Military insiders cold-shoulder terrorist agency

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian Military Commander Adm. Widodo's antiterrorism agency proposal has received more criticism -- this time from within military circles.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto sees no urgency to establish such an agency because, in his opinion, it would be more efficient to improve coordination among existing intelligence agencies.

"Moreover, terrorist attacks happen only once in a while and are not yet a serious threat," he told reporters at the TNI headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, on Friday.

Endriartono, however, admitted that the military may not be able to handle terrorism alone even though the Army has the elite Kopassus 81 Antiterrorist Unit.

"At present, the unit is only trained to crack down on terrorists, but not to anticipate or prevent terrorist attacks," Endriartono said.

The debate on the antiterrorism agency started last week when Adm. Widodo told House Commission I on political, security and foreign affairs that the country needed an antiterrorist agency to formulate policies and operational strategies to counter terrorism at all levels.

Widodo said the agency was needed because geographically, Indonesia was vulnerable to infiltration by international terrorists.

He acknowledged that "none of the country's existing intelligence bodies were prepared to counter terrorism". Indonesia already has the National Intelligence Agency, TNI's Strategic Intelligence Body, the National Police Intelligence Body and other intelligence units in nonmilitary institutions, such as the immigration office and the Attorney General's Office.

The idea won spontaneous support from House members but met strong rejection from human rights activists who feared that the agency would be empowered with extrajudicial authority.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that the government would have to consider public opinion before it decided to set up the agency.

"There are a lot of things to consider," he said.

Criticism has also come from former minister of defense Juwono Sudarsono, who says that the government needs new regulations on budgeting, personnel and coordination to establish the agency.

"And this will take some time to materialize, while terrorist attacks already pose a real threat," he said.

"But if we are serious about setting up the agency, I suggest the government build strong links with the Ministry of Finance, and other institutions dealing with funds, such as the central bank. Remember, terrorist groups in the U.S. and Britain pass their funds through these institutions," he said.