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Washington, D.C., Oct. 1, 2001 -- In her first interview since taking office, Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri talked exclusively with the Voice of America's Indonesian Service at Blair House on Friday, September 21st.  VOA's veteran correspondent, Irna Sinulingga, conducted the interview for both radio and television.  The exclusive video was broadcast by all major television and radio stations in Indonesia.  This was President Megawati's first interview since assuming the presidency following the impeachment of Adurrahman Wahid in late July.

"Upon hearing what happened on September 11, on behalf of my government and myself, I immediately expressed condemnation of the event because Indonesian culture is not a culture of violence.  Our struggle has been against violence and terrorism," said President Megawati.  "Afterward, I sent a letter to President Bush to express our deepest condolences and condemn the attack, so it is very clear the position Indonesia has taken on this issue."

President Megawati commented on her meeting with President Bush.  While acknowledging that Indonesians must be responsible for solving Indonesia's problems, she said President Bush understood the problems facing Indonesia and that he understood Indonesia's problems would be worse without U.S. assistance.  During the meeting, President Bush promised more than $500 million in trade and financial assistance.

When asked about the sensitive issue of resumption of U.S. military aid to Indonesia, President Megawati acknowledged that this was discussed with President Bush and that there would be new developments forthcoming.  She declined to give more specifics.  The day before the interview, President Megawati met with both U.S. Senate and House leaders.  The U.S. Congress voted to suspend military assistance to Indonesia pending prosecution of soldiers accused of human rights abuses in East Timor in 1999.  "I have always maintained that we, in settling any problems, want to do it with a dialogue.  We always try not to resort to violence," said President Megawati.

On the issue of  Aceh and Irian Jaya, she said, "Special autonomy legislation has been enacted in Aceh and its implementation is now underway. We will also have a new autonomy legislation for Irian Jaya. Of course, we have explained [to U.S. the Congress] that my administration has been in power for only two months.  It is impossible to implement the special autonomy legislation in such a very short time."

President Megawati said she was satisfied with her visit to Washington and expressed her appreciation to the government and people of the U.S. for their hospitality, especially during its period of mourning.

The Voice of America's Indonesian Service broadcasts 25 hours a week to Indonesia. Based on a survey done in 2001, independent researchers report that the VOA has approximately seven million listeners in Indonesia.  The Service's programming is carried on radio, television, and the Internet. The Voice of America  broadcasts over 900 hours of news and information each week to an estimated worldwide audience of 91 million regular listeners.  Broadcasting in 53 languages, VOA reaches its audience over radio, television, and the Internet.

For additional information, please contact the Office of External Affairs at (202) 619-2538 or send email to pubaff@voa.gov.