[Kabar-indonesia] Bush May Visit Indonesia in Mid-November: Report

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

US president may visit Indonesia in November, media report, official says

JAKARTA, October 3 (AP) - U.S. President George W. Bush may visit
Indonesia to meet with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono next month,
a close aide and a media report said Tuesday.

If it were to go ahead, the talks would be the first on Indonesian
soil between the two men.

Kompas daily newspaper said Bush will stop in Indonesia on the way
back from attending the APEC Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, in
mid-November. According to the report, the meeting would take place 
in a presidential palace on the outskirts of the Indonesian capital.

The White House, in a statement late Monday in the United States, 
said it had nothing to announce regarding any Bush stop in Indonesia.

A close aide to Yudhoyono said the visit might happen.

"Due to security reasons, the U.S. is also very careful not to
announce or confirm such a visit until the very last minute," said the
aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity
of the issue.

Washington is keen to engage with Indonesia because it is the world's
most populous Muslim nation and a key voice of moderation in the
Islamic world. A series of deadly attacks by Islamic militants since
2000 also makes it a major battleground in Bush's proclaimed war on
terror.

Indonesia's government desperately needs foreign investment, but being
seen as too close to the United States carries the risk of a backlash
by conservative Muslims and clerics.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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