Prabowo suggests supervision of intelligence
Prabowo suggests supervision of intelligence
JAKARTA (JP): Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto made his first
public appearance here in nearly two years, proclaiming he was
back for good and suggesting that the legislature keep a close
eye on intelligence operations to prevent their exploitation for
certain political interests.
"There should be a special House committee which consists of
faction leaders that has the authority to summon intelligence
officers to report intelligence operations, including the highly
confidential ones... just like in the United States," Prabowo
said during a news conference on Tuesday.
The remark was made in response to a journalist's question of
whether the 49-year-old former Army Special Force (Kopassus)
chief thought intelligence operations were involved in or had
been used by certain groups to create unrest.
Prabowo, a son-in-law of former president Soeharto, was
discharged from the military in August 1998 following an inquiry
which revealed his involvement in the abduction of student
activists.
Since then Prabowo has been based in Amman, Jordan.
Previous statements on his behalf in the last two years have
been made here by close associates or his father, senior
economist Sumitro Djojohadikusumo.
Prabowo admitted that the main reason for holding Tuesday's
media gathering was to refute recent remarks by President
Abdurrahman Wahid who alleged that Prabowo had been involved in
the killing of up to 100 people during military operations in
Irian Jaya.
"I consider Gus Dur's statement a result of wrong input and
I've already clarified with him that it's not true at all," he
said referring to the President by his nickname.
Prabowo noted that he had only been briefly stationed twice in
the easternmost province: the first for a fortnight in 1982, and
the second in May 1996 when he led a military rescue operation to
free hostages kidnapped by separatist rebels.
Prabowo expressed no ill will toward the President: "I still
respect him (Abdurrahman) and I will always pray for his health
and success to bring the nation out of economic turmoil."
Military
When asked whether he agreed with Abdurrahman's remark that
ex-military personnel may be fomenting the unrest which had hit
the country, Prabowo said such a possibility existed.
"Yes, they are capable, but there must be a very sophisticated
investigation (to prove the allegations) because we cannot just
make accusations without proof," Prabowo remarked.
"(Finding the evidence) is the job of the intelligence
service, so we must have a professional and clean intelligence
service to really investigate this."
Commenting on demands for the disbanding of military
territorial commands, which military analysts said in the past
had been misused to suppress dissidents, Prabowo contended that
"the territorial doctrine is still relevant".
"In the next 20 to 30 years, I believe we still won't be able
to afford modern military weaponry, so the presence of military
troops in the regions will still be needed to keep our
territorial integrity," he said.
Prabowo, who is now a businessman, said he had returned to
Jakarta for good but added that he would still need to travel
abroad to run his business in Jordan.
"I have decided to stay, but my work requires me to do a lot
of traveling," he said, adding that he had been traveling between
the two countries since January. (byg)
JAKARTA (JP): Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto made his first
public appearance here in nearly two years, proclaiming he was
back for good and suggesting that the legislature keep a close
eye on intelligence operations to prevent their exploitation for
certain political interests.
"There should be a special House committee which consists of
faction leaders that has the authority to summon intelligence
officers to report intelligence operations, including the highly
confidential ones... just like in the United States," Prabowo
said during a news conference on Tuesday.
The remark was made in response to a journalist's question of
whether the 49-year-old former Army Special Force (Kopassus)
chief thought intelligence operations were involved in or had
been used by certain groups to create unrest.
Prabowo, a son-in-law of former president Soeharto, was
discharged from the military in August 1998 following an inquiry
which revealed his involvement in the abduction of student
activists.
Since then Prabowo has been based in Amman, Jordan.
Previous statements on his behalf in the last two years have
been made here by close associates or his father, senior
economist Sumitro Djojohadikusumo.
Prabowo admitted that the main reason for holding Tuesday's
media gathering was to refute recent remarks by President
Abdurrahman Wahid who alleged that Prabowo had been involved in
the killing of up to 100 people during military operations in
Irian Jaya.
"I consider Gus Dur's statement a result of wrong input and
I've already clarified with him that it's not true at all," he
said referring to the President by his nickname.
Prabowo noted that he had only been briefly stationed twice in
the easternmost province: the first for a fortnight in 1982, and
the second in May 1996 when he led a military rescue operation to
free hostages kidnapped by separatist rebels.
Prabowo expressed no ill will toward the President: "I still
respect him (Abdurrahman) and I will always pray for his health
and success to bring the nation out of economic turmoil."
Military
When asked whether he agreed with Abdurrahman's remark that
ex-military personnel may be fomenting the unrest which had hit
the country, Prabowo said such a possibility existed.
"Yes, they are capable, but there must be a very sophisticated
investigation (to prove the allegations) because we cannot just
make accusations without proof," Prabowo remarked.
"(Finding the evidence) is the job of the intelligence
service, so we must have a professional and clean intelligence
service to really investigate this."
Commenting on demands for the disbanding of military
territorial commands, which military analysts said in the past
had been misused to suppress dissidents, Prabowo contended that
"the territorial doctrine is still relevant".
"In the next 20 to 30 years, I believe we still won't be able
to afford modern military weaponry, so the presence of military
troops in the regions will still be needed to keep our
territorial integrity," he said.
Prabowo, who is now a businessman, said he had returned to
Jakarta for good but added that he would still need to travel
abroad to run his business in Jordan.
"I have decided to stay, but my work requires me to do a lot
of traveling," he said, adding that he had been traveling between
the two countries since January. (byg)