(NSI News Source Info) JAKARTA, Indonesia - July 24, 2010: The United States said Thursday it would resume ties with Indonesian special forces after a 12-year hiatus as part of efforts by Washington to reach out to the world's largest Muslim nation.The announcement, made during a visit by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates to Indonesia, comes as Washington seeks to resume training for the Kopassus unit as part of growing military cooperation with Jakarta.
"The United States will begin a gradual, limited programme of security cooperation activities with the Indonesian Army Special Forces," Gates said referring to the Kopassus unit, with which Washington suspended ties in 1998.The decision came "as a result of Indonesian military reforms over the past decade... and recent actions taken by the Ministry of Defence to address human rights issues," he said after talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono."Our ability to expand upon these initial steps will depend upon continued implementation of reforms within Kopassus and TNI (the Indonesian armed forces) as a whole," he said, describing the move as "a very significant development".
The announcement is controversial as Kopassus has been implicated in human rights abuses, including in East Timor, and some figures in the US Congress have opposed embracing the force before it accounted for its past.
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