[note - this is money promised when Megawatti visited Bush lasted September]

Deutsche Presse-Agentur January 28, 2002, Monday 12:09 Central European Time

U.S. offers Indonesia 10 million dollars for anti-terrorism training

Jakarta

The United States has offered Indonesia 10 million dollars to help train police in handling terrorism, a senior minister said on Monday.

"The offer is open, and we are assessing and planning what we need and want to develop with the international community in fighting terrorism," Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirayudha told the state-run Antara news agency.

He said that one form of cooperation might be in terms of anti-terrorist training of Indonesian police, for which the U.S. has offered 10 million dollars this year.

The U.S. government has severed direct aid to the Indonesian military since 1999 in protest against widespread atrocities directed by the military in East Timor that year, but a legal loophole has allowed them to provide assistance to Indonesia's anti-terrorist activities, which thus far have been minimal.

Wirayudha said that Indonesia could fight terrorism on its own, and did not need U.S. help.

Political observers believe it very unlikely that Indonesia would allow American troops on Indonesian soil like those now in the Philippines.

The government of Indonesia, which boasts the world's largest Moslem population, has been cautious in cracking down on suspected terrorists with alleged links to the al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden for fear of prompting criticism that it is anti-Islam, the observers said. dpa pj wp

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