U.S., RI ties seen improving

U.S., RI ties seen improving

Koh Gui Qing, Reuters/Singapore

Washington's tsunami relief in Indonesia's ravaged Nanggroe Aceh
Darusalam province has paved the way for stronger ties between
the United States and the world's most populous Muslim country, a
U.S. navy commander said on Monday.

Many Indonesians were initially suspicious of the U.S.
soldiers who arrived in Aceh a week after the Dec. 26 Indian
Ocean tsunami but that attitude changed over a few weeks, said
U.S. Navy Rear Admiral William Douglas Crowder.

"There was quite frankly a lot of suspicion when the U.S.
military first arrived," said the commander of the USS Abraham
Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group, which is made up of an
aircraft carrier, a cruiser, two destroyers and a supply ship.

"The politicians will have to decide, but I think the scene is
set for improved relations," Crowder told a seminar in Singapore
four days after leaving Aceh.

"You can't help but feel the kinship that was built in the 35
days that we were there," he said.

After years of limited contact because of concern over past
human rights abuses by Indonesia's army, defense officials from
both nations said in January ties could improve as the countries
capitalize on goodwill built after the U.S. tsunami aid.

Ties between the two countries were strained after Indonesian
soldiers and the militia they backed in East Timor were accused
in 1998 of human right violations there.

But relations started to improve after Indonesia launched a
crackdown of Jamaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian militant
network.

The Abraham Lincoln, which arrived in Indonesia on Jan. 1 and
left on Feb. 4, was the backbone of supply lines, delivering some
2.7 million of food, water and medical supplies to Indonesian
tsunami victims.

"As I told General Bambang, I love his country but my
intention is to go back to Seattle to attend my daughter's
wedding and not stay here forever," Crowder said, referring to a
conversation with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said in January
he would consult with his government and Congress over whether
the time was right for the United States to relax its sanctions
on sales of military equipment to Indonesia.

Currently, the United States has three ships and 20
helicopters as part of tsunami relief in Indonesia but this
deployment may leave in "a matter of days", said Crowder.

The presence of foreign troops has been a sensitive issue in
Indonesia, especially in Aceh, previously off-limits to outsiders
due to a three-decade-old insurgency. Indonesia set an goal of
the end of March for foreign forces to withdraw from Aceh.

"This is their country. We are here to help them on their
terms. Although we bring a lot of capability and although we can
dream up wonderful schemes of how we like to use that capability,
this is their country," said Crowder.