JAKARTA (AFP) – United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Jakarta Thursday to discuss the possible resumption of military ties with Indonesian special forces.

Gates, who arrived from a visit to Seoul, was due to meet President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro later Thursday.

The US defense chief was expected to discuss the possibility of resuming training for an elite Indonesian military unit as part of growing counter-insurgency and intelligence cooperation with Jakarta.

But the move would be controversial as the Kopassus unit has been implicated in human rights abuses, including in East Timor, and some players in US Congress have opposed embracing the force before it has accounted for its past.