Bill Clinton Visits Indonesia’s Aceh Province almost Decade after Tsunami
Bill Clinton, the former president of the USA (1993-2001), visited the Indonesian province of Aceh (on the northern tip of Sumatra) on Saturday (19/07) to see recent developments in the region. Clinton was joined by several US college students as well as members of the Clinton Foundation. Apparently Aceh is a special region for the former president as this is his fourth visit to the region after two visits in 2005 (in the aftermath of the vicious 2004 tsunami) and one in 2006.
In December 2004, an earthquake in the Indian Ocean earthquake caused a devastating tsunami, killing over 167,000 people in Indonesia (mainly in Aceh) and ruining the region's infrastructure and land.
On Saturday, Bill Clinton visited three locations that had been impacted by the 2004 tsunami - Lhokseudu, Lampuuk and Lambung - accompanied by Kuntoro Mangkusubroto (head of the Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency, or BRR), Zaini Abdullah (Governor of Aceh), and Malik Mahmud Al-Haytar (a cultural leader in Aceh).
Prior to Clinton’s arrival (and during his arrival at Sultan Iskandar Muda International Airport in Aceh Besar), several demonstrations were organized as some segments of Indonesian society were concerned that Clinton’s arrival was an US attempt to meddle in Indonesian political affairs (in the context of the close race between presidential candidates Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto). There were also voices that protested against Clinton’s arrival due to the US alliance with Israel. However, these protests did not lead to real public disturbances.