Prabowo suggests supervision of intelligence<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto made his first
\npublic appearance here in nearly two years, proclaiming he was
\nback for good and suggesting that the legislature keep a close
\neye on intelligence operations to prevent their exploitation for
\ncertain political interests.<\/p>\n
\"There should be a special House committee which consists of
\nfaction leaders that has the authority to summon intelligence
\nofficers to report intelligence operations, including the highly
\nconfidential ones... just like in the United States,\" Prabowo
\nsaid during a news conference on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The remark was made in response to a journalist's question of
\nwhether the 49-year-old former Army Special Force (Kopassus)
\nchief thought intelligence operations were involved in or had
\nbeen used by certain groups to create unrest.<\/p>\n
Prabowo, a son-in-law of former president Soeharto, was
\ndischarged from the military in August 1998 following an inquiry
\nwhich revealed his involvement in the abduction of student
\nactivists.<\/p>\n
Since then Prabowo has been based in Amman, Jordan.<\/p>\n
Previous statements on his behalf in the last two years have
\nbeen made here by close associates or his father, senior
\neconomist Sumitro Djojohadikusumo.<\/p>\n
Prabowo admitted that the main reason for holding Tuesday's
\nmedia gathering was to refute recent remarks by President
\nAbdurrahman Wahid who alleged that Prabowo had been involved in
\nthe killing of up to 100 people during military operations in
\nIrian Jaya.<\/p>\n
\"I consider Gus Dur's statement a result of wrong input and
\nI've already clarified with him that it's not true at all,\" he
\nsaid referring to the President by his nickname.<\/p>\n
Prabowo noted that he had only been briefly stationed twice in
\nthe easternmost province: the first for a fortnight in 1982, and
\nthe second in May 1996 when he led a military rescue operation to
\nfree hostages kidnapped by separatist rebels.<\/p>\n
Prabowo expressed no ill will toward the President: \"I still
\nrespect him (Abdurrahman) and I will always pray for his health
\nand success to bring the nation out of economic turmoil.\"<\/p>\n
Military<\/p>\n
When asked whether he agreed with Abdurrahman's remark that
\nex-military personnel may be fomenting the unrest which had hit
\nthe country, Prabowo said such a possibility existed.<\/p>\n
\"Yes, they are capable, but there must be a very sophisticated
\ninvestigation (to prove the allegations) because we cannot just
\nmake accusations without proof,\" Prabowo remarked.<\/p>\n
\"(Finding the evidence) is the job of the intelligence
\nservice, so we must have a professional and clean intelligence
\nservice to really investigate this.\"<\/p>\n
Commenting on demands for the disbanding of military
\nterritorial commands, which military analysts said in the past
\nhad been misused to suppress dissidents, Prabowo contended that
\n\"the territorial doctrine is still relevant\".<\/p>\n
\"In the next 20 to 30 years, I believe we still won't be able
\nto afford modern military weaponry, so the presence of military
\ntroops in the regions will still be needed to keep our
\nterritorial integrity,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Prabowo, who is now a businessman, said he had returned to
\nJakarta for good but added that he would still need to travel
\nabroad to run his business in Jordan.<\/p>\n
\"I have decided to stay, but my work requires me to do a lot
\nof traveling,\" he said, adding that he had been traveling between
\nthe two countries since January. (byg)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/prabowo-suggests-supervision-of-intelligence-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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