AG asks BI to freeze terrorists' accounts

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Attorney General's Office formally requested Bank Indonesia, the central bank, to freeze 28 bank accounts belonging to companies suspected of having links with international terrorist Osama bin Laden.

"Our letter to Bank Indonesia was sent in response to a request made by the ministry of foreign affairs following the UN Security Council's resolution on freezing assets allegedly belonging to terrorist groups," Attorney General's office spokesman Muljohardjo told the press in Jakarta on Monday.

Muljohardjo said the letter was sent on Oct. 24.

He, however, refused to disclose the names of the 28 companies, saying that the companies were not necessarily located in Indonesia and confidentiality was for the sake of the investigation.

"The UN Security Council has also sent a similar letter to other countries, not only Indonesia," he asserted.

Muljohardjo doubted if at least six companies with initials AQ, AS, AIG, HUIM, AJ, and AT, had accounts in Indonesia.

Following the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on Sept. 11, the UN Security Council issued the resolution urging member countries to freeze bank accounts and assets of alleged terrorist groups.

The U.S. government also distributed a list of 26 terrorist- related organizations to all allied countries, including Indonesia. That list includes Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, the Abu Sayyaf group in the Philippines and the Salafist Group in Algeria.

Some Western media reported earlier that a number of Indonesian groups with apparent links to al-Qaeda had been identified, while the country itself is considered to be reluctant to deal with the terrorist issue.

In an effort to show its willingness to fight terrorism, the government is currently set to issue a presidential decree on antiterrorism to enable it to access bank accounts of individuals or groups believed to have links with international terrorist.

The decision to issue a decree was due to existing legal provisions forbidding any party, including the government, to freeze any assets without official notification from prosecutors, police, or the courts.

Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin said earlier that Banking Law No. 10/1998 does not allow him or any member of the governors or directors to freeze any account unless the state prosecutor's office orders the bank to do so.