U.S. understands Megawati's stance, says new envoy

U.S. understands Megawati's stance, says new envoy

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The new U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia said on Thursday that
Washington fully understood the position which President Megawati
Soekarnoputri had taken with regard to the U.S. attacks on
Afghanistan.

Ralph L. "Skip" Boyce, during a meeting with senior local
journalists, denied suggestions that relations between Indonesia
and the United States had cooled over remarks by Megawati that
were seen by some as a veiled attack on U.S. policy in
Afghanistan.

"We greatly value and welcome Indonesia's willingness to join
in international efforts against terrorism.

"Like all friends, we may occasionally disagree about proper
tactics. But, I hope nothing ever undermines our cooperation on
our common goal of eradicating terrorism from the world."

Boyce, a career diplomat who presented his credentials to
President Megawati in Jakarta on Wednesday, could not have asked
for a more challenging task as he began his tenure in Jakarta.

Besides facing anti-American protests following the U.S. air
strikes in Afghanistan, a statement from Megawati last week in
which she said that no country had the right to attack another
and that blood must not be paid for with blood, appeared to have
irritated Washington.

A travel advisory warning American citizens against traveling
to Indonesia remains in place and the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta has
sent home some non-essential staff and many staff dependents.

Most of them have apparently not returned although the threats
against American citizens and interests which were made by a
number of radical groups appear to have receded.

Boyce said Megawati's statement had not become a bone of
contention in Washington. He also denied that U.S. President
George W. Bush had snubbed Megawati when the two leaders failed
to meet while in Shanghai for an Asia Pacific summit at the
weekend.

While Megawati had personally given Indonesia's unequivocal
support to the U.S. campaign against terrorism when she was in
Washington last month, Jakarta has insisted that such a campaign
must be collective in nature and led by the United Nations.

Indonesia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda had
subsequently warned the United States that if the U.S. military
campaign continued into the Muslim Ramadhan fasting month, which
starts in mid-November, the impact could be destabilizing on
predominantly Muslim countries, including Indonesia.

Boyce rejected on Thursday the suggestion by Saudi-born Osama
bin Laden, the man Washington blames for the terrorist attacks on
the United States last month, that this was a war between the
West and Islam.

"This is an outrageous fallacy. The United States, which has
the highest number of Muslims of any country in the Western
Hemisphere, has nothing but the highest regard for Islam," said
Boyce, whose early career in the foreign service included stints
in Middle Eastern countries.

"In the past 10 years alone, we have repeatedly intervened to
assist and protect our Muslim friends in Bosnia, Kuwait, and yes,
even in Afghanistan, where we have been the world's largest donor
of humanitarian assistance since the early 1990's."

On Washington's attitude to Indonesia, Boyce said the United
States remained committed to supporting the current transition to
democracy and economic recovery.

"We are here to support Indonesia for the long term. But you
can also count on us in the short term for help," he said, as he
announced a prompt US$25,000 in assistance for Jakarta to help
with the victims of the massive flooding in Central Java this
week.

Prior to his assignment to Jakarta, Boyce had been deputy
assistant secretary for East Asia and Pacific Affairs at the
State Department since 1998.

Although he has never served in Indonesia before (he had
previous postings in Thailand and Singapore), Boyce said
Indonesia dominated his agenda when he was deputy assistant
because of the importance of Indonesia, considered an emerging
democracy, to the United States.

Had the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States
changed Washington's perception of Indonesia?

Boyce said Indonesia, with the world's largest Muslim
population, had become even more important to Washington,
certainly in the State Department's list of priorities.