Bush supports Aceh peace accord
Kornelius Purba, The Jakarta Post, New York
Whatever the results of the World Summit, what is more urgent for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is what concrete results he can bring home from his 10-day visit to the United States, including a six-day stay in New York to attend the summit until Saturday.
His biggest diplomatic gain was clearly the strong support from United States President George W. Bush for the government's peace agreement with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). Bush told him that the U.S. administration fully backed the agreement and would help Indonesia maintain peace in the war and tsunami-devastated province.
He had a chance to talk with Bush during the 90-minute working luncheon, which was hosted by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Wednesday local time at the UN headquarters. He was seated next to Bush at a table along with Annan, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Spanish King Juan Carlos, Jordan King Abdullah and Chilean President Ricardo Lagos.
"President Bush welcomes the peace process in Aceh," said presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal after accompanying Susilo at a teleconference with Vice President Jusuf Kalla on Wednesday evening.
Earlier in the morning, European Union Secretary-General Javier Solana also expressed similar support for the Aceh deal during a meeting with Susilo earlier in the morning. Solana did not talk to the media because they met in a very small room and the room would be used by another delegation soon after their meeting.
"The EU is also a member of the Aceh Monitoring Mission," said Dino.
World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz also met with Susilo at the latter's hotel. The former U.S. deputy secretary of defense emphasized that he came as and old friend of the President and Indonesia. The bank has pledged commitment to the reconstruction of Aceh, he said.
Susilo, however, must exercise patience in getting concrete results from his meeting with Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz. Before meeting with the prince, he disclosed a plan to ask for help from the oil-rich country to assist Indonesia in coping with rising oil price, including by possibly sending its crude oil to an Indonesian refinery for processing.
Dino only said the two leaders discussed the oil problem but he did not mention the prince's response to Susilo's request.
While with Jordanian King Abdullah, the President apologized for the cancellation of his visit to the Middle East. He originally planned to visit several Middle East countries, including Jordan, on the way home from New York to Jakarta.