RI hails U.S. efforts to revive military ties

RI hails U.S. efforts to revive military ties

Ivy Susanti, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The Indonesian government has welcomed the U.S. government's
gesture to restore full military training ties with Indonesia,
which was downgraded 13 years ago.

Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa
said however that the U.S. should also revive contacts between
military officers from the two countries, and not only the
training or equipment purchase programs.

"From the ministry's perspective, if we are talking about
military relations, this also refers to the renewal of contacts
between the military officers, not only the possibility of
purchasing military equipment from certain countries," he told
reporters on Friday.

In Washington, U.S. new Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
signaled on Thursday that she was in the "final stages" of
consultations with Congress on certifying Indonesia as eligible
to benefit from the International Military Education and Training
(IMET) program, AFP reported on Friday.

"I think it's a good time to do that," Rice told a Senate
panel on Thursday, citing what she called Indonesia's
"successful" presidential election last year and cooperation in
the investigation of the 2002 murder of two Americans in
Indonesia.

Marty said that the Indonesian government was of the same
view, that the time was right to restore military relations.

"This should be the best of times to restore military ties
between Indonesia and the U.S. because, as the U.S. has
repeatedly said, Indonesia is a democracy and is very important
to the U.S.," he said.

Marty also said that the Indonesian government had lobbied the
Congress for support but the final decision is still with the
U.S.

"Because of the U.S. political system, we can not just work
this issue out with the government alone. So we reached out to
our colleagues on Capitol Hill to assure them our intentions.
There are those who are for and against us, but in principle, we
cannot intervene in the decision making process, be that in the
Congress or in the government," he said.

The administration of President George W. Bush has been eager
to restore military links with Indonesia, largely to help combat
terrorism, but has been confronted by a reluctant Congress.

But Rice, testifying before the Senate Appropriations
Committee on the proposed 2006 budget, expressed confidence the
move would go through. "I do believe the time may have come to do
that," she said.

The top U.S. diplomat said the move, which requires
congressional approval, would "restore full IMET privileges to
Indonesia" that were suspended in 1992 amid concerns over
Indonesia's human rights record.

The United States stepped up sanctions in 1999 after the
Indonesian army and pro-Indonesia militias allegedly killed some
1,500 people during East Timor's drive for independence.

Ties soured further in 2002 when the Indonesian army was
accused of blocking U.S. investigations into the killing of two
U.S. school teachers in the country's Papua province.

Relations took an upturn, however, after the U.S. mounted a
massive military relief operation to help Indonesian victims of
the Dec. 26 tsunami that wreaked havoc in Aceh province.

Washington partially lifted an embargo on the supply of
military hardware to Indonesia, delivering spare parts for five
Hercules transport planes so they could be used to aid tsunami
victims.