Indonesia blast U.S. over military relations<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Indonesian government has criticized United States lawmakers
\nfor stalling efforts to restore full military ties between the
\ntwo countries, calling the move a groundless ploy.<\/p>\n
"I see there is no legal basis to accuse Indonesia of not
\ndoing anything to meet all requirements for the restoration of
\nmilitary cooperation," Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono said
\non Sunday.<\/p>\n
He was commenting on restrictions maintained by the U.S.
\nSenate and House of Representatives on foreign military finance,
\nand on exports of lethal military equipment to Indonesia. The
\nmove comes as U.S. President George W. Bush seeks approval from
\nthe U.S. Congress for US$20.9 billion in foreign aid that
\nincludes military funding for several countries in the Middle
\nEast, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, including Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The U.S. lawmakers said Indonesia had not done enough to bring
\nto justice perpetrators of an ambush in Timika, Papua, in 2002,
\nwhich killed two American teachers and an Indonesian citizen
\nworking for U.S.-owned mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia.<\/p>\n
"At the initiative of TNI chief (Gen. Endriartono Sutarto), we
\nprovided FBI access to the investigation and they concluded later
\nthat the TNI was clean," Juwono said.<\/p>\n
The U.S. implicated a rebel leader Antonius Wamang in the
\nattack.<\/p>\n
Free Papuan Movement (OPM) has waged a low-level armed
\nstruggle for independence against the central government.<\/p>\n
"As of today, the police, with the assistance of the military,
\ncontinue to hunt down the suspect, who can easily traverse the
\nborder between Papua province and neighboring Papua New Guinea,"
\nJuwono said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has been desperately seeking alternative arms
\nsuppliers after Washington imposed a military embargo on Jakarta
\nin 1999, due to atrocities in East Timor that were linked to the
\nTNI.<\/p>\n
The TNI, however, has been the world's largest beneficiary of
\nmillions of dollars' worth of unrestricted counter-terrorism
\ntraining under the Pentagon's Regional Defense Counterterrorism
\nFellowship Program. In 2004, Indonesia participated in Extended
\nIMET programs worth $599,000. In 2005 alone, Indonesia was
\nexpected to participate in more than 132 events under the U.S.
\nPacific Command Theater Security Cooperation Program.<\/p>\n
The U.S. lawmakers are also requiring that the U.S. State
\nDepartment certify that Indonesia is cooperating in the war on
\nterror in order to receive the aid disbursement.<\/p>\n
Juwono assured that Indonesia was committed to the crackdown
\non terrorist networks and had never taken advantage of the issue
\nfor political, religious or ideological interests.<\/p>\n
"We have always supported the fight against terrorism by our
\nown initiative. Of course, any arrest of terrorist suspects
\nshould be made based on our legal system," Juwono told The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
He said Indonesia had received assistance from foreign
\ncountries to fight terrorism, including electronic interception
\nand financial detection devices for Bank Indonesia, the Ministry
\nof Finance and the Customs and Excise office.<\/p>\n
Rights activist Ifdhal Kasim from the Institute for Policy
\nResearch and Advocacy (Elsam) said the problems with the Papua
\nincident did not lie in the incapability of the country's law
\nenforcers, but "political interests that require the case to
\nremain undisclosed."<\/p>\n
"If a certain institution is believed to have been involved in
\nthe incident, then we must admit it and bring the perpetrators to
\njustice. The government must realize that upholding the law is a
\nkey instrument to start military reform," Ifdhal told the Post.<\/p>\n
He said that Juwono had to speed up military reform because
\n"the problems of reviving military ties with the U.S. will stand
\nstill unless we can show some real progress."<\/p>\n
The ups-and-downs of military ties between Indonesia and the U.S.<\/p>\n
---------------------------------------------------------------------
\n1993 Washington imposes partial military embargo against<\/p>\n
Indonesia, following the St. Cruz massacre in East Timor.<\/p>\n
1999 The U.S. imposes a full embargo against Indonesia,<\/p>\n
banning the export of military equipment to Jakarta and<\/p>\n
training of its military<\/p>\n
2003 In the wake of the global war on terror, the U.S. revives<\/p>\n
in stages military ties with Indonesia by reopening<\/p>\n
training and courses for Indonesian officers.<\/p>\n
2004 Washington eases the embargo after the Dec. 26 tsunami. The<\/p>\n
Policy allows Indonesia to purchase non-lethal military<\/p>\n
equipment
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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