News Focus: Extension of RI-US cooperation on Namru-2 facing resistence

Indonesian Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said on Thursday that the Indonesian government is persisting in its preparedness to grant diplomatic immunity to only two US Namru-2 staff members.

"We are sticking to our stance that not all of Namru-2 officers will be granted diplomatic immunity. We will give the immunity to only two of the 20 US naval officers with Namru-2," he said.

The minister said besides restricting the number of Namru-2 staff having diplomatic immunity, Indonesia was also insisting that doctors of the Indonesian Navy be assigned in Namru-2 as supervisors.

The need to assign Indonesian supervisors was due to the fact that so far the activities carried out by Namru-2 officers were not transparent.

"We want Indonesian naval officers to be involved in the activities of NAMRU-2," the minister said.

Indonesia and the United States are still negotiating several points for the resumption of their cooperation on Namru-2.

"The discussions are now focused on the United States request for diplomatic immunity for 20 Namru-2 staff members," the minister said. "If we give diplomatic immunity to all of them, we are afraid we will not be able to control or know the things they do or take in the research activities."

US Health Minister Michael O Levitt during a working visit in Indonesia asked the Indonesian government to give diplomatic immunity to Namru-2 staffers.

When the bird flu broke out in Indonesia in June-July, 2005, the Namru-2 cooperation was continued. Namru-2 assisted Indonesia in research on avian influenza virus infection and helped the government send specimens of suspected patients to the Center for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC)laboratory in Atlanta and the WHO collaboration laboratory in Hong Kong.

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