INDONESIAN RESPONSE TO REVISED PROPOSED TEXT FOR A

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 013341 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR PM/SNA LOFTIS, L/PM FOR HEROLD, EAP/MTS FOR COMLEY E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2016 TAGS: ID KTIA MARR MOPS PREL SUBJECT: INDONESIAN RESPONSE TO REVISED PROPOSED TEXT FOR A STATUS OF FORCES AGREEMENT REF: A. STATE 189860 ¶B. JAKARTA 12547 Classified By: Political Officer Daniel Turnbull, for reasons 1.4 (b, d ). ¶1. (C) We delivered the revised text of the draft agreement for a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with Indonesia (ref a) on November 15 to Harry Purwanto, Director for North and Central American Affairs at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DEPLU). We noted that the text had been revised with a view to including it in the Joint Statement for the then upcoming visit of President Bush to Indonesia on November 20. The Joint Statement would state the joint decision of the United States and Indonesia to begin formal negotiations toward a SOFA. Purwanto said he would circulate the revised text to appropriate agencies in that context. Purwanto informed us later in the day that the government of Indonesia had decided not to pursue formal negotiations but rather to continue further "exploratory talks." The language of the Joint Statement for the visit was revised accordingly to state the two sides' "agreement to explore the possibility" of a SOFA. ¶2. (C) Giving his personal sense of what the likely GOI position would be, Purwanto said that Indonesia was interested primarily in an arrangement for humanitarian relief from natural disasters. Indonesia would proceed from the basis established in the temporary SOFA for disaster relief in Aceh following the tsunami in December 2004 and the Indonesia-proposed text for a SOFA following the Yogyakarta earthquake earlier this year. (Note: The Aceh SOFA was kept confidential at the request of the GOI and the Yogyakarta SIPDIS SOFA was never concluded.) Purwanto said he believed Indonesia was willing to consider a permanent, stand-by arrangement for humanitarian assistance but would have difficulty moving beyond that because of public sensitivities. We noted that other routine cooperation and assistance activities, such as ship visits and exercises, should also be covered by a SOFA. ¶3. (SBU) The GOI is clearly more comfortable at this point with the idea of a SOFA of more limited scope. Nevertheless, we think another round of discussions on Washington's revised version would be worthwhile. We are prepared to organize further discussions with Indonesian officials to proceed with further exploratory talks. Department's guidance on timing is requested. PASCOE