Police confirm training with U.S.
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar confirmed on Thursday plans for counterterrorism training with the United States, but said only 144 police personnel would be involved in the exercise.
He also said the exercise would be conducted in Indonesia, but did not say where nor when, nor did he divulge information on when the deal was reached.
According to Da'i, there would be six training sessions, each involving 24 police personnel.
The Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) reported on Wednesday that a total of 400 officers of Detachment 88 would be trained as a crack squad to lead the country's fight against terrorism.
The FEER article also mentioned that US$16 million had been spent on state-of-the-art communications equipment, night vision gear, technical support and weaponry for the program.
"No, we are not planning to train 400 officers. Instead, our plan for 2003-2004 is to conduct training exercises for 144 officers as part of our ongoing antiterrorism efforts," said Da'i.
He said that a group of U.S. security experts would train the officers, but did not reveal details. He also did not comment on the funds involved.
"We hope that the exercises will strengthen the police's ability to combat terrorism and augment our antiterrorism squad."
The police currently have a special antiterrorism squad of 69 personnel led by a one-star general.
The training program is part of Indonesia's contribution to the war against terror. Many international analysts have accused Indonesia of harboring terrorists, a charge that government officials and other parties have vehemently denied.
Indonesia has been a victim of terrorism through a series of bombings that have rocked several parts of the country since 2000 -- most notably the October 2002 Bali bombings, in which at least 202 people were killed and over 300 injured, and the Marriott hotel attack on Aug. 5 in Jakarta, in which 12 people were killed and about 150 injured.
The police have arrested more than 50 people since the two incidents, with almost 30 perpetrators and accomplices tried and convicted. Three of the key perpetrators have been given the death penalty. Both the Bali and Marriott attacks were allegedly carried out by the regional terrorist network, the Jamaah Islamiyah.
Da'i acknowledged that the police lacked the personnel and weaponry to effectively combat terrorism.
"The training programs are timely, because the challenge is growing more and more," he said.
The U.S. government has not been involved in any military training or military weapons sales programs with the Indonesian Military (TNI) since 1999, when Congress passed an amendment barring funding for such activities until Indonesia accounted for TNI's role in the massacre in East Timor that same year.
However, some public and political figures have opined that the training programs and the funding were intentionally given to the police, instead of the TNI, to show the U.S.' dissatisfaction with the country's failure to bring to justice those TNI members allegedly involved in the human rights violations in East Timor.
Congress has provided $8 million in financial aid for the Indonesian police since last year.