Karen Hughes, the recently installed chief guardian of America's image abroad, yesterday faced hostile questions about US foreign policy and the war in Iraq from a group of Indonesian students as she launched a south-east Asian leg of her campaign to woo the Islamic world.

Facing 16 pre-selected students in a dimly lit and half-full auditorium at Jakarta's State Islamic University, the former White House spokeswoman tried to ease her way into the discussion: "My state of Texas is very big," she told the students. "So you can imagine my surprise to learn that your country, Indonesia, is three times bigger than my big state of Texas."