Megawati issued a joint statement with Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak urging the international community to
settle the Iraq issue through the UN Security Council.

Indonesia, as the country with the largest Muslim population
in the world, has been receiving special attention from the U.S.,
especially after the latter launched its war on terrorism
following the Sept. 11 attacks against New York and the Pentagon
last year.

The U.S. has repeatedly tried to convince the world that its
war on terrorism is not a war against Islam or Muslims, although
it has targeted some Muslim countries like Afghanistan and Iraq.

Megawati was among the first heads of state who visited the
U.S. after the tragedy, and the U.S. government responded
positively by promising to restore military ties with Jakarta,
which were severed following human rights violations in East
Timor in 1999.

Despite criticism from neighboring countries of Jakarta's poor
handling of certain radical Muslim groups inside the country,
U.S. officials, including U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell,
have continued to praise Indonesia.