RI calls U.S. aid blockade a hasty
RI calls U.S. aid blockade a hasty
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta
Jakarta branded the United States House of Representatives' vote
against providing aid to the Indonesian Military (TNI) as hasty,
as the joint investigation into the Timika ambush in Papua last
year remained underway.
Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said on
Friday that the U.S. move did not take into account that the
cooperation between the two governments to probe the incident was
continuing.
"This is a hasty decision ... they should not have taken a
decision until the ongoing investigation jointly conducted by the
two governments has been completed," Marty told a press briefing.
He said the planned US$400,000 military aid for the
International Military Education and Training (IMET) program,
although not a large amount, was needed to improve the
professionalism of TNI.
The U.S. House approved an amendment on Wednesday to deny
Indonesia military assistance funds as part of a bill it passed
on State Department programs for the next two years.
With the amendment, the IMET funds would be withheld "until
the Indonesian government decides to cooperate with U.S.
investigators and provide credible and honest answers about the
attack", said Republican Joel Hefley, who put forth the measure.
The House's preliminary reports said TNI personnel were
allegedly involved in the ambush near the U.S. giant mining
company PT Freeport Indonesia in August last year, in which two
Americans and an Indonesian were killed. The victims were all
teachers of the Freeport internal language training program.
Although President George W. Bush's administration has
expressed an opposite opinion, the final decision for the IMET
disbursement is up to the House.
The dissenting opinion between the Bush administration and the
House has also retained the arms embargo imposed on Indonesia
following the East Timor atrocities in 1999.
A Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) team has visited
Indonesia twice to investigate the Freeport incident jointly with
Indonesian security forces.
While the FBI's first visit met with resistance from the
Indonesian side, their second visit lasted more than two weeks
and the FBI agents managed to take evidence with them for
forensic tests, National Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Zainuri
Lubis said on Friday as quoted by Reuters.
The five-strong FBI team left Jakarta two or three days ago.
TNI Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, however, played down
the U.S. House's decision.
"It's their right. Besides, we're not asking for their help,"
Endriartono said on the sidelines of an inspection of soldiers
who were preparing for an international mission to the Congo.
"It's up to them whether to help or not. I don't understand
why they should even reconsider it, because we (the TNI) have
never received any funds at all."
Endriartono maintained that TNI was not involved in the fatal
attack on the Freeport employees.