Excerpt: Bush Looks Forward to Working with Indonesia's New Leader
(President Bush's July 23 news conference in Rome, Italy)

Following is an excerpt on Indonesia from President Bush's July 23 news conference in Rome, Italy:

(begin excerpt)

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
July 23, 2001

PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRESIDENT BUSH
AND ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER BERLUSCONI

Villa Dona Pamphilj
Rome, Italy

2:52 P.M. (Local)

PRESIDENT BUSH: ...I also want to say something about the development in Indonesia. The people of Indonesia, by addressing their leadership crisis under their Constitution and laws, have shown commitment to the rule of law and democracy. We hope all parties will work together to maintain peace, support the Constitution and promote national reconciliation.

We appreciate President Wahid's work the last two years in leading Indonesia through its democratic transition. We look forward to working with President Megawati and her team, to address Indonesia's challenges of economic reform, peaceful resolution of separatist challenges, and maintaining territorial integrity.

(end excerpt)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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