No meddling in anti-terrorism campaign: VP
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Vice President Hamzah Haz argued against participation by foreign countries in the effort to crack down on terrorist groups in Indonesia, saying that the Indonesian Military (TNI) and police should be allowed to deal with the issue.
"I do not think we need foreign intervention unless the Indonesian Military (TNI) and police are no longer able to resolve the problem," Hamzah said after Friday prayers at the complex for the Presidential Security Guard in Jakarta.
Hamzah stopped short of hinting how the TNI and police would tackle the terrorist issue, however.
Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, has come under strong international pressure to deal firmly with militant religious leaders believed to have links with international terrorist cells.
Neighboring countries Singapore and Malaysia have specifically mentioned Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir as having links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network. Indonesian authorities, however, have so far refused to arrest him, citing insufficient evidence.
Last month, Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew said that leaders of regional terrorist groups were still unchecked in Indonesia. Meanwhile, U.S. intelligence reports have similarly suggested that dozens of al-Qaeda operatives have found sanctuary in the archipelago after being pushed out of Afghanistan in the international war against terror.
Both the TNI and police, however, maintain that there are no terrorist groups operating in Indonesia, fueling speculation that the country is harboring terrorists.
USA Today reported on Thursday that the U.S. was planning to send troops to Indonesia to fight against suspected terrorist groups.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell denied the report on Friday, though, stressing that his country would never send troops uninvited to an ally like Indonesia, or any other friendly democracy for that matter.
"The real question is, are we planning, as USA Today said today, American involvement in Indonesia? No. With respect to democratic nations that are friends of ours, we only go where we are invited," Powell told The Australian Financial Review in a recent interview.
Hamzah appealed to the international community for understanding with regard to Indonesia, and to provide a breathing room for the country to resolve its own internal problems.
"We have to pay our debts, so give us a chance to take care of our own domestic affairs, and put forward our national interests," said Hamzah.
Accusing Indonesia of being a haven for terrorists, he added, would only worsen the country's situation.
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda also said on Friday that it would be unfair to blame a country for harboring terrorists, simply because one or two of its citizens have been arrested for alleged links to terrorist groups.
"Some U.S. and Egyptian citizens have also been arrested for their links to terrorist network -- does it make them terrorist countries?" Hassan told The Jakarta Post.
The Foreign Ministry issued a statement that Indonesia would not accept foreign intervention in dealing with terrorism, adding that Jakarta fully understood that there was no intention for any other country to do so.
Lisa Anderson, a professor of political science at Columbia University in New York, said on Friday that the U.S. would keep up its pressure on Indonesia, unless Jakarta did something to prove that it was not a sanctuary for militant religious groups.
Speaking at a public lecture organized at the Paramadina University in Jakarta, Anderson said that the U.S. was very concerned with terrorist attacks, and that it was pursuing its effort dealing with terrorism.
She also acknowledged that U.S. pressure could also easily hamper bilateral relations between Indonesia and Washington.