Ghalib rejects independent probe of Soeharto

JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Andi Muhammad Ghalib, who heads a government probe into former president Soeharto's wealth, said on Wednesday an independent investigation team would be redundant.

"We don't need an independent team. What I need is a team of experts to help me in carrying out (the job of the Attorney General office)," Ghalib told reporters at the Bina Graha presidential office before a Cabinet meeting on security and political affairs.

Ghalib said the team of experts could help his office by contributing input and suggestions.

Soeharto's hand-picked successor, President B.J. Habibie, established an investigation team on Sept. 15 led by Ghalib and assisted by the police and the Development and Finance Comptroller to question Soeharto in person.

"I think the team is already capable of handling the case, so there is no need for an independent team," Ghalib said.

The team's experts could be made up of academicians, legal practitioners and experienced lawyers, he said.

Ghalib cited prominent lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution as one of the people he had contacted to join the team.

Buyung last week had called for the setting up of an independent team to probe Soeharto's wealth.

Ghalib said on Friday that lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis of the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) would also be contacted to join the team of experts.

Todung, however, said on Tuesday that he had turned down the offer because he wished to concentrate on collecting data and information regarding corruption, collusion and nepotism during the Soeharto era.

ICW was established in June to fight for the recovery of assets amassed by the Soeharto family.

Soeharto, 77, evading accusations that he had allegedly accumulated massive wealth while in office for 32 years, has repeatedly denied holding "a single cent" in foreign accounts.

The former president, who stepped down on May 21 amid mounting proreform protests, submitted two draft letters to the Attorney General's Office on Friday that would empower the holder to open any accounts in his name and seize any money found.

Estimates of the Soeharto family's wealth have ranged from US$4 billion, as published by the U.S. magazine Forbes in July of this year, to bolder estimates of $40 billion. (prb/byg)