RI and U.S. to review security cooperation: Official

RI and U.S. to review security cooperation: Official

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Senior United States officials from the State and Defense
Departments are to meet with their Indonesian counterparts here
next month to review and discuss all forms of security
cooperation between the two countries.

Foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said on Wednesday
that the two-day security forum, scheduled for April 25 and 26,
would increase the possibility of fully restored bilateral
military ties between the two countries.

"The meeting is a follow-up to an agreement reached during the
visit of President Megawati Soekarnoputri to Washington in
September last year," Marty said, adding that restoring military
ties might have been one of the topics discussed between
President Megawati and U.S. President George W. Bush.

The announcement came after the U.S. accused Indonesia of
dragging its feet in fighting against suspected terrorist groups
believed to be operating out of the country.

Marty, however, underlined the fact that restoring military
ties between the two countries was solely the prerogative of the
U.S. authorities, and that the Indonesian government would not
use the meeting to ask the U.S. to revive its military ties with
Indonesia in the name of fighting terrorism.

"We are aware that currently the U.S. Congress is still
discussing the possibility of restoring full military cooperation
with us, and we will continue to do what we have to do," Marty
said.

The U.S. severed its military ties with Indonesia in 1999
after it accused the Indonesian Military (TNI) of backing pro-
Jakarta militia members in a massive terror campaign in East
Timor after its people overwhelmingly voted to break away from
Indonesia during a United Nations-organized referendum.

The terror campaign killed hundreds of innocent East Timorese
and drove at least 250,000 others into refugee camps in West
Timor. At least 70,000 of them are still languishing in the
refugee camps.

The U.S. Congress has stipulated certain requirements that
must be fulfilled by Indonesia before ties can be restored,
including the prosecution of perpetrators of gross human rights
violations in East Timor, the repatriation of East Timorese
refugees, and the return of the TNI to the barracks.

Some cooperation has resumed, including joint training with
the TNI and National Police, although the U.S. still bans the
export of combat equipment to Indonesia, severely limiting the
TNI's ability to address the country's security problems.

Marty refused to say if the forum would be used by the U.S. to
force Indonesia to crack down on suspected terrorist groups, or
whether Indonesia would use the presence of a number of militant
religious groups as proof that the country needed U.S. military
support.

"We are still setting up the agenda. The main point is that
the two countries are willing to look at military needs from the
more technical perspective," Marty said.

Several U.S. officials have stated their desire to see
Indonesia supported in the war against terrorism through the
provision of more military assistance to the country.