The tough words came in Rumsfeld's meetings here with Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono to discuss closer US military cooperation with Indonesia, including exercises, exchanges and sales of spare parts for its F-16 fighter jets.

Fears of militant Islamic groups mushrooming since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States have spurred Washington's efforts to deepen security ties with Indonesia.

Sudarsono said it was best to leave anti-terrorism measures to local governments and "not to be too overly insistent about immediate results arising from your perceptions about terrorists".

"It's important to us because as the world's largest Muslim country we are very aware of the perception, or misperception, that the United States is overbearing and ... overwhelming in every sector of life in many nations and cultures," he said.

"So I was telling the secretary just recently, just two minutes ago, that your powerful economy and your powerful military does lend to misperception and a sense of threat by many groups right across the world, not just in Indonesia," he told a news conference here with Rumsfeld at his side.

Rumsfeld interjected, saying that the minister's points were "not unreasonable", but he insisted that the United States had encouraged other countries to participate in the war on terrorism however they saw fit.

It was not immediately clear if the Indonesian was referring to a specific incident or issue.

But he indicated Indonesia has reservations about the Proliferation Security Initiative, a US-led effort to get countries to work together to stop the movement by sea of nuclear materials and technology.

Sudarsono said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had directed his ministers to study the issue but said Indonesia was concerned that it would affect its territorial sovereignty.

"Perhaps we can agree on a limited framework of cooperation rather than a multilateral permanent structure of PSI," he said.

The discordant notes overshadowed Rumsfeld's talks with the Indonesians on restoring a military to military relationship that has been in a deep freeze for much of the past decade over the Indonesian military's poor human rights record.

The State Department invoked a waiver of US law in November to lift the remaining restrictions on US military aid and weapons sales to Indonesia, a country of strategic importance because of its size and location in southeast Asia.

"I can say the United States has established fully normal relations, military to military relations with Indonesia and that the process of seeing that that relationship evolves is underway," Rumsfeld said.

A senior US military official traveling with Rumsfeld said they discussed military exercises and training with the Indonesians.

He said the Indonesians have put in their first requests for spare parts for C-130 transport planes, which are crucial to disaster relief efforts in a country devastated by a tsunami in December 2005 and by an earthquake May 27.

Requests for spare parts for Indonesia's F-16 fighters also were expected soon, the official said. The United States has begun providing assistance with maintenance of Indonesian naval patrol boats, he said.

Indonesian military officers are being taught by US military personnel how to get foreign military financing for acquisitions of US military equipment, he said.

Rumsfeld earlier met for 45 minutes with Yudhoyono, who highlighted the importance of making the improved ties permanent, said presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal.

"He (Yudhoyono) stressed that in severing Indonesia-US military ties, Indonesia would not be the only one to lose, but also the United States."

Rumsfeld told reporters no one could guarantee that the US Congress would not impose restrictions on the Indonesians again.

"But I can tell you that the full intention of President Bush and Don Rumsfeld and the United States is to develop our relationship with the government of Indonesia from a military to military standpoint in a manner that is comfortable for the people of Indonesia and the people of the United States."

Sudarsono indicated that Indonesia is hedging its bets on the United States as a military supplier, acquiring Sukhoi fighter aircraft from Russia at a rate of two a year while it refurbishes its F-16s with new spare parts.

Yudhoyono and Sudarsono both thanked Rumsfeld for the assistance the US military provided after the tsunami and in the wake of the May 27 earthquake in the main island of Java that left nearly 5,800 dead.

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