RI slams Lee over terrorist remarks
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia reproached Singapore on Wednesday over Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew's remarks that terrorist leaders were roaming free here, warning that the comments were unnecessary and could harm bilateral relations.
Officials here made it clear that Indonesia would not employ draconian measures to summarily arrest and detain individuals based on suspicion alone.
The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday summoned Singapore's top diplomat in Jakarta, charge d'affair Wong Chow Ming, who came on behalf of Ambassador Edward Lee who was out of the country, to officially express these concerns.
"We have expressed our displeasure and asked Singapore to provide clarification of Lee's statement," acting Director General for Political Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rezlan Izhar Jenie told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
"We regret Singapore's decision to voice its concerns to the media, when we have a diplomatic channel and many forms of cooperation in dealing with terrorism issues in the region," he said, in obvious reference to the fact that both are fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Lee, in an earlier newspaper interview, said the city-state remained vulnerable to terrorist attacks, as regional terrorist leaders were still roaming free in Indonesia, implying that the authorities have allowed the country to become a terrorist-haven and have done nothing against suspected terrorists.
Singapore had alleged earlier that Southeast Asian group Jemaah Islamiyah was linked to the international terrorist network, al-Qaeda, through Indonesian Muslim cleric Abubakar Ba'asyir.
Police have questioned Ba'asyir but found insufficient evidence to link him to al-Qaeda.
"We (Indonesia) cannot arrest anybody simply based on suspicion. Our own investigations have not shown any strong evidence supporting such an accusation," Rezlan said.
Indonesia, Rezlan added, does not have and does not want to have an Internal Security Act, which in a state like Singapore allows police to detain individuals suspected of endangering the state indefinitely without trial.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda, who was in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, also expressed concern that Lee's statement would hurt bilateral ties.
"Lee's remark is unnecessary" and would "provoke sentiments that may only hamper development or good bilateral relations between Indonesia and Singapore," Hassan said, as quoted by AP.
Sure enough, in Jakarta, reactions toward Lee were harsh.
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) chairman Hasyim Muzadi said Lee's bias was triggered by the false generalization that all radical religious groups were linked to terrorist networks.
"Some tiny Muslim groups here are radical in their religious thoughts, but so long as they are not destructive and they don't harm others, they can't be named or linked to terrorist networks," Hasyim said.
People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais also fired a broadside at Singapore's senior statesman charging that the 78- year-old Lee "acted like the mouthpiece of President Bush".
"He has intervened in other people's internal affairs," Amien said, while urging Singapore to be more "understanding and respectful toward its neighbors".
Amien added that Singapore should formally apologize if it could not produce concrete evidence to support Lee's remarks.
While ties remain sound between the two countries, there has been heighten tension, with increasingly sharp comments being hurled between the two in the past few years.
Former president B.J. Habibie once complained that Singapore was not "a true friend in times of need" and dismissed it as "a tiny red dot" on the map.
Former president Abdurrahman Wahid had also accused the city state of taking economic advantage of Indonesia's crisis.