US Secretary of State John Kerry will utilize his short visit to Indonesia to shore up support from the USâ Asian partners to fight against Islamic extremism and tackle the deadly Ebola virus, US government officials have said
S Secretary of State John Kerry will utilize his short visit to Indonesia to shore up support from the US' Asian partners to fight against Islamic extremism and tackle the deadly Ebola virus, US government officials have said.
The announcement comes on the heels of reports that another Indonesian national fighting for the Islamic State (IS) was involved in a terrorist attack in Tikrit, Iraq.
"Kerry may also discuss the prolonged tension centering on the overlapping maritime claims in the South China Sea," the officials said.
Kerry arrived in Jakarta on Monday to attend the inauguration of President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla. A meeting between Jokowi and Kerry has been scheduled for later on Monday.
The secretary of state is also slated to meet with the leaders of other Muslim-majority Asian countries, such as Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak and the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, Hassanal Bolkiah.
Other world leaders scheduled to meet with Kerry in Jakarta include Australia Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
The US has recognized Indonesia's important role in fighting Islamic extremism due to its status as the world's most populous Muslim country and the largest Muslim democracy, a senior US State Department official said in press release made available on Monday.
'Bilateral meetings provide an opportunity for Kerry to consult, coordinate, and strategize on pressing issues of today. I would put at the top of the list the international effort to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL ['¦] combat violent extremism, block recruitment, protect against the solicitation of foreign fighters ' terrorist fighters from Southeast Asia to the Middle East -- to guard against the return of hardened fighters to the region, debunk and denigrate extremist propaganda, block illicit terrorist financing, and so on,' the official said.
Last week, a man, believed to be Indonesian who has taken the name Hanzhalah Al-Indonousi, was suspected of involvement in a suicide bombing targeting a government military base in Tikrit.
Radical news portals reported that Hanzhalah rammed an armored truck carrying five tons of high-grade explosives into the gate of Camp Speicher military base in Tikrit.
Indonesian officials estimate that some 60 Indonesians have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join the IS and other foreign militant groups.
Regarding Ebola, Kerry would ask nations to increase their contribution to the global effort to stop the spread of the virus, said the US official.
'[Kerry] will discuss global efforts to protect against the spread of the disease, including to Asia, as well as continue the bilateral discussion that is already underway with each of these governments about what they can do to help the global effort through the UN and other means, as well as to support the U.S.-led efforts,' the official said.
Philippines Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario is also slated to meet with Kerry. The two are expected to discuss the status of ongoing territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
'Several of the countries [Kerry] will meet with, such as Brunei, the Philippines, and Malaysia, are themselves claimants to territory in the South China Sea. Others, like Indonesia and Singapore, have long played an important leadership role in the effort to find a peaceful and legally compliant resolution of those claims,' the US official said.
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