Clinton seeks to improve US image with Muslims

INDONESIA: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is continuing the Obama administration’s efforts to rehabilitate America’s image abroad, especially with Muslims, during a visit to Indonesia that began Wednesday.

It is the second stop in her inaugural overseas trip as the top U.S. diplomat. While in Jakarta, Clinton intends to announce plans to step up U.S. engagement with Southeast Asia, stressing the growing importance of a region that often felt slighted by the Bush administration.

Her two-day schedule in Indonesia includes a visit to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations secretariat, and she is likely to signal US intent to sign the regional bloc’s Treaty of Amity and Cooperation.

Clinton will also pledge to attend the group’s annual foreign ministers’ meeting in Thailand this year, U.S. officials said.

Development and climate change also will top the agenda during her meetings with Indonesian leaders, along with the Iranian nuclear dispute and the war in Afghanistan.

Indonesia is the world’s most populous Islamic nation, and it has personal ties for President Barack Obama, who spent four years of his childhood here.

JAKARTA, Wednesday, AP