Informant38

The lawsuit's �potential effects on Indonesia's economy could,� the letter said, �adversely affect important United States interests�.
But HRW says that two weeks before the State Department wrote to the judge, Jakarta's ambassador in Washington, Soemadi D.M. Brotodiningrat, sent a letter strongly objecting to the lawsuit to Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
The letter said the lawsuit �will definitely compromise the serious efforts of the Indonesian government to guarantee the safety of foreign investments, including in particular those from the United States�.
The State Department's letter argued, among other things, that the presence of ExxonMobil in Indonesia would expose its government and local companies to the highest business standards and that the suit could actually harm the cause of human rights there.
Meanwhile, in Aceh itself this week, 10 people were reported killed, among them five whose bodies were found Monday near the ExxonMobil plant. The killings took place as U.S. ret. Gen. Anthony Zinni was in Indonesia with a private group that is promoting peace talks between Jakarta and the Acehnese rebel groups....