RI slams Lee over terrorist remarks
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.