Indonesia becoming fertile soil terrorists: Experts

Indonesia becoming fertile soil terrorists: Experts

JAKARTA (JP): With an unstable security situation and well-
entrenched separatist movements, Indonesia has become fertile
soil for international terrorist groups to sow seeds of violence,
experts said on Wednesday.

Military analyst Hasnan Habib said the country's prolonged
economic crisis, resulting in increasing unemployment, had
enticed local people to join terrorist groups.

"A country with a high rate of unemployment like Indonesia is
undoubtedly a fertile place for terrorism to grow," he told The
Jakarta Post.

Hasnan, a retired Army lieutenant general, added that low-
intensity separatist campaigns in Indonesia, such as those being
waged by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Aceh and the Free Papua
Organization in Irian Jaya, could also encourage the emergence of
overseas-linked terrorism.

He said the recent bomb explosions that rocked various parts
of the country may have involved separatist groups, and also
their supporters overseas.

"We know that many supporters of GAM live in Malaysia. Also
there are several organizations in Australia which support
separatism in Irian Jaya," he said, noting that such support,
however, had nothing to do with either government.

The increasing terrorism has only served to prove that both
military and police intelligence personnel were incapable of
taking adequate countermeasures.

"We see it from the fact that they were caught unaware by most
of the bomb blasts, which claimed many lives, and also from the
fact that they could not reveal the facts behind the bombings,"
Hasnan said.

Their inability to anticipate terrorist acts may be rooted in
their inexperience with terrorism in the past, especially during
the 32-year rule of former president Soeharto.

"During the New Order era, they had far from difficult jobs.
They are now shocked by the current situation," added Hasnan,
also a former Indonesian ambassador to the United States.

Meanwhile, former defense minister Juwono Sudarsono blamed the
poor performance of the intelligence services on financial
constraints.

"Whereas, training is very important so that the intelligence
teams can anticipate terrorist attacks. Funding is also important
to improve the welfare of our intelligence officers.

"Adequate funding for the training of intelligence personnel
is a minimum requirement for creating a professional intelligence
team," Juwono said.

Moreover, stopping terrorism was not an easy job, Juwono said.
"Even the police and military in advanced countries frequently
could not prevent terrorist attacks."

When asked how Indonesia could prevent international
terrorists from entering the country, Juwono, who now teaches at
the University of Indonesia, said the relevant authorities should
strengthen security at all points of entry, like airports and
seaports.

Supporting Juwono's suggestion, Hasnan stressed that combating
terrorism should be pursued in line with the overall effort to
solve the problems faced by the nation, including restoring the
economy and resolving the problem of separatism.

Meanwhile, Munir, a human rights activist and founder of the
Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, said the
efforts to end terrorism must begin with the solving of internal
problems, especially the unhealthy political situation, as all
acts of terrorism were rooted in such problems.

"Terrorism has become an option to intimidate other political
groups. Therefore, it's not difficult to imagine that the
country's security forces are among the players. I don't buy the
statements that the intelligence services have nothing to do with
the recent bombings.

"It could all be curbed if we had a healthy political culture
where no groups used violence to attack others," he told
journalists. (02/07/bby)