Government to set up anticorruption body

JAKARTA (JP): The government is to set up an anticorruption body within two weeks as part of its commitment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said on Saturday.

"We will be setting up a joint anticorruption team within two weeks, which will be the embryo of the independent anticorruption body," Marzuki told journalists.

The team is expected to involve police and prosecutors, among others. Marzuki did not elaborate further.

He was speaking after a cabinet meeting convened to discuss the progress of the measures promised to the IMF in the letter of intent signed by government in January.

In the letter of intent, the attorney general must form a "coordinated investigative team" by April 8, that will have independent authority to probe and bring corruption cases to justice.

In February, Marzuki said the independent team would be "reporting directly to the President, and that gradually all cases of corruption will be handled by this agency."

Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly, Amien Rais, has called on the government to establish an independent antigraft commission and suggested that it take as a model, the one operating in Hong Kong.

President Abdurrahman Wahid has made corruption -- a rampant and deep-rooted problem during 32-year rule of former president Soeharto -- the main concern of his reform agenda. (cst/byg)