Powell meets RI minister

Powell meets RI minister

WASHINGTON (AFP): Minister of Trade and Industry Luhut
Panjaitan told U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell Friday
Indonesia would use democratic and constitutional means to work
through its political turmoil, officials said.

The two men held talks at the State Department and Powell was
given a summary of recent events in Indonesia, spokesman Richard
Boucher said.

Their meeting came as Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid
rejected calls for his resignation after he was censured by
parliament over financial scandals, and amid Indonesia's
continuing ethnic and territorial conflicts.

The talks focused on the "current situation in Indonesia and
how Indonesia would work through a democratic and constitutional
process," said Boucher.

Some of the ethnic, territorial and political conflicts raging
in Indonesia were also on the agenda, Boucher said, and the
minister stressed "the importance of dialogue" in solving them.