Jakarta – The US administration of George W. Bush will continue to support Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid in his efforts to build a strong democracy and market economy, US ambassador Robert Gelbard said here Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters after delivering a farewell letter to Wahid from former president Bill Clinton, Gelbard said Clinton had "a particularly close relationship" with both Wahid and Indonesia.
"He [Clinton] cares very much about Indonesia's feelings and the new administration, the Bush administration, will of course continue to support the development of strong democracy, strong democratic institutions and a strong market economy in Indonesia."
"We [US] had a very positive and close relationship with President Wahid and he [Clinton] congratulated Wahid in his progress in building democratic institutions," said Gelbard, who has had a stormy relationship with some of Wahid's top ministers.
Washington has yet to indicate whether or not Gelbard will be replaced, but during the delivery of the Clinton's letter, he said his meeting with Wahid would be "my last courtesy call for today."
Bush's Secretary of State Colin Powell said last week that the new US administration had singled out Indonesia and Nigeria as areas of special concern. "Indonesia, as you well know, is a state that extends, if it was superimposed on a map of the United States, from New York to San Francisco, and this nation is undergoing enormous change."
"Our relations with this hugely important country needs careful attention. President Wahid is attempting to undo years of neglect while at the same time hold together a fractious population," Powell added.
When questioned on a resumption of arms sales – banned when Indonesian trained militias ran rampage in East Timor in 1999 – specifically the sale of F-16s to Indonesia, Powell replied: "Every nation has the right of legitimate self-defense, and if they don't buy it from us, they have many other sources in which they can get such weapons." But he added that he needed to study the matter further.
In October last year, the US embassy in Jakarta closed its doors to the public for two weeks due to a security threat. The closure triggered a fiery war of words between Gelbard and senior Indonesian ministers after Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab made light of the threats against the embassy.
Indonesian officials have said they were unhappy over the manner in which Gelbard made his views on developments in the country public, especially over the military's failure to prevent cross-border attacks