Soeharto followers 'fomenting unrest'

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono said on Thursday that supporters of former president Soeharto are fomenting unrest to escape justice and destabilize the government of President Abdurrahman Wahid.

"Based on our intelligence reports there are strong indications that former cronies of Soeharto are supplying arms and personnel to areas afflicted with conflicts, particularly in the Malukus, East Timor, West Irian and certainly in Aceh," Juwono said at a seminar on economy.

Juwono said the people fear they will be implicated in "the investigation currently being conducted by the Attorney General's Office".

His statement, a repeat of his previous allegations of the role of Soeharto's supporters, came just a couple of days after a building in the Attorney General's Office compound was damaged by a bomb blast.

The incident took place on Tuesday shortly after the youngest son of Soeharto, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, left the building after being questioned in connection with his father's alleged corruption.

Juwono said that the trouble makers were "a group of cronies who have managed to abandon ship at the last minute". He did not elaborate.

"There are strong indications that the cronies, not necessarily from the Cendana family, are certainly involved in some of the unrest and bombings in North Sumatra, part of East Java and the Malukus," Juwono said referring to the street where Soeharto and his family live.

He said that similar patterns had taken place during the administration of Soeharto's successor B.J. Habibie when "he was destabilized or efforts to destabilize were fomented by supporters of former president Soeharto, both in the military as well as civilians".

"I think this pattern is now being repeated in a different form, in different places. My hunch is that it is a grudge, but it's just a hunch," he said.

But, Juwono said that it was "quite difficult" to find the evidence as these people have been working under the so-called "cell system".

"They drop money to people with no written instructions and it's very difficult to find legal evidence fomenting unrest in the regions and in other parts of the country," he said.

He, however, believes that the police and military intelligence will "in time" be able to have adequate legal evidence to bring to trial "at least the public figures and then hopefully we will get the agitators in Jakarta".

Juwono's remarks also came as political tension between Abdurrahman and his opponents has arisen following the President's revelation last week that he had given the police and prosecutors permission to question several legislators suspected of inciting riots in outlying provinces.

Juwono was among the first government officials who believed that the ongoing violence and political troubles in the country were organized.

In late 1998, shortly after several students were shot dead by security personnel during an antigovernment protest known as the Semanggi incident, he said that there were "rogue elements within the military" who were interested in further discrediting the government.

Juwono on Thursday also said that "there have been attempts to overstretch the police and military forces and undermine the credibility of the President".

As the probe into the terrorist bombs in the Attorney General's Office continue, National Police Chief Gen. Rusdihardjo did not dismiss the possibility that the incident had much to do with investigations into corruption, collusion and nepotism practices (KKN) being conducted by state prosecutors.

"The explosive device was planted on the floor where all documents related to KKN cases are kept," he said, without elaborating.

Another package of explosives was found less than 24 hours after Tuesday's bomb which damaged a bathroom of a building in the Attorney General's Office compound known as the "Round Building".

Rusdihardjo said the explosive found on Wednesday was commonly used by the military.

"The explosive device was produced by PT Pindad and is used for military purposes," he said after attending the inauguration ceremony of the National Body for Drug Coordination (BKNN) in Cawang, East Jakarta.

However, Rusdihardjo dismissed speculation that Army personnel were involved in the bombing attempt, despite the fact that Pindad is an institution under the Army's supervision.

"It was a product of Pindad. But there might have been a leakage or theft in the factory," he said.

Rusdihardjo said the explosive device could have destroyed the Attorney General's Office building. (cst/byg/bby/asa)