Govt may review security officials after bombs: SBY
Govt may review security officials after bombs: SBY
Reiner Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Hanoi
Following the latest blasts that rocked the country, President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Sunday a performance assessment
of security officials was likely.
The performance of security officials in the field, be they
from the police, intelligence agencies or the military, were
subject to regular evaluations, the President said while on a
state visit to Vietnam.
"I have heard (People's Consultative Assembly Speaker) Pak
Hidayat Nur Wahid comment about the performance of the National
Police. I cannot make a decision arbitrarily, but there could be
a review of the performance of security officials in the field,"
Susilo said.
The President said he was currently leaving it to the existing
security forces to find the group responsible for the bomb
attacks in the Central Sulawesi town of Tentena, which left 20
people dead.
"But once again, if we find a component (in the forces) that
does not work, we have to mend it. We need to change it," Susilo
said.
In the program for his first 100 days in office, Susilo had
ordered National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar to capture
Malaysian fugitives Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Moh. Top, who
have been wanted for their key roles in a spate of terror attacks
in the country since the Bali bombings in 2002.
The President said the bombings in Tentena were the work of "a
combination of elements from outside and within" the area in a
bid to reignite the communal conflict that had plagued the region
for years in the past.
Susilo, however, deemed that the situation in Poso was now
under control. The incident had not escalated sectarian tensions
thanks to the people, he said, who had long wanted an enduring
peace and had not been provoked.
He would not comment on who he believed the perpetrators were.
When asked whether the Malaysian fugitives were behind the
attack, he said: "As a president and a decision-maker, I can't
hastily confirm such a theory ... (But) there is every
possibility. If it was carried out by Noordin M. Top, the
Malaysian citizen who has been moving around the country and is
believed to be planning a fresh (terror) act -- I want a quick
and decisive investigation into this."
Susilo has been visiting heads of state overseas for the past
week. He arrived in Vietnam on Saturday after visiting the United
States last week. From Hanoi, he will travel on to Japan.
Susilo said he would not cut short his three-nation visit
because Vice President Jusuf Kalla and top security officials
were dealing with the issue in Sulawesi.