Mega returns to souring U.S.-Indonesia ties

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri returned from a two-week visit to the United States and Japan on Sunday, as diplomatic tension with Washington escalated in the wake of rising anti- American protests at home.

Megawati addressed the concerns raised by the U.S. about the safety of Americans in Indonesia amid threats by radical organizations that they could be harmed if the U.S. attacked Afghanistan in its campaign against terrorism.

"I call on the Indonesian people everywhere not to threaten foreigners. They are our guests," she told reporters on board the Garuda Indonesia Airbus that flew her from Tokyo.

If the situation were to get out of control, many Indonesians who live abroad might feel the heat, she said.

"Can you imagine what would happen to the son of Pak Gogon here who lives in America?" she asked, referring to Ahmad Sumargono, a legislator of the Muslim Star and Crescent Party (PBB), who participated in her trip in Tokyo.

Megawati also said that the government would clamp down on radical groups if they carried out their threats.

U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Robert S. Gelbard was criticized by politicians and some Cabinet officials for his protestations last week at the failure of the Indonesian police to clamp down against militant organizations that had openly threatened to harm American citizens in Indonesia.

Police have imposed extra security around the U.S. Embassy building, the target of noisy but peaceful daily anti-American protests last week, but they have refused to arrest leaders of organizations that have made the threats.

While the authorities were dismissive of the threats, the U.S. government took them very seriously by authorizing its embassy in Jakarta to evacuate dependents and non-essential staff.

The last time the U.S. embassy evacuated its non-essential personnel and dependents was in May 1998 just prior to massive, violent antigovernment unrest in Jakarta.

A few days later, the regime of president Soeharto collapsed.

It was not immediately clear on Sunday whether the embassy had began evacuating people but many other Americans said they were watching the situation very closely. Some had already begun to pack their bags, ready to leave at short notice.

Major American oil and mining companies such as PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia, ExxonMobil and PT Freeport Indonesia said on Friday that they had taken various precautions for their American workers, but their operations were continuing.

Megawati said she would quickly convene a Cabinet meeting to discuss the issue of foreigners' safety and security.

The President also faced criticism from some quarters for her unequivocal support of President George W. Bush in the U.S. campaign against international terrorism.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirajuda, who accompanied Megawati during the visits to the U.S. and Japan, told reporters on Sunday that there had been no request from Washington for Indonesia to join in any U.S.-led military campaign.

Hassan said that during the meeting Megawati had asked Bush to consider the sensitivities of the Muslim people around the world in its campaign against international terrorism.

Megawati's presence in Washington was widely billed by the American media as a visit by the leader of the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Some Muslim leaders in Indonesia have said that any U.S. attack against Afghanistan would be construed as an attack on an Islamic country. Other leaders, while opposing the U.S. plan, have cautioned against turning it into an "Islam vs. the West" issue.

The plane that flew the President and her entourage of about 100 people from Tokyo touched down at Halim Perdanakusuma airport at precisely 3 p.m.

Megawati was greeted on the tarmac by Vice President Hamzah Haz, whose remarks that the U.S. should "cleanse its sins" in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks drew sharp rebukes from the U.S.