RI dismisses criticism of U.S. envoy

Kurniawan Hari and Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Medan

An Indonesian official brushed off criticism on Sunday from an American diplomat, who said he was concerned that Indonesia was not doing enough to combat terrorism, by claiming that police could not arrest suspected terrorists without evidence.

"We can't arrest someone unless there is enough proof that he or she has broken the law," Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Wahid Supriyadi told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Wahid was commenting on a statement by U.S. Ambassador to Singapore Frank Lavin who called on Indonesia to follow Singapore and Malaysia in taking tougher actions against persons suspected of conducting terrorist activities.

Speaking before diplomats, scholars and businessmen, Lavin said it was "disturbing" to read reports that some of the suspected terrorists who had planned to attack American targets in Singapore had fled to Indonesia.

An immigration official in Medan, North Sumatra told The Jakarta Post on Saturday that officials from the National Intelligence Board (BIN), the local military and police had contacted him to ask if five Singapore passport holders had entered Indonesia through Belawan seaport.

Muriaandi, head of the immigration office at the port, said the Singapore citizens indeed arrived aboard the Ekspres Bahagia ferry in Belawan on Jan. 9.

He said he had instructed his subordinates to check the whereabouts of the five men following the calls from security officials.

He identified the five as Isak Bin Nohu, Mohammad Hasan, Maslamat Bin Kastar, Husaini Bin Ismail and Mohammad Rasyid Bin Zainal Abidin.

Wahid said Indonesia was continuing to work together with its neighbors to counter terrorism in the region.

"But we are not like Malaysia or Singapore, whose Internal Security Act allows them to detain anyone without trial. Our police face legal barriers," he said.

Indonesia dropped the subversion law, which allowed for arbitrary arrests for the sake of national security, in the wake of demands for sweeping reforms in 1999.

Wahid said an agreement would be signed among foreign ministers of several Southeast Asian countries to improve patrols in anticipation of transnational terrorism. The ministerial meeting, the schedule of which remains undecided, will follow the previous talks between senior officials last December.

He said the ministry would not issue an official response to the criticism, saying the U.S. envoy likely made the statement as an individual, not a spokesman for the U.S.

Authorities in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Manila arrested a number of Indonesians suspected of having ties with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, which has been blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in U.S.

The National Police did question Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who Singapore and Malaysia link to regional terrorist groups, but stated that there was no evidence and released him.

Two senior police officers have also traveled to Manila, where Philippine authorities have detained Fatur Rohman al-Ghozi, an Indonesian arrested recently for allegedly bombing Manila and setting up terrorist cells throughout Southeast Asia. Fatur was once a student at Ba'asyir's school.