Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Jakarta Post
February 26, 2008 By Jakarta Post
JAKARTA--United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates has denied allegations by Indonesia's Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari that his country is developing biological weapons from bird flu strains found in Indonesia.
"I think it's the nuttiest idea I've ever heard," Gates said Monday after addressing his speech to the Indonesian Council on World Affairs at the Four Seasons Hotel, South Jakarta.
Siti's book, It's Time for the World to Change, Divine Hands Behind Bird Flu, alleges the U.S. and the World Health Organization are conspiring against developing countries byseizing control of bird flu samples.
The book says virus samples being sent to a laboratory in Los Alamos are under U.S military control.
After meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono at the State Palace, Gates said he did not discuss the issue with the President.
"I respectfully and strongly disagree with the minister, and it is not true that the United States offered military equipment if the book was withdrawn," he said in response to allegations that the U.S would provide military aid for Indonesia as long as the English version of the book was withdrawn.
Presidential spokesman Dino Pati Djalal said any claim the U.S. designed the virus as a biological weapon was a personal view of the minister and not the President.
U.S State Department spokeswoman Susan Stahl recently denied Siti's claim.
Recently, Siti said she was pulling the English version of the book from distribution after less than a month, citing inaccurate translations as the main reason.
The book was launched on Feb. 6 and is a 182-page memoir recording Siti's struggle to change the allegedly unfair virus sample sharing.
She claimed the system was not transparent and did not accommodate the needs of developing nations.
The Indonesian government decided to stop sharing virus samples early last year following a perceived leakage in the GISN as vaccine makers in developed countries could obtain samples sent by Indonesia to produce bird flu vaccines.
However, the government resumed sharing last week and sent 12 samples to the Center for Disease Control and Protection inAtlanta, Georgia.
February 26, 2008 By Jakarta Post
JAKARTA--United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates has denied allegations by Indonesia's Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari that his country is developing biological weapons from bird flu strains found in Indonesia.
"I think it's the nuttiest idea I've ever heard," Gates said Monday after addressing his speech to the Indonesian Council on World Affairs at the Four Seasons Hotel, South Jakarta.
Siti's book, It's Time for the World to Change, Divine Hands Behind Bird Flu, alleges the U.S. and the World Health Organization are conspiring against developing countries byseizing control of bird flu samples.
The book says virus samples being sent to a laboratory in Los Alamos are under U.S military control.
After meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono at the State Palace, Gates said he did not discuss the issue with the President.
"I respectfully and strongly disagree with the minister, and it is not true that the United States offered military equipment if the book was withdrawn," he said in response to allegations that the U.S would provide military aid for Indonesia as long as the English version of the book was withdrawn.
Presidential spokesman Dino Pati Djalal said any claim the U.S. designed the virus as a biological weapon was a personal view of the minister and not the President.
U.S State Department spokeswoman Susan Stahl recently denied Siti's claim.
Recently, Siti said she was pulling the English version of the book from distribution after less than a month, citing inaccurate translations as the main reason.
The book was launched on Feb. 6 and is a 182-page memoir recording Siti's struggle to change the allegedly unfair virus sample sharing.
She claimed the system was not transparent and did not accommodate the needs of developing nations.
The Indonesian government decided to stop sharing virus samples early last year following a perceived leakage in the GISN as vaccine makers in developed countries could obtain samples sent by Indonesia to produce bird flu vaccines.
However, the government resumed sharing last week and sent 12 samples to the Center for Disease Control and Protection inAtlanta, Georgia.