Michael A. Fletcher – President Bush said yesterday that it makes sense for the United States to maintain close military ties with Indonesia, despite the objections of human rights activists who say such coordination should be withheld until Indonesia does more to address human rights abuses by its military.

"We want young officers from Indonesia coming to the United States. We want there to be exchanges between our military corps – that will help lead to better understandings," Bush said after a White House meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Bush added that Yudhoyono "told me he's in the process of reforming the military, and I believe him."

The United States restricted military aid to Indonesia in the early 1990s because of human rights abuses. Congress cut it off altogether in 1999 to protest the Indonesian army's role in orchestrating militia violence in East Timor. But the Bush administration has been eager to restore military ties with the country by resuming some "military-to-military cooperation" and providing money for military and anti-terrorism training.

In the days before the meeting, religious and peace groups called on Bush to "refrain from promotion of military assistance to Indonesia's still brutal armed forces." "We find troubling ongoing human rights violations by Indonesia's security forces, especially in conflict areas, widespread impunity for crimes against humanity and other serious violations," the activist groups said in a letter to Bush published by the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network.

The activists said military abuses continued in Aceh and West Papua, provinces in which separatists are fighting the government. They said the government has not punished officers who committed atrocities in East Timor when it voted for independence from Indonesia in 1999.

Three years ago, two US schoolteachers in the province of West Papua were shot to death. An FBI investigation led a US grand jury to indict a pro-independence guerrilla, but he has not been captured.

Although US officials have pressed Indonesia about the human rights abuses, they are eager to have that nation's full cooperation in their efforts to combat Islamic extremists. Indonesia, the world's most populous Islamic nation, is composed of more than 17,000 islands with populations whose hundreds of ethnicities and many religions sometimes clash violently – providing ample opportunity for terrorist groups such as al Qaeda to take root.

The nation has been the site of several horrific terrorist attacks in recent years, including the 2002 bombings in Bali that killed more than 200 people. The United States, citing a security threat, yesterday closed all of its diplomatic missions in Indonesia until further notice.

In the meeting, Bush also promised Indonesia continued help in recovering from December's tsunami, which killed at least 125,000 Indonesians and left more than 37,000 missing and a half-million homeless. The United States has provided more than $850 million in direct aid, and private efforts have raised many millions more.

"I'm proud of the response of the United States government and her people. Our United States military was on the scene with an aircraft carrier," Bush said later, at a White House reception in honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. "And we had sailors and Marines working around the clock to show the people of your part of the world that our hearts are big, that we care about people from all walks of life, that the compassion of America runs deep and strong."

Yudhoyono, who was elected president in October, said his nation deeply appreciates the help from the United States. Speaking at the reception, Yudhoyono said: "America has every reason to be proud for what your government, your heroism and your volunteers have done for the tsunami victims."