Jakarta – The official ban on US weapons and military equipment sales to Indonesia is unfair and "punishes" the country by hampering its military's tsunami relief and recovery efforts, Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono said Tuesday.

The embargo on the sale of spare parts by the US for military aircraft has effectively grounded the majority of the Indonesian military's 21 Hercules C130 cargo fleet needed for emergency relief operations in northwestern Aceh province following the December 26 tsunami, Juwono told reporters on the sidelines of a two-day infrastructure investment summit in Jakarta.

"The military is the only organization capable of addressing issues timely and effectively in times of disaster," he said.

"By not providing the minimum requirements of equipment needed to carry out effectively [the military's] main duties, then [the US] punishes the wrong institution in Indonesia," he said. Segments of Indonesia's military have suffered in terms of new equipment and technology upgrades due to the 1999 embargo on US arms sales. The US imposed the embargo after Indonesian troops and their proxy militias killed nearly 1,500 people in East Timor.

Indonesia could only mobilize four out of a total 21 Hercules military cargo aircraft for relief efforts immediately after the tsunami. US Secretary of State Colin Powell's decision to provide needed parts for the planes after his visit to Aceh earlier this month allowed Indonesia to get an additional four of the planes in the air.

The embargo has been a boon for non-US suppliers of military hardware, including Russia and units of South Korea's Daewoo International Corp., which have moved to fill the gap left by US firms.

Juwono will go to Washington in March to lobby the US Congress to consider lifting the embargo on military equipment supplies to Indonesia, but isn't optimistic that sales will resume in the short term.

Lawmakers and nongovernment organizations in the US remain deeply suspicious of "alleged human rights abuses by the military of the past" and remain reluctant to resume normal military equipment sales, Juwono said. "It's a very difficult psychological barrier because [anti-Indonesian military sentiments] are so ingrained in their nature," he said.