The New York Times, January 13, 2005
U.S. Sees No Friction With Indonesia on Relief Work
By DAVID STOUT
WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 - The Bush administration said today that contrary to earlier
reports, the government of Indonesia did not appear to be setting a deadline for the
departure of foreign troops who have been taking part in tsunami relief work.
The United States Ambassador to Indonesia, B. Lynn Pascoe, has talked to
Indonesian officials and has been told that "Indonesia's not imposing any time limit"
for foreign troops to leave, Richard Boucher, the chief State Department spokesman,
said at a news briefing.
The Indonesian vice president, Jusuf Kalla, seemed to set a deadline on Wednesday,
when he told the state news agency Antara that foreign troops could stay "no longer
than three months," and that Indonesia would prefer that they left even sooner.
But Mr. Boucher said Mr. Kalla's comments did not really amount to a deadline.
"Three months was an estimate of how long the government of Indonesia will need for
the assistance of, will need the assistance of foreign military troops in Aceh," Mr.
Boucher said.
The United Nations emergency-relief coordinator, Jan Egeland, was also apparently
under the impression that Jakarta had indeed set a deadline. In a speech today to the
Asia Society in New York City, Mr. Egeland said, "I am sure the Indonesian
government will agree with me the most important thing is to save lives and not have
deadlines," according to Reuters.
The Indonesian military has been fighting a civil war against separatist rebels for 30
years and has kept the province of Aceh, which was devastated by the Dec. 26
flooding, virtually sealed off from outsiders during the conflict.
Mr. Boucher and the White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, both described the
United States' relationship with Indonesia as one of cooperation. In response to
questions, they sought to counter any suggestion of tension between Washington and
Jakarta, the capital of the world's most populous Muslim country.
"The relief effort will go on for a long time," Mr. Boucher said, adding that "We have no
desire to extend any military operations." He said American forces would take part in
the relief work "as long as we're needed to help out."
At one point in the briefing, Mr. Boucher suggested that a misunderstanding might
have arisen because of "there were just a lot of different statements made, some of
which may have been over-interpreted."
At the White House, Mr. McClellan said, "We will be there to help them for the long
haul in whatever way we can," and that the United States continued to have "good
relations" with the government of Indonesia.
Copyright © 2005 The New York Times Company.
|
