Soeharto giggles away Amien's allegations of corruption

JAKARTA (JP): Soeharto burst into laughter when Amien Rais said in a televised debate on Friday the former president tried to arrest him a few months before the May 21 transfer of power to then vice president B.J. Habibie, informed sources said on Saturday.

Soeharto also giggled when Amien told Attorney General Lt. Gen. A.M. Ghalib during the debate, broadcast live by private TV station SCTV, that an international magazine would soon carry a report detailing the results of its investigation into Soeharto and his family's coffers.

"He burst into laughter when Amien talked about his arrest and about Pak Harto's cronies. Bapak said Amien's story was totally baseless," a source said on Saturday.

Soeharto watched the debate and asked his aides to record it. The debate itself was attended by a number of Soeharto's lawyers, including Juan Felix Tampubolon.

Forum Keadilan weekly and the Jakarta Lawyers Club jointly organized the debate between Amien and Ghalib after the two had traded accusations through the media for weeks.

Amien said President B.J. Habibie's government should give concrete evidence of its seriousness in investigating Soeharto, who Amien called "Mr. Soeharto" during the debate.

Amien claimed Soeharto ordered then attorney general Singgih to engineer a subversion charge against him and arrest him because of his criticism of Soeharto and his demand that he resign. Amien said Singgih did not comply with the order.

Amien also said a worldwide news magazine would publish a list of Soeharto's riches in several countries, including Austria.

"Amien is really a professor of making up stories," the source, who has known Soeharto for some 20 years, quoted Soeharto as saying.

There were few politicians who dared to attack Soeharto when he was in power, and Amien was one of them.

"Now everyone feels it is an obligation to denounce Soeharto, even senior government officials who regarded every one of Bapak's word as the truth when he was still president," the source said.

Soeharto, who resigned on May 21 last year following nationwide protests and violence, now spends most of his time reading newspapers and watching the news on TV. He complains that he is depicted as a pariah in most of the news coverage.

Soeharto is especially concerned by the coverage given him by TV stations, some of which are owned or linked to his children. SCTV was founded by Peter Gontha, who is a business ally of Soeharto's son Bambang Trihatmodjo. RCTI is partly owned by Bambang, while TPI is owned by his daughter Siti Hardijanti Rukmana.

"The owners have practically lost control over (their television stations)," a source said.

Soeharto is also saddened by the ongoing violence and riots throughout the country and the prolonged economic crisis. He also criticized the abuse of the social safety net fund by government officials.

"He is very concerned but he does not have the money to help the poor," the source said.

The retired five-star general also spends his time performing his religious services at home, including fasting on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. He also often receives Muslim preachers from various provinces.

He rarely leaves home except to play golf with Bambang or eldest son Sigit Harjojudanto, usually at Sentul golf course in Sentul, West Java. When he was president, he played golf almost exclusively in Rawamangun, East Jakarta, with close confidant Muhammad "Bob" Hasan.

"But now they rarely meet in order to avoid a public uproar," another source said.

The sources hinted that Soeharto was very healthy. (prb)