JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – A US diplomat apologized to Indonesia’s government Monday after the top Indonesian general was prevented from traveling to Washington, but a Jakarta official said the country expected a complete explanation.
Erin McKee, the deputy US ambassador to Indonesia, did not explain why Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo was prevented from boarding a flight to the US but said the matter had been resolved.
Relations between the US and Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, are generally friendly. Indonesia’s military has a checkered human rights record, but Nurmantyo himself has not been accused of rights abuses.
“We deeply regret the inconvenience that this incident caused and we apologize,” McKee told reporters. “There are absolutely no issues with his ability to travel to the United States. We welcome him. The embassy is working very hard to understand what happened,” she said.
Marsudi said Indonesia still expects the US to provide a more complete explanation.
Nurmantyo and his wife had planned to leave Indonesia on Saturday evening but were told by their airline shortly before departure that US Customs would deny their entry, according to military spokesman Wuryanto, who goes by one name.
Nurmantyo had been invited by Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, to attend a conference in Washington on countering extremist organizations.
