Bush shrugs off Indonesia protests, gets Iraq advice

BOGOR, Nov 20 (Reuters) US President George W Bush wrapped up a gruelling Asia tour today, shrugging off angry anti-American protests in Indonesia and receiving some advice on exiting Iraq from the country's president.

''People protest -- that's a good sign. It's a sign of a healthy society,'' Bush told a joint news conference with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the former Dutch colonial Bogor Palace, with protesters held at bay by a large security presence.

The Indonesian leader had some advice for Bush on Iraq on an ultimate exit strategy.

Yudhoyono said achieving Iraqi national reconciliation, involving other parties and progress in rebuilding the war-shattered nation should decide the timetable for US troops to leave.

''We have to probably deploy a new set-up of security forces in parallel with some day, based on a proper timetable, the disengagement of U.S. military forces and other coalition forces from Iraq.'' Bush is under pressure at home to change course in Iraq and a bipartisan panel is to recommend options next month. Asked about increasing or decreasing US troops as some experts recommend, he said he will wait for the options before deciding.

But he has adamantly opposed setting a specific timetable for withdrawal. The news conference ended without Bush responding to Yudhoyono's remarks.

Outside the locked-down town centre, about 1,000 anti-US protesters ignored monsoon rain and thunder to chant anti-Bush slogans in front of Bogor's telecommunications headquarters after breaking through an outer ring of police barricades.

Separately about 3,000 people from the Islamic-orientated Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) marched in Bogor wearing bandanas reading ''US terrorist.'' Students from Bogor university shouted, ''Bush dog, Bush dog!.'' MORE REUTERS SP ND2310