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Clinton lands in Indonesia with message for Muslims.
dans son intégralité
Date: 2/19/2009 6:41:00 AM
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held talks on Wednesday in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country, on her first mission to start mending US ties with the Islamic world.
She met Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda and was due to meet leaders of the Jakarta-based Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the second leg of her four-nation trip through Asia, officials said.
Clinton touched down under heavy skies and was greeted by senior officials and a choir of students from US President Barack Obama's old primary school in Jakarta.
Obama, who spent part of his childhood here in the late 1960s, has promised to improve relations with the Islamic world after the US-led invasions of Iraq and under his predecessor George W. Bush.
"We have a responsibility to speak out and to work with the world on behalf of positive change and to enlist the help of Muslims around the world against the extremists," Clinton told students in Japan on Tuesday.
"And it is very difficult in many parts of the world today to do that," said the US secretary of state, who acknowledged that the war in Iraq was a stumbling block to better US ties with the Muslim world.
In her first trip to a Muslim country in her new role, Clinton is set to meet President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday before leaving for South Korea and China.
Obama's personal connection with has made him hugely popular in the country of 234 million people, and expectations are high he will visit early in his presidency to reach out to the Muslim world.
Officials travelling with Clinton said the massive archipelago was important as one of the world's largest democracies, Southeast Asia's biggest economy, a major emitter of greenhouse gases and a vital cog in regional bloc ASEAN.
"Part of what she is hoping to accomplish by going here is to highlight the advances that this country, which obviously is a majority-Muslim country... has made in terms of building increasingly robust institutions of democracy," one official said.
"The people of Indonesia obviously have a strong affinity for this new administration" and Clinton would "like to build on that good will," he said.
Regarding ASEAN, Clinton believes that "we need to re-engage" after previous secretary of state Condoleezza Rice skipped some of the 10-nation club's meetings, the official said.
Analysts say Asian powerhouse China extended its influence across the region while Washington downplayed the importance of the bloc of some 500 million people during the Bush years.
While the vast majority of Indonesian Muslims are moderates, the country has seen its share of Islamist violence since 9/11 -- including the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings which killed more than 200 people.
It has worked closely with US and Australian police to track down terror suspects and thwart attacks, arresting hundreds of alleged extremists.
But a small radical fringe continues to call for "holy war" against the West and the implementation of hardline Islamic sharia law.
About 50 Muslim students protested Wednesday at the US embassy, carrying banners reading "America is a rubbish civilisation" and "America is the real terrorist."
"Hillary, Hillary, get out, get out" they chanted, and threw shoes at a caricature of the secretary.
Muslim leader Din Syamsuddin, the chairman of Indonesia's second-largest Islamic organisation, rejected an invitation to dine with Clinton later Wednesday but other Islamic leaders agreed to attend.
"The US efforts to mend ties with Islamic nations by visiting Indonesia is a good thing as Indonesia is a moderate Muslim country and a good role model," said Hasyim Muzadi of the Nahdlatul Ulama, representing about 60 million Indonesians. Clinton terres en Indonésie, avec le message pour les musulmans
Date: 2/19/2009 6:41:00 AM
AFP
Nous sommes en mesure de traduire ce message à l'arabe et au français pour ceux qui le désire.
dans son intégralité
Date: 2/19/2009 6:41:00 AM
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held talks on Wednesday in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country, on her first mission to start mending US ties with the Islamic world.
She met Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda and was due to meet leaders of the Jakarta-based Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the second leg of her four-nation trip through Asia, officials said.
Clinton touched down under heavy skies and was greeted by senior officials and a choir of students from US President Barack Obama's old primary school in Jakarta.
Obama, who spent part of his childhood here in the late 1960s, has promised to improve relations with the Islamic world after the US-led invasions of Iraq and under his predecessor George W. Bush.
"We have a responsibility to speak out and to work with the world on behalf of positive change and to enlist the help of Muslims around the world against the extremists," Clinton told students in Japan on Tuesday.
"And it is very difficult in many parts of the world today to do that," said the US secretary of state, who acknowledged that the war in Iraq was a stumbling block to better US ties with the Muslim world.
In her first trip to a Muslim country in her new role, Clinton is set to meet President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday before leaving for South Korea and China.
Obama's personal connection with has made him hugely popular in the country of 234 million people, and expectations are high he will visit early in his presidency to reach out to the Muslim world.
Officials travelling with Clinton said the massive archipelago was important as one of the world's largest democracies, Southeast Asia's biggest economy, a major emitter of greenhouse gases and a vital cog in regional bloc ASEAN.
"Part of what she is hoping to accomplish by going here is to highlight the advances that this country, which obviously is a majority-Muslim country... has made in terms of building increasingly robust institutions of democracy," one official said.
"The people of Indonesia obviously have a strong affinity for this new administration" and Clinton would "like to build on that good will," he said.
Regarding ASEAN, Clinton believes that "we need to re-engage" after previous secretary of state Condoleezza Rice skipped some of the 10-nation club's meetings, the official said.
Analysts say Asian powerhouse China extended its influence across the region while Washington downplayed the importance of the bloc of some 500 million people during the Bush years.
While the vast majority of Indonesian Muslims are moderates, the country has seen its share of Islamist violence since 9/11 -- including the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings which killed more than 200 people.
It has worked closely with US and Australian police to track down terror suspects and thwart attacks, arresting hundreds of alleged extremists.
But a small radical fringe continues to call for "holy war" against the West and the implementation of hardline Islamic sharia law.
About 50 Muslim students protested Wednesday at the US embassy, carrying banners reading "America is a rubbish civilisation" and "America is the real terrorist."
"Hillary, Hillary, get out, get out" they chanted, and threw shoes at a caricature of the secretary.
Muslim leader Din Syamsuddin, the chairman of Indonesia's second-largest Islamic organisation, rejected an invitation to dine with Clinton later Wednesday but other Islamic leaders agreed to attend.
"The US efforts to mend ties with Islamic nations by visiting Indonesia is a good thing as Indonesia is a moderate Muslim country and a good role model," said Hasyim Muzadi of the Nahdlatul Ulama, representing about 60 million Indonesians. Clinton terres en Indonésie, avec le message pour les musulmans
Date: 2/19/2009 6:41:00 AM
AFP
Nous sommes en mesure de traduire ce message à l'arabe et au français pour ceux qui le désire.