Carol Giacomo, Washington – The United States has assured Indonesia that it would not back a military coup against Jakarta's politically embattled civilian government, US and Indonesian officials said on Monday.

Secretary of State Colin Powell has declared that such a move by Washington would be "unthinkable," a senior US official told Reuters.

Powell also told Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab he would see if there was some way Washington could help Indonesia develop a trained police force to assist in quelling violence in its restive provinces, the US official said.

He added, however, that the Bush administration is not seeking at this time to have Congress lift sanctions on Indonesia that restrict military cooperation between the two governments.

Shihab and the senior US official spoke with Reuters after the Indonesian foreign minister's first meeting with Powell at the State Department.

A major issue on Shihab's mind was a recent Washington Post editorial that raised concerns in Jakarta that the United States might support a military coup against Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesia's first democratically-elected president.

Accused of corruption, Wahid is the target of growing protests at home by demonstrators demanding his resignation.

Recent violence, in Aceh, Irian Jaya, Borneo and the Spice Islands plus calls for Wahid's removal, have undergirded a sense that the world's largest and most diverse Muslim nation may be drifting toward anarchy and mob rule.

Powell told Shihab that "not only would we not be supportive [of a military coup], we would be specifically against it ... The secretary of state said it was unthinkable, and that's a direct quote," the US official said.

Shihab, in the Reuters interview, said he was "reassured" by Powell that "speculation which has been spread around that the United States will support the Indonesian military to ... take the authority in Indonesia is improper and out of the question because it contradicts with United States idealism."

For years, the United States had a close relationship with the Indonesian military, as it does with most of the militaries of East Asian countries.

But Washington cut off sales and military assistance to Indonesia, including logistical support and training, after the Jakarta-backed violence that accompanied East Timor's 1999 vote for independence.

The United Nations, now running the territory as it prepares for independence, estimated 1,000 people were killed and 300,000 others – more than a third of the population – were herded into neighbouring West Timor by rampaging pro-Jakarta militias backed by Indonesian soldiers and police.

In his meeting with Shihab, Powell stressed US support for Indonesia's efforts to build democracy in the archipelago, officials of both counties said. But he also reiterated US concerns about the course of democracy and human rights there, as well as the need for civilian control of the military and respect for the rights of refugees in East Timor, the US official said.

Shihab said he had asked Powell to talk to Congress about lifting sanctions on military cooperation, arguing that the problem of militias running rampant and intimidating the East Timorese is over.

According to the Indonesian minister, Powell was sympathetic but said he needed "time to convince" Congress.

The US official said Powell made clear he was not looking to change US sanctions law at this time. Instead, the official said, Powell had promised to explore what cooperation might be possible within US law to expand Indonesia's police capability.

US officials see building up an Indonesian police capability, separate from the military, to help keep order as a key element of democracy.

Shihab said he also asked Powell to increase US aid to Indonesia which last year amounted to $145 million. The minister stressed that the former Clinton administration had designated Indonesia one of four emerging democracies deserving special US attention and assistance.

"I only jokingly said I'm not asking for as much as you provide for Colombia," Shihab said, referring to the South American country on which Washington plans to spend at least $550 million in 2002 to combat cocaine and heroin production.