Minister joins call on U.S. to explain terrorist allegations

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Pressure escalated on Monday for the United States to produce evidence of its recent allegation that cells of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network were operating here, with some of the country's high-ranking officials joining in the chorus.

A noted analyst, however, urged security officials to follow up on the reports and stop making a fuss over the information by suggesting that stories were fabricated to discredit the country.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said on Monday that there was an urgent need for the U.S. to explain to Indonesians about its intelligence findings that terrorist cells were operating in the country.

"They understand the urgency (to explain to the public) and I hear they are planning to do that," Hassan said when asked whether it was important for the U.S. to clarify its terrorist allegation.

Hassan said that he believed Washington fully understood that the current public opinion about their claims of a terrorist network may provoke widespread resentment against the U.S. and other western countries.

Following the arrest of Omar al-Faruq in Indonesia in June, U.S. magazine Time carried stories based on CIA reports about the operation of terrorist cells in Indonesia.

Omar al-Faruq is said to be a senior operative of al-Qaeda, a terrorist network associated with bin Laden, who is accused by the U.S. of masterminding the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in Washington and New York, which claimed more than 3,000 lives.

But security officials here have yet to find any strong lead that suggests the presence of the al-Qaeda network in the country, with National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief AM Hendropriyono as the only official admitting to the existence of terrorist cells in Indonesia.

Last week, Hendropriyono provided eight-minute video footage of an alleged al-Qaeda training camp in Indonesia for a group of legislators.

One of the legislators watching the video said it showed about 30 men in masks, carrying Indonesian Military (TNI) standard issue rifles, jumping around with al-Faruq suddenly pulling off his mask.

Hassan said that the government would not buy the information from the U.S., but instead choose to conduct its own investigation.

"We are not going to take the information as it is, that is why we are conducting further investigations," Hassan said.

People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais also warned on Monday that the country should not dance to the same beat as the U.S. and to be more cautious to any information provided by that country.

"The more we react, the happier the U.S. will be seeing our foolishness. We should set our own terms," Amien told Antara in Palu, Central Sulawesi on Monday.

He said that the CIA had a long history of messing up Indonesia, "so the government should not quickly believe any information they provide".

Analyst Bara Hasibuan, however, said that the government should follow up on information about terrorist cells in the country.

"There is a possibility that the reports are all lies but security officials should conduct a thorough investigation regarding the information," Bara said.

"Their information could be an early indication of an al-Qaeda connection in the country and we cannot deny the fact that there is terrorism in Indonesia. Look at the Christmas bombings," Bara said referring to the string of bomb attacks during Christmas 2000.

Meanwhile, French Ambassador to Indonesia Herve Ladsous said in a news conference on Monday that so far he did not receive any specific information regarding possible threats to his citizens here.

"In the meantime there is no specific information regarding such a threat. So far, there are no security complaints from our citizens here," he said.