U.S. defense chief calls for renewed Indonesia relations

U.S. defense chief calls for renewed Indonesia relations

Charles Aldinger, Reuters, Washington

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld expressed hope on Thursday
that the United States could soon resume severed military
relations with Indonesia to bolster the war against terrorism in
Asia.

"I think it is unfortunate that the United States does not
today have military-to-military relationships with Indonesia," he
said of ties slashed by Washington in 1999 after bloodshed swept
East Timor when the territory voted to break from Jakarta's often
brutal rule.

"The (military) linkages last over careers ... and I am
certainly hopeful that we will be able to reestablish them in one
way or another in the period ahead," Rumsfeld told reporters in
response to questions after talks with Malaysia's Defense
Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim country and Washington
worries that individuals and groups sympathetic to fugitive al-
Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, accused of masterminding September
2001 attacks on America, could flourish in the hundreds of
islands that make up that country.

Rumsfeld's comments came a week after Indonesian and U.S.
defense officials wrapped up security talks in Jakarta that
covered issues from terrorism to piracy, marking a small step
toward resuming relations.

The U.S. Congress, which ordered the Pentagon to cut ties, has
demanded an accounting of what happened when militias supported
by the Indonesian military put the torch to East Timor in a
murderous rampage.

"I personally have for a great many years, over 30 years, been
a great believer in the military-to-military relationships that
the United States has developed with other countries over the
decades," Rumsfeld said at a joint press conference with
Malaysia's Najib.

No concrete measures to combat terrorism were unveiled at last
week's meeting in Jakarta, but the two sides agreed to explore
bilateral and regional cooperation in fighting piracy, a menace
that haunts the vital shipping lanes that pass through the
world's largest archipelago.

Rumsfeld, who also held talks on Thursday with Senior Minister
Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore, praised cooperation from Malaysia in
the war on terror.

"The relationships between our two countries, from a military-
to-military standpoint, have evolved and strengthened since they
were initially established back in the mid-1980s," the secretary
said, adding that some 1,500 officers and personnel from the
Malaysian armed forces had participated in training in the United
States.

"Malaysia is resolute and steadfast in our fight against
global terror," Najib told reporters.

"Some of the steps we have taken include the arrest of
something like 62 militants and terrorists in Malaysia.
Cooperating with our neighbors, we have excellent exchange of
military intelligence between Malaysia, the United States and our
other allies and friends."

He said U.S. Navy SEAL (sea, air and land) troops train in
Indonesia twice a year and that American Army special forces also
train in Malaysia's jungle warfare school.