Indonesia blast U.S. over military relations

Indonesia blast U.S. over military relations

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The Indonesian government has criticized United States lawmakers
for stalling efforts to restore full military ties between the
two countries, calling the move a groundless ploy.

"I see there is no legal basis to accuse Indonesia of not
doing anything to meet all requirements for the restoration of
military cooperation," Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono said
on Sunday.

He was commenting on restrictions maintained by the U.S.
Senate and House of Representatives on foreign military finance,
and on exports of lethal military equipment to Indonesia. The
move comes as U.S. President George W. Bush seeks approval from
the U.S. Congress for US$20.9 billion in foreign aid that
includes military funding for several countries in the Middle
East, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, including Indonesia.

The U.S. lawmakers said Indonesia had not done enough to bring
to justice perpetrators of an ambush in Timika, Papua, in 2002,
which killed two American teachers and an Indonesian citizen
working for U.S.-owned mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia.

"At the initiative of TNI chief (Gen. Endriartono Sutarto), we
provided FBI access to the investigation and they concluded later
that the TNI was clean," Juwono said.

The U.S. implicated a rebel leader Antonius Wamang in the
attack.

Free Papuan Movement (OPM) has waged a low-level armed
struggle for independence against the central government.

"As of today, the police, with the assistance of the military,
continue to hunt down the suspect, who can easily traverse the
border between Papua province and neighboring Papua New Guinea,"
Juwono said.

Indonesia has been desperately seeking alternative arms
suppliers after Washington imposed a military embargo on Jakarta
in 1999, due to atrocities in East Timor that were linked to the
TNI.

The TNI, however, has been the world's largest beneficiary of
millions of dollars' worth of unrestricted counter-terrorism
training under the Pentagon's Regional Defense Counterterrorism
Fellowship Program. In 2004, Indonesia participated in Extended
IMET programs worth $599,000. In 2005 alone, Indonesia was
expected to participate in more than 132 events under the U.S.
Pacific Command Theater Security Cooperation Program.

The U.S. lawmakers are also requiring that the U.S. State
Department certify that Indonesia is cooperating in the war on
terror in order to receive the aid disbursement.

Juwono assured that Indonesia was committed to the crackdown
on terrorist networks and had never taken advantage of the issue
for political, religious or ideological interests.

"We have always supported the fight against terrorism by our
own initiative. Of course, any arrest of terrorist suspects
should be made based on our legal system," Juwono told The
Jakarta Post.

He said Indonesia had received assistance from foreign
countries to fight terrorism, including electronic interception
and financial detection devices for Bank Indonesia, the Ministry
of Finance and the Customs and Excise office.

Rights activist Ifdhal Kasim from the Institute for Policy
Research and Advocacy (Elsam) said the problems with the Papua
incident did not lie in the incapability of the country's law
enforcers, but "political interests that require the case to
remain undisclosed."

"If a certain institution is believed to have been involved in
the incident, then we must admit it and bring the perpetrators to
justice. The government must realize that upholding the law is a
key instrument to start military reform," Ifdhal told the Post.

He said that Juwono had to speed up military reform because
"the problems of reviving military ties with the U.S. will stand
still unless we can show some real progress."

The ups-and-downs of military ties between Indonesia and the U.S.

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1993 Washington imposes partial military embargo against

Indonesia, following the St. Cruz massacre in East Timor.

1999 The U.S. imposes a full embargo against Indonesia,

banning the export of military equipment to Jakarta and

training of its military

2003 In the wake of the global war on terror, the U.S. revives

in stages military ties with Indonesia by reopening

training and courses for Indonesian officers.

2004 Washington eases the embargo after the Dec. 26 tsunami. The

Policy allows Indonesia to purchase non-lethal military

equipment
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