Indonesian Embassy denies arrest of security officers

Indonesian Embassy denies arrest of security officers

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian embassy in Vancouver, Canada, has
denied that two Indonesian security officers were arrested for
breach of the peace outside the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
leaders meeting on Nov. 25.

Antara quoted the embassy's defense attache Brig. Gen. J.
Sudrajat as saying yesterday that the two officers were arrested
by mistake.

He said that the local press had lied in reports which said
the two officers had been arrested when they infiltrated the
group of protesters.

"The two were part of President Soeharto's security team,
assigned to help safeguard the head of state," he said.

The two, according to Sudrajat, were standing opposite and
away from the about 1,500 demonstrators outside the Museum of
Anthropology at the University of British Columbia where the
economic leaders' meeting was held.

All of a sudden, he said, the protesters pushed forward across
the security line, forcing Canadian security personnel to arrest
some people, among them the two Indonesian officers who were
suspected of being protesters.

"The two were detained for several minutes, but were later
released after the embassy approached (the Canadian security),"
he said.

Sudrajat accused the local press of exploiting the incident in
its reports that from the beginning have focused on the human
rights records of some countries, including Indonesia.

Hours after the incident, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
told The Jakarta Post that two members of the Indonesian
delegation to the APEC meeting had been arrested for breach of
the peace.

The two were stripped of their APEC accreditation and turned
over to the Indonesian delegation's head of security, a Canadian
police officer said.

He said the two Indonesian officers were carrying walkie-
talkies when they were arrested.

Separately yesterday, Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung
said the incident was triggered by a "misunderstanding" between
the Canadian and Indonesian security officers.

He said, after addressing a gathering of the Jamaah al-
Washliyah Moslem organization in Bandung, West Java, that the two
were part of the Indonesian delegation assigned to safeguard the
President and his entourage.

Feisal said that when they were arrested the two were wearing
ski masks and earphones, and carrying walkie-talkies to
"supervise the mass" of protesters.

The two officers have been sent home, Feisal said.

He said he was confident the incident would not cause problems
in ties between the two countries. (43/swe)