US/INDONESIA: The US state department has recommended that US military training resume in Indonesia after a break of more than a decade, as Washington seeks closer military ties with the world's largest Muslim nation.
In an announcement on Saturday, the department said Indonesia had met conditions set by congress for re-establishing the training relationship.
"The department expects that Indonesia's resumption of full international military education and training will strengthen its ongoing democratic progress and advance co-operation in other areas of mutual concern," the statement said.
Formal military relations were cut with Indonesia in the early 1990s because of suspected human-rights violations by Indonesian forces. However, some counter-terrorism training was resumed after the September 11th attacks as Washington sought to enlist Jakarta's help for the US war on global terrorism.
The Bush administration has previously tried to revive close ties with Indonesia's military, but the effort faltered after two American schoolteachers were murdered in the province of Papua in 2002.
Investigations by police and nongovernmental organisations pointed to Indonesian military involvement in the murders.
The US congress made any resumption of US military training for Indonesian officers dependent on certification that Jakarta was helping the FBI investigate the killings.
State department spokesman Richard Boucher said secretary of state Condoleezza Rice had determined that Indonesia's government and armed forces were co-operating.
US military aid was cut after Indonesian troops killed 57 demonstrators in East Timor in 1991, when the territory was part of Indonesia.
Indonesia has not participated in the full training programme since 1992, although the country is a key to regional stability.
Deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz visited Indonesia last month to review tsunami damage and announce a desire for a closer military relationship.
Washington made a temporary exception to military aid restrictions to provide spare parts for planes delivering relief to tsunami victims.