JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – The United States needs to let other countries decide for themselves how to fight terrorism to counter perceptions the U.S. is overbearing, Indonesia’s defense minister lectured visiting Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld Tuesday.

In turn, Rumsfeld talked to Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono and Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono about a need for their nation to continue efforts to ensure that human rights abuses are no longer a problem with its military.

After more than seven years of estrangement, the United States is working to improve its military relationship with Indonesia.

“As the largest Muslim country, we are very aware of the perception … that the United States is overbearing, over-present and overwhelming in every sector of life in many nations and cultures,” said Sudarsono.

He said the United States risks angering groups across the world who feel threatened by America’s military and economic might. There is a feeling, he said, that “the sun never sets on the back of an American GI.”

Rumsfeld, the latest in a string of U.S. officials who have visited Jakarta, defended U.S. policy, saying “I never have indicated to any country that they should do something they were uncomfortable doing.”

Rumsfeld wrapped up a five-day, three-nation tour in Southeast Asia.

He now goes to Brussels, Belgium, for a NATO meeting of defense ministers where one of the key topics is likely to be the transfer of authority for portions of Afghanistan from

Rumsfeld’s stop in Indonesia followed visits to Vietnam and Singapore, but here he confronted more contentious issues.

In addition to improved maritime security in the strategically important Malacca Straits and U.S. plans for military equipment sales to Indonesia, the leaders also discussed broader programs to curb the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Sudarsono said that “perhaps we can agree on a limited framework of cooperation” on proliferation initiatives. Despite U.S. pressure, he said his country is reluctant to pursue a multilateral permanent structure.

Still, senior U.S. military and diplomatic officials said that during discussions Tuesday with Rumsfeld, the Indonesian leaders expressed a greater willingness to participate in anti-proliferation activities.

The Indonesians are interested in promoting the reduction of weapons of mass destruction but are cautious about entering formal agreements with the U.S., an American military leader said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the meetings were private.

Under normal circumstances, countries with nonproliferation agreements share intelligence and other information about threats, and are willing to intervene if a security problem arises within their boundaries.

Rumsfeld told reporters in Jakarta that recently restored military ties with Indonesia had already benefited both countries – pointing to the help U.S. troops gave survivors of the 2004 tsunami that ravaged Aceh province and last month’s powerful earthquake in Yogyakarta.

“We need to be able to work together and we need to be able to communicate with and understand each other when a disaster of that type happens,” he said.

Rumsfeld declined to provide details about human rights discussions during his meetings, but the senior officials said the issue came up repeatedly.

Washington cut all military ties with Indonesia in 1999 after its army and militia proxies devastated East Timor during its break from Jakarta.

Over the years the U.S. restored partial relations and it lifted a military embargo in November, citing Indonesia’s cooperation in fighting terrorism.

Indonesia has arrested at least 200 suspected Islamic radicals in the past few years, and suffered a string of bomb attacks blamed on the al-Qaida-linked terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, including the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings that together killed 222 people.

The U.S. is particularly concerned about security in the Malacca Straits. The waterway, straddling Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, has long been a hotbed of piracy. The straits link the Indian and Pacific Oceans and carry half the world’s oil and a third of its commerce.

Though Indonesia and Malaysia have ruled out any direct foreign intervention, which they view as a threat to their territorial sovereignty, Sudarsono said Tuesday he would welcome U.S. assistance in providing equipment and technical support for improved maritime control.

AP-ES-06-06-06 1832EDT

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