Snags in Powell's mission

Kornelius Purba, Staff Writer, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, korpur@yahoo.com

When U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Jakarta late Thursday for a two-day visit to Indonesia, he may be wondering about the best ways to convince Indonesians on how to put their house in order while we have been accustomed to chaos. So how can he can achieve his mission from President George W. Bush to push Indonesia to do its part in battling terrorism?

It is routine information for many Indonesians now when they hear the alleged involvement of Indonesian Military (TNI) officers in incidents of major violence here.

A young honey seller in East Jakarta offers a glimpse of how to survive amid the chaos.

On Sunday, July 28, Bernard was selling his wares as usual to churchgoers coming out of the St. Anna Catholic Church in Duren Sawit, East Jakarta.

"This black honey is very good for your endurance," Bernard said with a big smile to the people who shook hands with him.

Nearby a 12-year old newspaper vendor was busy promoting headlines which included the latest bomb incident in Ambon, Maluku. But no one was interested: the three-year conflict has dragged on between Muslims and Christians, claiming thousands of lives from both sides.

Bernard, the young church activist, understands the meaning of endurance very well. Bernard lost his left leg when a bomb exploded inside the St. Anna church on July 21 last year when he was attending a Sunday morning service. Several others were also badly wounded in the incident -- which remains a "dark number", one among a long list of unresolved cases along with other cases of violence throughout the country.

For Bernard, and also for thousands of victims of violence, it is important to survive while waiting for a miracle that justice will eventually come.

Terror, riots and violence are routinely on the menu for many Indonesians. There were many churches attacked in the last four years since Soeharto ended his dictatorship in 1998. Thousands of Muslims were killed in Aceh during endless clashes between the military and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). In Poso, Central Sulawesi, Christians and Muslims kill each other.

So, when U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Jakarta with a mission to pressure President Megawati Soekarnoputri's government to take quicker and tougher action against terrorists here, he will meet with officials who may no longer regard terrorism as an urgent issue for their political survival.

"Indonesia does not need U.S. assistance in combating terrorism," Minister of Defense Matori Abdul Djalil boasted one day before Powell's arrival.

Hours before Powell's debarkation, East Jakarta District Court adjourned the opening day of the trial of Jafar Umar Thalib, leader of the hardline Laskar Jihad Muslim militia, who faces charges of spreading hatred against the government and inciting violence in Maluku. Jafar's name was sometimes mentioned by international media reports on international terrorist networks.

Acknowledging that he once met with Osama bin Laden, Jafar flatly denies that he is a terrorist. In an interview with AP Dow Jones on Wednesday he expressed his eagerness to talk to Powell.

"If I could speak with Colin Powell, I would say please improve your intelligence," he said.

"All of the information the United States government has about Muslims in Indonesia and about terrorism here is fake," Jafar told the news wire service.

Not only the U.S., neighboring countries like Malaysia and Singapore, armed with strong intelligence, have openly shown their impatience with Indonesia's reluctance to investigate and handle terrorist networks here. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is likely much luckier than Megawati, because he could easily appease Washington by arresting alleged Muslim fundamentalists, his main political opponents.

For Megawati, the less she touches the terrorist issue here and the less she embarrasses the Indonesian Military (TNI), the more stable her government. Her weak government, poor law enforcement, the impotent role of Jakarta in the regions, and the country's sheer size are among crucial factors which could lead Indonesia toward becoming fertile soil for terrorist breeding.

Bush's priority is to crack down on al-Qaeda which has very close links with other international Islamic terrorist groups. As the world's most populous Muslim nation Indonesia theoretically can play its role in bridging the Muslim world and the U.S. if it can clean up its own yard first.

TNI tries hard to exploit these factors; and against Megawati's frailty in persuading Washington to end its arms embargo the TNI argues that it can not move further with its poor logistics. So far Washington has only agreed to the resumption of International Military Education Training (IMET) for Indonesian officers.

CNN recently reported that al-Qaeda has touched on Aceh soil. Apparently the TNI is spreading rumors that GAM has links to al- Qaeda and that the military is doing all it can to combat GAM to appease Washington so it lifts its embargo. So its campaign still does not bite. The military however is smart enough not to link the Free Papua Movement (OPM) with bin Laden because Washington may laugh -- the province is a predominantly Christian region.

In their meeting with Powell on Friday security leaders may urge Powell to end the arms embargo if it wants the TNI to crack down on terrorists here. Knowing TNI's track record in human rights abuses, it will be unbelievable if Washington fulfills the TNI's demand. Other incentives for the TNI will not likely be accepted.

While speaking on how to combat terrorism, Powell may want to know how Indonesians, under the international threat of terrorism, have been able to readjust their lives amid rampant violence, injustice, corruption and the shameful behavior of Indonesian leaders, including the military.

For many of them, it is not al-Qaeda or other alleged Muslim fundamentalist groups which pose a direct threat to their survival. The most immediate threat is economic hardship. Preaching the danger of bin Laden without helping people to get out of the economic quagmire may backfire on the preacher himself.