Ministers to brief Pope over bombings

Ministers to brief Pope over bombings

JAKARTA (JP): Two cabinet ministers will soon leave for the
Vatican to brief Pope John Paul II on the Christmas Eve bombings,
Spokesman for the Office of the Coordinating Minister for
Political, Social and Security Affairs I Wayan Karya said on
Wednesday.

"We hope, the two ministers -- Minister of Foreign Affairs
Alwi Shihab and Minister of Religious Affairs Tolchah Hasan --
explain about the bombings at the Indonesian churches.

"The explanation is needed to avoid any misunderstanding about
the incidents," I Wayan said in a media briefing after a limited
ministerial meeting on political and security affairs on
Wednesday.

A staffer at the Foreign Ministry said that Alwi would also
make a one-week official trip to Austria and Syria.

The Wednesday coordinative meeting, aimed at preparing
materials for the Cabinet meeting today (Thursday), was chaired
by Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security
Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

"The decision on when the two ministers will travel to the
Vatican will be made in the Cabinet meeting on Thursday," I Wayan
said.

Present at the meeting were Alwi Shihab, Minister of Defense
Mahfud MD, Attorney General Marzuki Darusman, Indonesian Military
(TNI) chief Adm. Widodo AS, Minister of Settlement and Regional
Infrastructure Erna Witoelar and Assistant for Operations to the
National Police chief Insp. Gen. Sutiyono.

The bombing incidents at nine churches in seven Indonesian
provinces that claimed at least 18 lives and injured dozens of
others, has received strong criticism from the international
community, including Pope John Paul, who condemned the violence
in his Christmas message.

All the three Jakarta churches hit by the bombs -- the
Katedral, Canisius church and Santo Yosef church -- were Roman
Catholic.

I Wayan said the government would consider the proposal by the
National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas Ham) to set up a
joint fact-finding team to investigate the bombings.

"I am concerned that we can avoid an overlap in the
investigation. Komnas HAM can help us, but they cannot conduct
the investigation," he said.

"The government has established the panel consisting of seven
high-ranking security officers and representatives of the
Indonesian Forum for Peace (FID)," he added.

FID is a voluntary council set up by activists soon after the
Christmas bombings as an effort to help the government identify
the perpetrators of the bombings.

Separately, a police source said on Wednesday that a radical
youth wing of a political party was under intense investigation
in connection with the Christmas Eve bombings.

"The youth wing, whose name is not for publication, is under
intense investigation. All I can say is that the people behind
the Christmas Eve bombings are most likely the same people who
were behind the Jakarta Stock Exchange bombings last year," the
source said.

"The only (thing) I can tell you is that this youth wing can
easily enter any section of Indonesian society."

The source added that the Barringer's Ionscan Model 400B -- a
security device that can detect and identify trace amounts of
explosives or drugs -- noted that samples collected from the
Christmas Eve bombings showed a "substantial amount of TNT (the
flammable toxic compound trinitrotoluene) in the conventional
bombs."

"The question is who owns the TNT?" the source asked.

In a separate development, President Director of state-owned
insurance firm PT Jamsostek A. Djunaidi handed over some Rp 6
million (US$638) in financial aid on Tuesday night for three bomb
victims, who are still undergoing treatment at the Saint Carolus
Hospital, according to a press statement.

The three victims -- Petrus S., Selestus Pancar and Bahariwan
-- were members of the Workers Social Protection Scheme of
Jamsostek. (02/dja/ylt)