JAKARTA - Indonesia yesterday bit back at US Congress: critics of its human rights record in East Timor by withdrawing from a US military training programme and cancelling plans to purchase nine F-16 fighter jets.
The White House said: "We regret the decision." The US wanted to sell the planes to Indonesia and pass on the proceeds to Pakistan, which paid $650 million for 28 of the jets in 1989 but couldn't take delivery because of US fears it was developing nuclear weapons.