ABRI denies issuing warrant for Amien

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)