# 1906
Indonesia's Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari has been making political hay in her country by making outlandish allegations against the United States. She recently published a book (Saatnya Berubah, Tangan Tuhan Dibalik Bird Flu) where she claimed, among other things, that the US was weaponizing bird flu.
Worse, Minister Supari has been blocking the sharing of bird flu virus samples from Indonesia for more than a year, allowing only 2 samples from Bali to be sent to the WHO for analysis.
The United States has denied these allegations repeatedly, but this is the first press release that I've seen directly specifically at the Indonesian people.
U.S. rejects bird flu allegations
Wed, 04/23/2008 10:37 AM | World
The United States Embassy on Tuesday denied allegations it was "seeking to spread avian influenza (AI) or cause harm to human life through biological weaponization of the AI virus as false and without merit".
In a press release sent to The Jakarta Post, it said such allegations "are preposterous and a grave injustice to the people of the United States".
It referred to Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari, whom it said had made false claims that the United States was developing biological weapons from avian influenza samples.
In her recently released book Saatnya Berubah, Tangan Tuhan Dibalik Bird Flu (It's Time To Change, Divine Hands Behind Bird Flu), the minister alleged Washington was using bird flu samples shared by affected countries to create biological weapons.
Indonesia since February last year has stopped sharing bird flu samples with the World Health Organization pending an agreement that would benefit Indonesia in terms of vaccine distribution.
The press release said the United States was dedicated to working with other governments and international organizations to help prevent the spread of this disease, to avert any possible avian influenza pandemic and to plan for possible health contingencies.
The United States and Indonesia, it said, have a close partnership in combating avian influenza and the United States has provided more than US$50 million in support for Indonesia's efforts to prevent and control avian influenza since 2005. -- JP/Tony Hotland
