Govt unconcerned if Washington cancels F-16 deal

JAKARTA (JP): The government said yesterday it was not bothered by the United States' decision to delay selling its F-16 fighters because of Indonesia's allegedly poor human rights record, adding that it could look elsewhere for new aircraft.

Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono yesterday maintained that Jakarta would have no problem whatsoever if Washington canceled its plan to sell the F-16s to Indonesia.

"From the beginning it was the Americans who offered to sell us the F-16s," he replied to journalists.

"If they want to cancel the deal, we do not have any objections. If we need planes, we can buy them from other countries," he said.

The United States has been hoping to sell Indonesia nine F-16s from a batch of 28, which were originally sold to Pakistan but their delivery was blocked by a congressional amendment which was prompted by Islamabad's nuclear policy. The proceeds of the sale to Indonesia were to be used to reimburse Pakistan.

Washington said Thursday that the U.S. government had postponed notifying Congress of the sale until the legislature reconvenes next year. Formal congressional notification is necessary prior to the sale. It gives the legislature 30 days to, if it wishes, pass a resolution of disapproval.

U.S. State Department spokesman Glyn Davies was quoted by Reuter as saying the decision to delay the sale had been taken in response to concerns in Congress over the violence in Jakarta in July. He said those concerns were shared by the administration. But, he added: "We are still convinced the sale is in the U.S. national interest and should proceed."

Three years ago, Congress also blocked the sale of four Jordan-owned F-5 jet fighters to Indonesia because of alleged human rights abuses in East Timor.

When asked about the reason for the delay, Moerdiono said: "Many other countries also have problems on human rights."

"Even in countries who criticize others about human rights, you can find such problems. You can check that with the UN (human rights) office in Geneva," he charged.

According to Moerdiono, the offer was first raised in October during President Soeharto's trip to New York to attend the 50th anniversary celebrations of the United Nations.

"In this matter, from the beginning the President has believed that the purchase of a squadron of F-16s is not a high priority for Indonesia because of the heavy financial cost," he said, adding that this message was clearly delivered to Washington.

Moerdiono maintained that Indonesia had only considered the offer because of its light purchase terms and the export credits that would be granted.

"So if the seller wants to cancel the sale then we have no problem with it whatsoever," he asserted.

The Indonesian Foreign Ministry's Director General of Political Affairs Izhar Ibrahim said yesterday that it was completely up to the Americans whether they wanted to sell the planes to Indonesia.

He maintained that any purchase should be mutually beneficial to the buyer and the seller.

"If the buyer reneges then we can always find someone else. And it has been repeated several times over, we can always buy from someone else," he said.

"If there's an agreement then we're happy, but if there isn't then we'll just find another source. I'm not saying which country, but there are many states which sell planes. It is up to the Armed Forces to determine which type of planes is suitable for us," he said. (mds/rid)