U.S., RI Navies conduct joint antiterror training
U.S., RI Navies conduct joint antiterror training
Associated Press, Laki Island/Jakarta
Indonesian marines and U.S. Navy seals parachuted into the sea off Jakarta on Tuesday in a joint anti-terror exercise, the latest sign of increased cooperation between the two militaries despite a ban on full contacts due to human rights concerns.
The exercises, involving seven U.S. servicemen and more than 40 Indonesians, are designed to strengthen cooperation in dealing with "threats in our waters, including piracy and terrorism," said Lt. Col. Edi Fernandi, a spokesman for Indonesia's western fleet.
Washington imposed a full ban on military ties with Indonesia in 1999, after the country's troops and their militia proxies devastated its former province of East Timor following a UN- organized independence referendum.
The U.S. administration is keen to resume ties with the military in Indonesia, which is the world's most populous Muslim nation and a key country in the war on terror. Islamic hardliners with links to al-Qaida have launched three bloody attacks on western targets in Indonesia since 2002.
The country's vast waterways are of particular concern, especially the Malacca Strait, which separates Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The U.S. has warned a terrorist attack in the strategic waterway could cripple world trade.
Tuesday's exercises came under an exchange program that was reinstated last year, U.S. embassy spokesman Max Kwak said last week when the program began with classroom sessions. The drills, which do not involve any firing of weapons, are designed to boost anti-terror cooperation, he said.
Apart from Tuesday's parachute drop on the nearby island of Laki, those taking part in the drills would also practice sea survival, navigation and ship boarding in the case of a hijacking.
The exercises, which are taking part close to a chain of more than 100 mostly uninhabited islands a short boat ride north of the Indonesian capital, are scheduled to continue through May 13.
Moves to restore full military ties got a boost after the Dec. 26 tsunami devastated much of Indonesia's Aceh province. Washington dispatched a Navy carrier group to the region, which cooperated closely with Indonesia's military in distributing aid and treating survivors.
However, Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick told reporters in Jakarta Saturday that full ties would not be restored until Jakarta brought the killers of two American schoolteachers in Papua three years ago to justice.
In February, Washington restored a training program for Indonesian officers, a move generally viewed as a first step in lifting the ban.