'Poor intelligence work due to lack of coordination'

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The State Intelligence Body (BIN) has asked for more power in the war on terror, but an analyst on Friday suggested that coordination among the country's intelligence institutions was a better solution to prevent terror attacks.

BIN chairman Hendropriyono, who offered an apology to the Marriott bombing victims, said late on Thursday that BIN wanted the power to act, not just to give an early warning to people.

"How can we prevent a certain action from taking place if we know a suspect but we cannot make an arrest," Hendro said.

Without the power to make an arrest, BIN would be like a German shepherd dog whose tail was held by its owner so that it could not run after the target.

Military analyst from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Kusnanto Anggoro, however, opposed Hendro's proposal, saying that an intelligence institution must not have the authority to make an arrest.

"Their main duty is to give an early warning of possible attacks, that is all. The police is the only institution that has the authority to make an arrest," he asserted on Friday, noting that no arrest should be permitted without convincing evidence.

Instead of asking for more power, Kusnanto said BIN should play its role in coordinating all intelligence institutions in the country, as mandated by President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Indonesia has several intelligence institutions, including BIN, the Indonesian Military's intelligence body (BAIS), intelligence units at the National Police and the Attorney General's Office.

Megawati has tasked BIN to coordinate all the works of those intelligence bodies.

"Actually, there was no way for them not to share information. Intelligence institutions inform the police of their findings, they have the authority to make arrests. Otherwise, they could also report it (the information) directly to the President," Kusnanto said.

If the police or the President consider the intelligence reports about possible attacks are credible enough, they must share the reports with the public in the form of warnings, such as travel warnings (usually imposed by western countries).

Hendropriyono admitted the poor coordination among intelligence institutions in the country.

"It's a disaster and we must support each other in the future with solid cooperation. How can we have good cooperation if we blame each other," he told reporters, promising to increase the cooperation among intelligence institutions.

The crack in relations among intelligence agencies started when the police separated from the military in 2001, leading to a drop in the standard of intelligence operations in the country.

And the poor performance of intelligence operations has often been cited as one of the main factors in the country's failure to prevent a series of terror attacks, with the latest at JW Marriott Hotel in South Jakarta that killed 10 people and wounded 149 others.

According to Kusnanto, the lack of coordination was caused by rivalry among the institutions. Therefore, to forge better coordination and communications, they must attempt to put aside their own interests.

"Only if they are able to put aside psychological problems within themselves, the country's intelligence performance will improve," Kusnanto said.