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Terrorism: Rice hails Jakarta role

P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said her country would "want to be a good partner" of Indonesia which is a "growing and maturing democracy."

Ms. Rice met Indonesian leaders before leaving for Australia for a trilateral meeting on security issues that would also involve Japan.

She praised Indonesia for its cooperation with the U.S. on the counter-terrorism front. However, she did not commit Washington to giving Jakarta access to Hambali, an Indonesian national and a terrorist-suspect who was taken into American custody in August 2003. Jakarta wants Hambali for interrogation related to terrorist strikes across Indonesia. Hambali is said to belong to Jemaah Islamiyah, a suspected southeast Asian affiliate of Al-Qaeda.

Ms. Rice described ties with Indonesia as a "growing strategic partnership" on a number of issues ranging from military-to-military cooperation, anti-terror engagement and the possibility of friendship for the U.S. from within the Islamic bloc. She commended Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, for his recent visit to Myanmar to press the military junta there to move towards democracy.

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