Soeharto, Prabowo invited to ABRI anniversary event

JAKARTA (JP): Former president Soeharto and his son-in-law Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto, together with other senior retired generals, are to be invited to the Armed Forces' (ABRI) 53rd anniversary on Monday.

Chairman of the organizing committee, Maj. Gen. Soeparto S., told a media conference the invitations would be sent before the end of the week. "Former president Soeharto and former chief of the Armed Forces Staff and Command School Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto will be among ABRI's retired generals invited to the ceremony," he said.

He said he could not guarantee that either Soeharto or Prabowo would attend the event, which will be led for the first time by President B.J. Habibie at the Armed Forces headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, on Monday morning.

Soeharto led last year's commemoration of ABRI day wearing his uniform, complete with its honorary five-star Great General emblem, which he had received from the Armed Forces headquarters a few days earlier. Last year's celebration was also attended by the only other living five-star general, Abdul Haris Nasution.

Asked the reason Prabowo was invited to the ceremony, Soeparto said the Armed Forces headquarters invited all retired officers who were ranked three-star generals and above.

"Moreover, Prabowo was honorably discharged from his post as commander of the Armed Forces Staff and Command School," he said.

Prabowo, the former commandant-general of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus) and husband of Soeharto's second daughter Siti Hediati, was dismissed from the Armed Forces in August following a military investigation into his involvement in the abductions and torture of political activists.

Armed Forces spokesman Maj. Gen. Syamsul Ma'arif said Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto would address the anniversary, during which he would announce ABRI's decision on the suggested separation of the National Police from the Armed Forces. Syamsul said Wiranto would also likely make reference to calls for the establishment of a federal system of government. (imn)