Four grilled over hunting Americans
Four grilled over hunting Americans
JAKARTA (JP): Police are questioning four local Muslim leaders
over their alleged roles in Sunday's sweep of international
hotels in Surakarta, Central Java, for American guests, an
officer said on Monday.
The incident involved dozens of men clad in green military-
style uniforms, who stormed into a number of hotels demanding
American guests leave the country.
"Those men may not have engineered acts of violence, but what
they did was a public order violation according to our Criminal
Code," National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Saleh Saaf told The
Jakarta Post by telephone.
The four men being questioned, Saleh said, were from four
separate militant Muslim groups.
The groups were identified as the Sunan Bonang Division of the
Hizbullah Corps, the Hizbullah Brigade, the Lasykar Jundullah and
an Alert Youth Wing which claims to be part of the 25 million-
strong Muhammadiyah Muslim organization.
"Whether the latter is just using the name Muhammadiyah or is
really a wing of Muhammadiyah has yet to be determined. Police
are still looking into this matter," Saleh said.
Muhammadiyah chairman Ahmad Syafi'i Ma'arif dismissed the
possibility that its members were involved in the incident.
"I have yet to receive information about the incident.
"But to my knowledge it's impossible that Muhammadiyah members
would commit such acts .... Muhammadiyah is such a moderate
Muslim organization ... its members would not do such a strange
thing," Syafi'i told The Jakarta Post.
The chairman of the Surakarta chapter of Muhammadiyah,
Sukiryono, said that if the suspects proved to be Muhammadiyah
members, they were acting on their own accord.
"Muhammadiyah does not have such a policy. If they really are
Muhammadiyah members, they acted on their own initiative,"
Sukiryono told the Post.
The incident was a result of rising anti-American sentiment
following the arrest of an American citizen, Aaron War Maness, on
Oct. 21 over allegations of espionage.
The Indonesian government has issued a statement saying that
Maness was not involved in espionage in Irian Jaya.
While officials of the presidential office were quick to play
down the arrest and spying allegations in an attempt to cool
tensions, some legislators from the House of Representatives
demanded that U.S. Ambassador Robert Gelbard be declared persona
non grata.
The U.S. Embassy, which closed its public services section
last week after receiving an unspecified threat, announced on
Saturday it would remain closed to the public until at least
Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Indonesianist and political scientist Daniel S. Lev
from the University of Washington criticized Gelbard for being
too harsh and less than diplomatic in his recent dispute with
Minister of Defense Mahfud M.D.
"Gelbard is too harsh and overreacted in this case. If he is
described as a troubleshooter ... what is he troubleshooting? It
needs special expertise to be (a troubleshooter)," Lev told the
Post during a break in a seminar on the military held here on
Monday.
"And in this case, I think the dispute between the two
(Gelbard and Mahfud) is a mistake. Gelbard was once stationed in
eastern Europe ... Yugoslavia, and then here in Indonesia. But he
is just too harsh. Mahfud, on the other hand, is inexperienced,"
Lev said.
"So this problem is caused by the incompetence of
inexperienced people. This is outrageous as actually there is no
fundamental problem to be made a big deal of.
"Mahfud is very quick in judging, as in the case of the
alleged American spy in Papua, and Gelbard is also too
responsive.
"These things happen if the people involved are not being
professional," he remarked.
Both Jakarta and Washington are confused as they certainly do
not want ties between the countries to be broken, he said.
"On this account, I think this matter will die down in the
next two or three weeks," Lev said.
He suggested an open dialog between representatives of the two
countries. "But by closing down (the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta)
there will never be a chance for such talks."
"The issue also depends on the question of whether Gelbard can
be a good diplomat.
"It is his duty to protect his country's interests, but he
shouldn't blindly defend giant companies such as Freeport or
Newmont," Lev said.
A political observer from Airlangga University in Surabaya,
Daniel Sparringa, said the dispute between the two officials was
just a minor incident in bilateral relations between the two
countries.
"Let's hope that better communications and understanding will
solve the problem," Daniel said on the sidelines of the same
seminar. (ylt/edt/swa/imn)