US HINTS LIFTING BAN ON TRAINING KOPASSUS

Jakarta, March 15 (ANTARA) - The United States has hinted it will lift a 12-year-old ban on training soldiers of the Indonesian Army's special elite force (Kopassus), Indonesian military chief Gen Djoko Santoso said.

The two nations were following up the positive signal, he said here on Monday.

"The result is positive. They (the US) have hinted they will give Koppasus soldiers a chance to take part in an education and training program in the US," he said.

He said the US was likely to resume its training for Koppasus soldiers in 2011. "Let's wait for the follow-up process."
The US stopped training Koppasus soldiers after imposing a military embargo on Indonesia in 1999.

Washington lifted its military embargo on Indonesia in November 2005 while at the same time maintaining its ban on training Koppasus soldiers.

After the US lifted the military embargo on Indonesia the two nations resumed cooperation covering International Military Education and Training (IMET), Foreign Military Sales (FMS), Foreign Military Financing (FMF), and Defense Exports.

Early this month, Indonesia sent a team to the US to look into the possibility of Koppasus soldiers receiving training in the US again.

The team consisted of officials from the Defense Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and the Indonesian Military Headquarters.