WikiLeaks rift between US and Indonesia worsens as talks called off

JAKARTA: A planned telephone call between the US President, Barack Obama, and his Indonesian counterpart, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was scuttled after revelations US diplomats had told Washington the Indonesian leader and his family were implicated in corruption.

The call had been arranged before the Herald published the allegations in US cables, which were obtained from WikiLeaks and have been denied by Dr Yudhoyono and some of those cited in the cables as sources.

Mr Obama was to have called Dr Yudhoyono on Friday but ''when the WikiLeaks thing broke, it didn't happen'' said one well-placed source, adding the original purpose of the call was to discuss the upcoming East Asia Summit, to be held in Indonesia.

It is understood the US cancelled the call after discussions with officials from the palace.

There is little doubt that, had the call proceeded, Mr Obama would have followed the example of his envoy in Jakarta, Scot Marciel, and expressed his regret over the exposure of the cables and their startling allegations.

A spokesman for Dr Yudhoyono, Teuku Faizasyah, confirmed the lack of contact, but played down its significance, saying ''the scheduling for these kinds of calls is always fluid''.

Even so, US-Indonesian relations have been strained by the publication of the cables and their reports that Dr Yudhoyono blocked a corruption investigation into a political powerbroker, Taufik Kiemas, used the intelligence services to spy on rivals and received funding from the controversial businessman Tomy Winata via a middleman.

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