Police to question Gus Dur on Monday

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid is scheduled to be questioned as a witness by Jakarta Police detectives on Monday over the Rp 35 billion State Logistics Agency scandal, an officer said on Friday.

The head of the general information unit at National Police Headquarters, Col. Saleh Saaf, said city police detectives sent a letter on Thursday informing the President of Monday's questioning.

However, Saleh did not say where the questioning would take place.

"It's only a technical matter," Saleh said, adding that the police had not yet received a reply from the President or the Presidential Office to the letter.

The scandal revolves around the disbursement of Rp 35 billion from the agency's employee foundation, Yanatera, to the President's masseur, Suwondo, by agency deputy chairman Sapuan.

Sapuan said he transferred the money to Suwondo, who claimed to be acting on the President's behalf, after a meeting in which the President requested the agency's participation in a humanitarian program in Aceh.

Former Jakarta Police chief of detectives Col. Alex Bambang Riatmodjo announced on Wednesday last week the President had been cleared of any involvement in the scandal.

Alex, who was recently promoted to chief of the Bandung Police, said he believed Sapuan, who is in police custody, was the main suspect in the case.

He said Sapuan may have been attempting to win the President's favor by transferring the money to Suwondo, in the hope of one day being appointed to head the State Logistics Agency.

Saleh insisted on Monday that although Alex said the President was free of suspicion in the case, Abdurrahman still needed to be questioned to help the police in their investigation.

"The police are just trying to be professional," Saleh said.

The President arrived in Jakarta on Wednesday from a two-week official overseas trip.

During the trip, Abdurrahman told Indonesian journalists of his readiness to be questioned by the Jakarta Police over the scandal.

According to Saleh, the police -- in the process of investigating criminal cases -- have the prerogative to question anyone, including the President.

"KUHAP (the Criminal Code Procedures) states that the police are authorized to summon anyone (for questioning)," Saleh told journalist after meeting with the media as part of the so-called "morning coffee program". (08)