U.S. assures RI it won't support a military coup

U.S. assures RI it won't support a military coup

WASHINGTON (Agencies): The United States has assured Indonesia that it would not back a military coup against Jakarta's politically embattled civilian government, U.S. and Indonesian officials said on Monday.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has declared that such a move by Washington would be "unthinkable," a senior U.S. official told Reuters.

Powell also told Indonesian foreign minister Alwi Shihab he would see if there was some way Washington could help Indonesia develop a trained police force to assist in quelling violence in its restive provinces, the U.S. official said.

Alwi and the senior U.S. official spoke with Reuters after the Indonesian foreign minister's first meeting with Powell at the State Department.

A major issue on Alwi's mind was a recent Washington Post editorial that raised concerns in Jakarta that the United States might support a military coup against President Abdurahman Wahid.

Accused of corruption, Abdurrahman is the target of growing protests at home by demonstrators demanding his resignation.

Powell told Alwi that "not only would we not be supportive (of a military coup), we would be specifically against it ... The secretary of state said it was unthinkable, and that's a direct quote," the U.S. official said.

Alwi, in the Reuters interview, said he was "reassured" by Powell that "speculation which has been spread around that the United States will support the Indonesian military to ... take the authority in Indonesia is improper and out of the question because it contradicts United States idealism."

But Powell also reiterated Washington's concerns about the course of democracy and human rights there, as well as the need for civilian control of the military and respect for the rights of refugees in East Timor, the U.S. official said.

Alwi said he had asked Powell to talk to Congress about lifting sanctions on military cooperation.

According to the Indonesian minister, Powell was sympathetic but said he needed "time to convince" Congress.

The U.S. official said Powell made clear he was not looking to change the U.S. sanctions law at this time. Instead, the official said, Powell had promised to explore what cooperation might be possible within U.S. law to expand Indonesia's police capability.

U.S. officials see building up an Indonesian police capability, separate from the military, to help keep order as a key element of democracy.

Alwi said he also asked Powell to increase U.S. aid to Indonesia which last year amounted to $145 million. The minister stressed that the former Clinton administration had designated Indonesia one of four emerging democracies deserving special U.S. attention and assistance.

"I only jokingly said I'm not asking for as much as you provide for Colombia," Alwi said, referring to the South American country on which Washington plans to spend at least $550 million in 2002 to combat cocaine and heroin production.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the meeting was "positive" and that Powell had expressed Washington's support for "Indonesia's territorial integrity and democratic path."

Powell also stressed the importance that Washington placed on human rights and a peaceful resolution of strife in trouble spots such as Aceh, Boucher said as quoted by AFP.