July 16, 2002 06:17 PM, 

Powell’s Jakarta Itinerary

Laksamana.Net - US Secretary of State Colin Powell will visit Indonesia on August 2 to discuss key issues of mutual concern, 
including counter-terrorism, security, and promotion of economic cooperation and global prosperity. Human rights issues are 
apparently not on the agenda. 

Powell will be visiting India, Pakistan and six Southeast Asian nations – Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia 
and the Philippines – during his nine-day tour of the region from July 27 to August 3. 

In what will be his first trip to Jakarta, he is scheduled to meet with top government officials to discuss bilateral relations, as well as regional and global issues. 

He will visit India and Pakistan over July 27-28, before heading to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. 

Powell will then go to Brunei on July 31 for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum for talks on 
security issues. 

Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines have arrested several people for allegedly plotting to blow up US embassies, 
businesses and other foreign targets in the region, while Indonesia has been accused of dragging its feet in the American-led war on terror. 

President Megawati Sukarnoputri has pledged her commitment to combating terrorism but is reluctant to order crackdowns on 
hardline Islamic groups, as such action could alienate some Muslim parties and thwart her chances of re-election in 2004. 

Nonetheless, Indonesia has very quietly arrested at least two suspected Al-Qaeda members this year and handed them over to the US. 

In recognition of Indonesia’s strategic role and location in the war on terror, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in May 
said America was keen to resume military ties with Indonesia. 

Washington terminated military training and arms sales to Jakarta after the Indonesian military was implicated in massacres 
in East Timor following the territory’s vote for independence in 1999. 

Rumsfeld has urged Congress to reduce the restrictions, claiming Indonesia is effectively dealing with human rights violations in a democratic manner. 

But human rights groups say trials now taking place in Jakarta for Indonesian military personnel implicated in the East Timor 
carnage are an utter sham. 
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