Army requests list of dissidents
Army requests list of dissidents
DILI, East Timor (JP): Army Chief of Staff Gen. R. Hartono asked the authorities in East Timor, Irian Jaya and Aceh yesterday to list people they believe are members of clandestine groups.
"The listing will help the local governments watch people who have links with clandestine groups," he told journalists after meeting with local military officials.
Hartono is on a whirlwind tour to eastern provinces taking him to East Timor, Irian Jaya and Maluku. This is his first trip since being appointed army chief in March.
He met with top East Timorese military leaders for two hours behind closed doors to discuss security issues in the former Portuguese colony.
At the top of the meeting's agenda were underground activities in East Timor, Irian Jaya and Aceh.
"Undercover activities exist everywhere, but the best organized are those in East Timor, Irian Jaya and Aceh" he said.
The government faces low-level separatist movements in those three provinces. The Armed Forces (ABRI) reports that armed resistance by members of the secessionist Free Papua Movement in Irian Jaya and the Free Aceh Movement is dwindling.
Indonesia's sovereignty in East Timor has yet to be recognized by the United Nations.
Hartono said "many" people are involved in clandestine groups in East Timor, but he decline the estimate number.
He classified East Timor rebels, or "security disturbing forces" as the military calls them, into three categories, namely "korsa" and "selula", which involve armed resistance, and "clandestine". People involved in clandestine activities are the most difficult to detect because they mingle with the public.
He said the clandestine activities can involve the supplying of information to the armed resistance groups by both government and private-sector employees.
Last month, Hartono told regional military chiefs that they needed to list leaders of clandestine movements that could undermine security in their respective areas.
Asked if ABRI has any plans to reduce its presence in East Timor, the general said that would be possible only after it completes its territorial tasks.
The Armed Forces has always maintained that most of its battalions in East Timor are on civic or "territorial" missions, such as helping residents build roads, bridges and teaching locals modern farming methods.
"I have ordered them to implement the mission as best as they can. If they need assistance, the ABRI headquarters is ready to help. ABRI is increasingly successful," he said. (yac/pan)