U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plans to visit Indonesia in the next few weeks to discuss military ties and cooperation in battling terrorism and bird flu, a presidential spokesman said Saturday. "We are in active discussion with the U.S. government to confirm" the two-day visit in the first half of January, presidential spokesman Dino Pati Djalal said. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was looking forward to thanking Rice for her support in normalizing military ties between the two countries, Djalal said, adding that Defense Ministry officials would also meet with Rice to discuss terrorism. Indonesian officials will also seek to increase cooperation in tackling bird flu, which has jumped to humans and killed at least 71 people in Asia since 2003, including 11 in Indonesia, according to a report of the Associated Press.
