Posted on 08/01/2002 4:51:03 AM PDT by kattracks
Pacific Rim Bureau (CNSNews.com) - Secretary of State Colin Powell heads Thursday to Jakarta, where radical Islamic groups have threatened to try to disrupt his brief visit to the world's most populous Muslim nation.
The Islamic Youth Movement said it was coordinating plans with other groups to hold protest demonstrations at the U.S. Embassy, the airport, and the presidential palace, where Powell is to meet President Megawati Sukarnoputri on Friday.
Extremists in Indonesia have in the past made threats against Westerners and Western interests. For instance, late last year, they held protests against the U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan, but the threatened violence generally does not happen.
One of the hard-line groups behind those threats, the Islamic Defenders' Front, this week repeated calls for Jakarta to cut ties with Washington.
According to U.S. Ambassador Ralph Boyce, Powell during his visit will meet leaders of mainstream Muslim organizations, which have on the whole shunned militancy.
Powell is also expected to discuss with government officials ways of expanding bilateral cooperation against terrorism.
Despite criticism from some of Indonesia's neighbors about an apparent reluctance to act firmly against terrorist suspects, Boyce this week said Megawati's government has been cooperating quietly.
Powell is also likely to discuss with the president the possibility of renewing U.S.-Indonesia military relations that were severed after violence by pro-Jakarta militias in East Timor in 1999.
The Pentagon is keen to renew ties, although some human rights campaigners have urged caution in the absence of evidence that the Indonesian military has been significantly reformed.
"Powell should make clear that the U.S. support for the Indonesian military will be strictly conditioned on human rights progress," Mike Jendrzejczyk of the New York-based Human Rights Watch said Thursday.
"Until the Indonesian armed forces demonstrate commitment to accountability and civilian control, they will be an unreliable partner in fighting terrorism," he said.
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