US restores Indonesia military ties, officials say

By Saul Hudson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Washington restored military ties on
Tuesday with Indonesia as a reward for the most-populous Muslim
nation’s cooperation against al Qaeda-linked militants, State
Department officials said.

The move comes despite objections from human rights groups
that say Indonesia has done too little to punish offenders for
the violence in East Timor in 1999 that led to the cooler
U.S.-Indonesian military ties.

But the U.S. officials defended the decision, saying the
government had made greater efforts to bring justice for the
violence and had improved the country’s democratic credentials
and human rights record.

They also said that while Tuesday’s decision allowed the
export of lethal weapons to Indonesia, Washington would still
be looking at its rights record in determining whether to go
ahead with any sales to the vast archipelago.

“Indonesia is a voice of moderation in the Islamic world,”
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement
on the decision. “Indonesia has made significant progress in
advancing its democratic institutions and practices in a
relatively short time.”

The decision follows agreements earlier in the year to
allow exports of nonlethal equipment and revive a small
military training program.

“They have increasingly become a key partner for us in
counterterrorism,” said a State Department official, who asked
not to be named because he was elaborating on McCormack’s
statement.

“This normalization and the ability to work with Indonesia
allows us to prod them into taking more steps on the democratic
path and in improving their military regarding rights issues,”
he added.

Indonesia has suffered a spate of militant bombings and
last year was devastated by the Indian Ocean tsunami.

Straddling vital shipping routes, Indonesia performs a
delicate balancing act between Washington and a populace that
opposes America’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a U.S.-trained
former general who last year became his country’s first
directly elected president, had lobbied Washington for ties to
be restored during a visit in May.

The United States “will help modernize the Indonesian
military, provide further incentives for reform of the
Indonesian military, and support U.S. and Indonesian security
objectives, including counterterrorism, maritime security and
disaster relief,” McCormack said.