(Continued from page 7)

all this is that it hasn't discredited Indonesia," Ricklefs says.
       But while fragmentation dominates most discussion about Indonesia these days,  Richard Chauvel, of the Victoria University of Technology, says the fears of  Balkanization can be overstated just because the central government is chaotic. "When the center is weak it doesn't mean regionalism is stronger - it just looks that way."

SECURITY MINISTER ON US -INDONESIA RELATIONS
     Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono admitted that the present defense relations between Indonesia and the United States are still strained in the wake of various incidents, particularly the East Timor and Atambua cases.
                    Nevertheless, he said, both sides have indicated their wish to restore the strained relations, Soesilo Bambang said in Sentani, Jayapura, Monday night [30th October].
               He said the US wished for the normalization of its defense cooperation with Indonesia but in practice several obstacles were still in the way, such as the problem of maintenance of the armament system, spare parts support, especially for armament system alertness. Soesilo wished to make it clear that Indonesia is fully entitled to turn to another country for a defense cooperation, and in such a case it does not necessarily mean being hostile towards others. "The armament system is rapidly developing, so that many countries can be made a partner in defense, especially in the support of Indonesia's armaments," he said.
              When asked by the press about the fact that Irian Jaya is still not changed into Papua, Soesilo explained that the central government suspected that the change of name had something to do with the Morning Star flag, and the government is therefore very careful before deciding to approve the change of the province's name.
              "If the change of name is free of political motives such as Ujung Pandang which has been restored to Makassar, the proposal would be approved," Soesilo said.
Jayapura, 30th October(Antara):


vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

TRAVEL AND TOURISM

US ISSUES TRAVEL WARNING
   In the wake of credible threats to the US Embassy in Jakarta and a string of anti-American hotel "sweeps" by Islamic youth groups in the Central Javanese town of Solo, the US upgraded its travel advisory on November 2 asking US citizens to defer non-essential travel.  The US Embassy remained open but closed to the public from October 25-November 7.
   Although, no Americans have been physically attacked the US State Department has taken extreme care to protect Americans since the onset of Israeli-Palestinian conflict and in the wake of the terrorist attack on the US Cole in Yemen.
     Unruly demonstrators damaged the US Consulate in Surabaya earlier in the year.  The Indonesian government is working closely with the Embassy  to upgrade security.  For current conditions, view the US Embassy website: www.usembassyjakarta.org.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv