Military elements implicated in Atambua killings

Military elements implicated in Atambua killings

JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Marzuki Darusman revealed here
on Thursday that elements of the Indonesian Military (TNI) have
been implicated in two recent incidents in Atambua, East Nusa
Tenggara, earlier this month, which resulted in the death of
three UN relief workers and a militia leader.

Marzuki said "elements of the military" were among 13 suspects
who have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the two
incidents.

However, he stopped short of identifying these "elements" and
which incident they were allegedly involved in.

"We have been given a report that seven suspects have been
identified and apprehended in connection with the Olivio case and
six have also been apprehended in connection with the UNHCR
case".

"Among the suspects we understand that elements of the
military were either implicated or directly involved," Marzuki
told The Jakarta Post.

"Although these reports have come from the area (West Timor),
we are still clarifying the report," he added.

Local authorities have said that the brutal killings of the
three UN workers on Sept. 6 was triggered by the death of Olivio
a day earlier.

The attack on the UNHCR office in Atambua took place just
hours before the opening of the UN-organized Millennium Summit in
New York, which was attended by some 150 world leaders including
President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Abdurrahman at that time said the attack, which provoked
international condemnation of Indonesia, was a well-organized
scheme to humiliate him while attending an international summit.

The UN Security Council responded to the incident by issuing a
resolution that called on Jakarta to disarm and disband the
militias in West Timor and to bring those responsible for the
attack to justice.

The attack on the UN office has prompted strong warnings,
particularly from the United States, that an embargo could be
imposed if Indonesia does not deal with the militia situation.

Marzuki said, however, that if the international community
imposes an embargo on Indonesia "that step could easily be
conceived as an overreaction".

"So, it is necessary that both sides do not overreact on this
issue," he said.

Earlier in the day, TNI spokesman Rear Marshal Graito Usodo
told journalists he had heard that some local military unit
members may be among those arrested as suspects in the Atambua
killings, but declined to give further details.

"The main issue is that the rule of law has to be upheld
because we are under the scrutiny of the international
community," Graito said, adding that the military "will always
support efforts to solve the Atambua case and will not hinder the
legal process."

Graito also said that the government will launch a four-day
operation on Friday as the first phase of its disarming of the
pro-Jakarta militias in West Timor.

"Yes, it is true that there will be a disarmament between
Sept. 22-26 so that the international community can see that we
are serious," Graito said.

The pledge to disarm the militias was made in New York on
Tuesday by Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and
Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in a closed-door
meeting with members of the UN Security Council.

"The first phase (of the disarmament) will be next week. After
that there will be a kind of law enforcement to make sure that
there are no more weapons concealed by the militias," Susilo said
in New York.

Meanwhile in Yogyakarta, political observer Arbi Sanit also
reiterated the need for the government to take stern action
against East Timor militias by dissolving and disarming them as
soon as possible.

"How can you let (Militia Commander Eurico) Guiterres hold a
pistol while others are forbidden from doing the same? It's
unfair, isn't it?" Arbi told journalists on the sidelines of a
discussion held at the Indonesian Islamic University.

He added that there was absolutely no benefit for the
government to maintain the militias.

"We have nothing to lose by dissolving them. They have become
a disease for the country," he asserted.

Nevertheless, he noted, the government should also prepare a
"place" for ex-militia members by, for example, recruiting those
who are qualified and willing to do so to become police or
military members.

"Those who refuse to join the military or the police could be
trained to become traders or businessmen".

"If the government can show its seriousness in handling the
case, I'm sure an embargo will not be imposed," Arbi said.
(swa/byg/rms)