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.