Pentagon to send official to Indonesia

Pentagon to send official to Indonesia

Associated Press, Washington

A senior Pentagon official will travel to Indonesia next week for defense policy talks that mark a new step in U.S. efforts to move Indonesia toward greater civilian control of its military.

Peter T.R. Brookes, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific affairs, will meet with Indonesian defense officials in Jakarta on April 24 and 25, Pentagon officials said. Counter-terrorism is expected to be discussed but it is not the main reason for the meeting.

The session is an outgrowth of talks held last September in Washington between U.S. President George W. Bush and Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri. The two leaders agreed that officials from the two countries' defense establishments would meet periodically to discuss broad policy issues. Next week's meeting will be the first.

Megawati has taken a hands-off approach to the military. This has allowed the generals to retain links with domestic radicals, in particular the Laskar Jihad militia blamed for thousands of deaths in a war with Christians in the Maluku province.

The Bush administration, which considers Indonesia a partner in the global war on terrorism, wants to resume military assistance to Jakarta but is restricted by a congressional ban imposed after the Indonesian army devastated East Timor in 1999.