Bush’s Indonesia visit requiring massive security

JAKARTA (AP): Indonesia’s State Intelligence Agency (BIN) said Monday it is preparing for large, anti-American demonstrations during a visit by U.S. President George W. Bush later this month.

The American leader is scheduled to visit Indonesia – the world’s most populous Muslim nation and a close ally in Washington’s war on terror – on Nov. 20, after attending an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Vietnam.

During a 10-hour stopover Bush is scheduled to meet his counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the city of Bogor, where thousands of security troops have been deployed.

State Intelligence Chief Syamsir Siregar told reporters Monday he expected a “large wave of protests,” but didn’t specify how many demonstrators may take part.

Around 18,000 police officers, or two-thirds of the entire force in the capital, would be deployed in Jakarta to maintain order ahead of the visit, City Police chief Insp. Gen. Adang Firman told reporters Monday.

A handful of Islamic hard-liners protested the visit at the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Jakarta, over the weekend.Anti-American sentiment in Indonesia rose sharply after the U.S.-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and many see the U.S. war on terrorism as being directed against Muslims.

The country has been hit by a string of suicide bombings targeting Western interests since 2002, killing more than 220 people.

Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said Indonesia would welcome assistance from the United States in fighting terrorism, but said Jakarta will not allow Washington to set its agenda.

“We have stated several times that we will handle terrorism issues ourselves,” Juwono told reporters ahead of a Cabinet meeting Monday. “If America wants to help, it is only in technical matters and without any pressure.”

He said talks would include weapons shipments after the lifting last year of a six-year U.S. arms embargo imposed to protest abuses by Indonesian troops in East Timor.