ABRI not involved in May riots, says BIA chief

JAKARTA (JP): Armed Forces Intelligence Agency (BIA) chief Maj. Gen. Zacky Anwar Makarim said on Wednesday that the Armed Forces (ABRI) was not involved in the May riots which left 1,200 people dead and led to the downfall of veteran ruler Soeharto.

A member of the fact-finding team set up by the government, Bambang W. Soeharto, quoted Zacky as saying that he nevertheless admitted there were a number of agitators behind the deadly unrest.

Bambang, who leads the team's subcommittee on the unrest which hit Jakarta and other cities in the country, questioned Zacky at the BIA headquarters in Kalibata, South Jakarta, to learn about the activities of the intelligence agency prior to and during the riots.

Zacky was the fourth government official questioned by the investigation team. Last week, the team questioned former Jakarta military commander Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso and former city police chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata.

"The most important thing is that all four officials admitted that there were agitators present during the riots," Bambang told a media conference at the Ministry of Justice shortly after the three-hour interview with Zacky at the BIA's Kalibata headquarters. Bambang quoted Zacky as saying that some of the agitators had been arrested by the city police.

He added that Zacky said he had done his utmost to monitor rising tension in the country from as far back as April 9.

"The intelligence agency had "detected" signs (of trouble) and warned all units to be on the alert back in April," Zacky was quoted by Bambang as having said.

Zacky said that his organization predicted that "something" would happen on May 20, the day Moslem leader Amien Rais planned to stage a march involving one million people to demand Soeharto's resignation. However, Amien canceled the rally for fear of clashes between marchers and the security forces.

When pressed further by the press as to why the military were non-existent during the riots, despite Zacky claims that all units had been placed on the alert, Bambang said: "Zacky revealed that the troops were tired and depressed ... they had been almost constantly on the alert since the election (last year) and the general session of the People's Consultative Assembly (in March)."

Bambang said the meetings so far held were not sufficient and added that the team plans to question other officials to establish if the riots were masterminded or not.

Bambang also said that the four officials already questioned could be brought before the team for follow up sessions in the near future.

Also present during the questioning were team members Bambang Widjojanto, Saparinah Sadli, Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, Catholic priest Sandyawan Sumardi, Rosita S. Noer and Sriharjo. (byg)