If I'm no longer trusted, no problem: Soeharto

If I'm no longer trusted, no problem: Soeharto

CAIRO (JP): President Soeharto says it would not be a
"problem" if people no longer trusted him to lead the country,
and that he would not use armed forces to hold on to his
position.

Speaking in a gathering of some 300 members of the Indonesian
community here yesterday, Soeharto said "if I am no longer
trusted, that's okay...I will not use the force of arms, right?"

"If I am no longer trusted (to lead the country), I will
become pandito (a sage) and endeavor to get closer to God. I will
(spend) my time to guide my children so they become good people,
(guide) the community, and give advice. I will do tut wuri
handayani (guide from behind)," he said.

"So, there's no problem at all if I'm no longer trusted," he
said at the one-hour gathering held at the end of his visit to
the Egyptian capital to attend the G-15 summit. He is reportedly
flying home tomorrow.

He was accompanied yesterday by Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ali Alatas and Minister/State Secretary Saadilah Mursjid.

The President also accused the foreign media of slander in
their report that he was the world's fourth wealthiest person
after Queen Elizabeth, King Fahd and Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of
Brunei.

"That's slander," he said. "There are accusations (against me)
that the national development has been monopolized by the family
of Soeharto... of the Cendana family. They (the accusations) are
completely untrue."

Earlier yesterday, Soeharto sent a personal message of
condolence from Cairo yesterday over the death of four Trisakti
University students during a protest in Jakarta Tuesday.

"On behalf of the government and in my personal capacity, I
express my deepest condolences over the incident that left a
number of students dead and injured," Soeharto said in a message
relayed by the office of Vice President B.J. Habibie.

"I'd like to express my sincere sympathy to the relatives of
the students and to the academic community," said Soeharto, who
has been in Cairo since Sunday.

He appealed to the nation, especially the country's youth, to
exercise restraint and preserve stability, which he said was
crucial to the road to reform needed to lift Indonesia out of its
crisis.

Similar messages of condolences were also sent yesterday by
Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces Commander Gen.
Wiranto, Jakarta Police Chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata and chief of
the Jakarta Military Command Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin.

Wiranto and Sjafrie vowed that the Armed Forces (ABRI) would
conduct an investigation into why the shooting took place, while
Hamami, who apologized for the shooting, also maintained that his
men never used live ammunition when dealing with rioters or
protesters.

"We use blanks and rubber bullets. That's all. We conducted a
special briefing on that in Cilangkap (ABRI Headquarters) Monday
night," Hamami said.

However, he admitted that "rubber bullets could be fatal if
used at a specific range, for instance 25 to 50 meters."

Asked whether the students were shot at close range, he said:
"Probably".

Procedures dictate that police must first fire warning shots
with blanks, but witnesses said there were none preceding
Tuesday's shootings. The students also insisted there were no
clashes to provoke the soldiers to fire at the students,
regardless of whether they used rubber bullets or live
ammunition.

Hamami also said officials were waiting for a postmortem
report.

Abdul Mun'im Idris, a forensic expert at the University of
Indonesia, has examined the bodies of the students who were shot
respectively in the neck, head, and lower abdomen.

Sjafrie confirmed ABRI had set up a special team to
investigate the shooting to be chaired by chief of the Jakarta
military police Col. Hendardji.

No details have yet been provided as to how the team would go
about the investigation or when it would start.

Wiranto said earlier in the day that the National Commission
on Human Rights was welcome to join the investigation. Commission
member Asmara Nababan said he appreciated the offer but suggested
that his organization hold its own investigation and that all
institutions involved in the investigation could share
information.

Wiranto also guaranteed an honest probe into the incident,
saying that soldiers found to have violated laws and procedures
would face legal action.

"However, we'd like to implement the same treatment if (we
found) the students were also (in the) wrong," he added.

Speaking to reporters after installing Lt. Gen. Agum Gumelar
as the new governor of the military think tank, the National
Resilience Institute, Wiranto said the bloodshed would not have
taken place had the students remained on their campus when
staging their protest.

He said there could be even more casualties if the students
insist on holding future demonstrations outside of their
campuses.

"There will be more victims, more who die needlessly," he
said.

The ABRI chief said he would order his troops to leave the
campuses alone if he received an assurance from either the
students or campus authorities that the students would not take
their protests to the streets. (team)