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TITLE: U.S. Offers Indonesia Police Aid as Exxon Attacked |
AUTHOR: Paul Basken |
PUB: |
DATE: March 13, 2001 |
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The Bush administration pledged to boost its support of Indonesia's police to help counter separatist violence that forced Exxon Mobil Corp. to close its natural gas fields, Indonesia's foreign minister said. The commitment by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell may help Indonesian police battle separatist conflicts throughout the country, although Powell offered it in connection with Exxon's shutdown in Aceh province, Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab said. "He nodded his head approvingly,'' Shihab said of Powell's offer to help Indonesia reestablish law and order, particularly involving Exxon. He gave no details about the kind of help that would be made available to the Southeast Asian country. State Department officials confirmed Shihab's description of Powell's offer yesterday as stemming from a discussion about Exxon in Washington between the two men. Exxon, the biggest publicly traded oil company, said it shut its onshore gas fields in Aceh for the first time in 24 years because of attacks on workers by rebels. The company's stock today fell 46 cents to $83.30. The Free Aceh Movement, fighting for independence in the northwestern Indonesian province, has attacked Exxon employees traveling on aircraft and buses for months. Political Upheaval Loss of production at the facility, which ships most of its liquefied natural gas to utilities in Japan and Korea, reduces Indonesia's revenue at a time of economic and political upheaval. Indonesia, the world's fourth most-populous nation with some 300 ethnic groups spread across more than 17,000 islands, is threatened by separatists in Aceh, Riau and Irian Jaya provinces. Powell told Shihab the Bush administration wanted to help keep the longtime U.S. ally intact, his spokesman said. "He expressed our strong support for Indonesia's territorial integrity and democracy,'' State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said after Powell's meeting with Shihab. The Indonesian central bank intervened in the currency market to boost the rupiah, which has weakened with the political turmoil. President Abdurrahman Wahid is facing street protests demanding his resignation on grounds that include failure to end the separatist movements, economic mismanagement and corruption. Shihab, addressing a Capitol Hill conference hosted by the U.S.- Indonesia Society, said Wahid assured him by telephone today he remains confident. 'Be Patient' "Be patient,'' Shihab described Wahid as saying. "In one or two days, the demonstrations will cease -- whenever their money is exhausted.'' Powell emphasized the strength of their nations' friendship dating back to Indonesia's independence from the Netherlands in 1949, Shihab told the conference. Shihab said, however, the U.S. needs to "move on'' from its concern over East Timor and lift the military embargo imposed on Indonesia in protest of its East Timor policies. The U.S. also could help Indonesia by lifting an official travel warning that is discouraging tourism, the Indonesian ambassador to the U.S., Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, told the conference. East Timor seceded from Indonesia following 24 years of occupation after voting for independence in a United Nations- sponsored ballot in 1999. Hundreds of civilians were killed and 250,000 others fled or were forced to cross over into Indonesian- controlled West Timor when pro-Indonesia militias carried out a campaign of violence after the vote. The Wahid government also has no fear that U.S. assistance will encourage the Indonesian armed forces to seize power, Shihab said. "This request is made not by a military government but by the government of the world's third-largest democracy,'' he said. Powell said the Bush administration offer to help strengthen Indonesian police must remain within the confines of the ban on military assistance, the State Department said in a statement to reporters attributed to an unidentified senior official. Powell didn't raise the possibility of asking Congress to lift the embargo, the official said. The U.S. already funds a program in Indonesia designed to improve relations between the military and the civilian government. The program, run by the U.S. Agency for International Development, received some $224,000 in the current fiscal year. END |