ABRI denies issuing warrant for Amien

JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI) denied yesterday that a warrant had been issued for the arrest of Moslem scholar Amien Rais for his allegedly subversive activities.

Military spokesman Brig. Gen. A. Wahab Mokodongan told reporters he did not see any reason why Amien -- who is among the government's staunchest critics -- should be arrested.

Mokodongan spoke in response to a reporter's query about rumors that the Attorney General's Office had been ordered to issue a warrant for Amien's arrest.

"That's not true. I just heard it now from you," Mokodongan, who addressed the reporters in place of Armed Forces Commander/Minister of Defense Gen. Wiranto, said. "What reason would there be for ABRI to arrest Amien? What has he done? Nothing."

Wiranto, who was originally slated to address the media briefing himself, canceled because he had a meeting with staff at the ministry after he was summoned to President Soeharto's residence on Jl. Cendana, Central Jakarta, earlier yesterday.

Asked about the emergence of three new alliances of former officials, scholars and government critics -- all with the same demand that President Soeharto resign -- Mokodongan said: "ABRI is still studying them (the alliances)."

The three new organizations are Majelis Amanah Rakyat (Council for the People's Mandate) led by Amien Rais; Forum Kerja Indonesia (Indonesia Working Forum) led by Amien, Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Soekarnoputri; and Komite Nasional Indonesia Reformasi (Indonesian National Committee for Reform).

Mokodongan also offered assurances that Jakarta, which has been torn apart by riots over the last several days, was now back to normal. He called on expatriates to be calm and assured them that ABRI guaranteed their safety. (rms/swe)