Wolfowitz urges Indonesian military to reform itself<\/p>\n
Agencies, Singapore<\/p>\n
The deputy U.S. defense secretary on Friday urged Indonesia's
\nmilitary to reform itself, but said a strong army there was
\nneeded to fight terrorism and maintain democracy.<\/p>\n
Paul Wolfowitz met with Indonesian Defense Minister Matori
\nAbdul Djalil ahead of an international conference in Singapore
\nwhere security experts and defense ministers will discuss the
\nanti-terrorism fight and arms proliferation in Asia.<\/p>\n
Wolfowitz said the Indonesian military must curb human rights
\nabuses and ensure civilian control. Even so, the U.S. official
\nsupports resuming U.S. aid to the Indonesian army - aid that has
\nbeen banned because of human rights violations in East Timor and
\nother regions.<\/p>\n
Wolfowitz has said U.S. support for the Indonesian military
\ncan help teach Indonesian officers more respect for human rights
\nand democracy.<\/p>\n
\"If there's going to be effective democratic control of the
\nmilitary in Indonesia there needs to be reform,\" said Wolfowitz,
\na former U.S. ambassador to Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Congress is considering an anti-terrorism funding
\nbill that would send US$8 million to Indonesia to create a police
\nunit to fight terrorists, but lawmakers so far have not approved
\nthe closer military cooperation.<\/p>\n
After meeting Wolfowitz, Matori said Indonesia is committed to
\nfighting terrorism and welcomed financial help from the United
\nStates. But he said U.S. troops should not enter Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"To help Indonesia fight terrorism, it is not necessary to
\nhave American soldiers on our soil,\" Matori said.<\/p>\n
Jakarta has consistently rejected accusations by the
\ninternational community that it has failed to arrest Islamic
\nmilitants operating on its soil. Neighboring Malaysia, Singapore
\nand the Philippines have detained dozens of suspected militants,
\nseveral of them Indonesians.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Singapore founding father Lee Kuan Yew on Friday
\nurged the United States to support Indonesia's military despite
\nits history of abuse, saying the army is one of the few
\ninstitutions that can keep the country together and rein in
\nMuslim extremism.<\/p>\n
\"Despite all its shortcomings, the Indonesian military is
\nstill led by a nationalist, not an Islamic, senior officer
\ncorps,\" Lee said in a speech opening the regional security
\nconference in Singapore.<\/p>\n
\"If the U.S. does not re-engage the (Indonesian military) and
\nhelp it reform itself, a young newly elected government will not
\nhave an effective institution to support its policies. The
\nstability of Indonesia is crucial to the future of the region and
\nthe strategic balance in East Asia,\" he said, adding that
\nIndonesian leaders are vying for support of Islamic militants in
\n2004 presidential elections.<\/p>\n
The 78-year-old Lee warned of a major threat by al-Qaeda
\nlinked terrorists in Southeast Asia. His recent comments chiding
\nneighboring Indonesia - the world's most populous Muslim nation -
\nfor failing to arrest militants have sparked diplomatic rows
\nbetween the two countries.<\/p>\n
\"Over the last three decades, as part of a world-wide trend,
\nMuslims in the region, including Singapore, are becoming stricter
\nin their dress, diet, religious observances, and even social
\ninteraction.<\/p>\n
\"What came as a shock was that this heightened religiosity
\nfacilitated Muslim terror groups linked to al-Qaeda to recruit
\nSingapore Muslims into their network.\"<\/p>\n
Although Singapore had detained 13 members of the militant
\nJemaah Islamiyah another 20 escaped and were \"now probably in
\nIndonesia,\" Lee said.<\/p>\n
The 13 were motivated by a shared ideology of universal jihad
\n(holy war) and planned to blow up U.S. and other Western targets,
\nwith their leader Ibrahim Maidin \"unrepentant and defiant under
\ndetention\".<\/p>\n
Lee said militant Islam \"feeds upon the insecurities and
\nalienation that globalisation generates among the less
\nsuccessful.\"<\/p>\n
Wolfowitz warned of a \"gathering storm\" of terrorism
\nthreatening the world as he arrived in Singapore on Friday for a
\nregional security conference.<\/p>\n
Wolfowitz said he would use the weekend Asia-Pacific security
\nconference to stress that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks impacted
\non the whole world, not just the United States.<\/p>\n
Defense ministers or their representatives from about 20
\ncountries are in Singapore for the conference dubbed \"the
\nShangri-La dialogue\" after the name of the hotel where it is
\nbeing held.<\/p>\n
In addition to the terrorist threat, other issues to be
\ndebated include U.S. strategy in the region, China's military
\ndoctrine, Europe's role in Asian security, and non-proliferation
\nchallenges.<\/p>\n
Most of the three-day meeting will be behind closed doors,
\nwith organizers from the London-based International Institute for
\nStrategic Studies saying this would allow a \"frank exchange of
\nviews\".<\/p>\n
Quoting a line from Winston Churchill, Wolfowitz said his
\nmessage to the conference was that \"this 'gathering storm' that
\nis the terrorist threat is something that threatens the whole
\nworld.<\/p>\n
\"It's true that the attacks on September 11 were on my country
\nand some people here may think that's thousands of mile away, but
\nthe terrorist threat is here as well.\"<\/p>\n
Fifteen years ago, when Wolfowitz was the U.S. ambassador to
\nIndonesia, a \"Japanese Red Army terrorist\" threw a bomb at the
\nembassy in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"It reminded me that terrorism is not new in this part of the
\nworld. More importantly the terrorists really threaten the values
\nthat we all care about, the values of freedom, tolerance and
\ndemocracy. And this is a fight for everyone.\"<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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