Ministry plans defense against invitation force

JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Defense is designing a new defense plan to anticipate the possibility of an invitation force coming to the country in the interest of another humanitarian mission.

Speaking in a media briefing on Tuesday, the ministry's secretary-general, Lt. Gen. Sugiono, said national defense will in the future come under dangerous threat not from invasion from foreign countries but from foreign invitation forces, as happened in East Timor last year.

"It is a fact that physical invasion from outside the country is not the situation that we have to worry about. Whether we like it or not, foreign countries will enter the country if they are invited," Sugiono said.

He contended that it has become a common trend in the world that international troops are allowed to go into a country for reasons of genocide, human rights violations and environmental issues.

Last year, during the East Timor mayhem such action happened in Indonesia and Sugiono said certain parties recently have asked for international help due to the continuing clashes in the country.

For that reason the ministry is developing a new defense design to minimize the possibility of certain parties requesting assistance from foreign troops, Sugiono added.

The new defense design is expected to involve participation by both community and local authorities because of the implementation of regional autonomy starting from Jan. 1, 2001.

"The defense issues are too important to be discussed only by the military and state officers, the general public also has to provide input and be responsible for the national defense," Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono said.

Juwono further stated the defense design will focus on the sea and improve the ability of the Indonesian Navy in accordance with the possible threats to the country, without having to sacrifice the interests of the Army and the Air Force.

The ministry also disclosed on Tuesday some irregularities in the ministry-owned enterprises and foundations. An internal audit by a special team of auditors will be conducted on these enterprises.

The ministry's inspector general Lt. Gen. Suharto told the press the previous internal audit of these enterprises had proven that some irregularities were present in insurance company PT Asabri and in the Setya Bhakti Pertiwi foundation.

"From our temporary audit we decided to conduct a special audit which could lead to verification by the Supreme Audit Agency," Suharto said.

He refused to estimate financial losses resulting from the irregularities, saying it was the responsibility of the supreme audit agency to reveal it.

Suharto said the ministry owns five enterprises and two foundations, but declined to disclose the assets of those organizations. Setya Bhakti Pertiwi foundation was set up to support orphans and widows of the soldiers.

"The special audit for PT. Asabri will be conducted this month and the result will be given to the Supreme Audit agency for further investigation," he added.(dja)