I never gave the order to kill Gus Dur: Feisal<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Former Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen.
\n(ret.) Feisal Tanjung on Monday vehemently denied being part of
\nan alleged plan to \"eliminate\" President Abdurrahman Wahid and
\nVice President Megawati Soekarnoputri.<\/p>\n
\"With all due respect to the president who is now abroad, I
\npersonally never ordered it. Institutionally, the TNI never
\nordered it,\" said Feisal, accompanied by former chief of TNI
\ngeneral affairs Lt. Gen. Tarub, during a news conference here.<\/p>\n
Feisal was responding to Abdurrahman's statement in Rome on
\nSunday that back in 1997, Gen. Wiranto, then commander of the
\nArmy Strategic Reserves Command, warned Abdurrahman that he had
\nbeen told by Feisal of orders to eliminate him.<\/p>\n
According to Abdurrahman, when Wiranto verified the order,
\nformer President Soeharto denied having any knowledge of it.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman's assertions on Sunday came as he was vouching for
\nWiranto's credibility despite rumors of a showdown between the
\ntwo. The President has said that Wiranto should resign as
\ncoordinating minister of political affairs and security following
\nallegations of his involvement in the violence in East Timor.<\/p>\n
Appearing relaxed and smiling, Feisal claimed he had done no
\nsuch thing as he was close with Abdurrahman especially since they
\nhad gone on haj together.<\/p>\n
He also claimed to be close to Megawati's husband, Taufik
\nKiemas.<\/p>\n
Feisal said he contacted Wiranto after reading the President's
\nstatement.<\/p>\n
\"Pak Wiranto said it wasn't true,\" Feisal said.<\/p>\n
When asked point blank whether the President was lying, Feisal
\ndiplomatically retorted: \"I just said that it (the statement)
\nwasn't right. You (reporters) are the ones saying it.\"<\/p>\n
Feisal said he was not considering any defamation suit in
\nreaction to the allegations.<\/p>\n
He refused to comment when asked whether the move was aimed at
\ndefaming TNI.<\/p>\n
\"I'm no longer a military officer. But I respect Gus Dur as a
\nlegitimate president who has been democratically elected,\" he
\nsaid referring to the President by his popular name.<\/p>\n
Feisal said he had asked Wiranto to join him in the news
\nconference, but the minister declined saying that he was already
\ntoo much in the news.<\/p>\n
Tarub, accompanying Feisal, also pledged that no plan ever
\nexisted. \"I swear, we never conducted it,\" he said as he raised
\nhis right hand.<\/p>\n
Separately, House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung
\nvouched for Feisal.<\/p>\n
\"I was a minister at that time. I never heard about it,\" said
\nAkbar who was State Secretary during that period.<\/p>\n
Just hours after Feisal's denial, Abdurrahman, arriving in
\nBrussels, fired a salvo at the retired general.<\/p>\n
\"I'm sticking to my version,\" he said. \"I received this
\ninformation not only from Wiranto but also from other sources.\"<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman then launched a stinging attack on Feisal which
\nseemed to accuse him of being behind the July 27, 1996, attack on
\nthe Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters chaired by
\nMegawati.<\/p>\n
\"Pak Feisal can say what he wants, but everybody knows who
\nordered the attack on the PDI headquarters,\" he told journalists.
\n(jun)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/i-never-gave-the-order-to-kill-gus-dur-feisal-1447899208",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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