Soldiers questioned over arms theft

Soldiers questioned over arms theft

Netty Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura, Papua

The Indonesian Military (TNI) has questioned 20 TNI members
over the recent raid on a military arsenal in the Wamena district
that left three dead, a senior military officer said.

Trikora military commander overseeing Papua, Maj. Gen. Nurdin
Zainal said the military had questioned 20 of its members as
witnesses in the case. So far no one has been named a suspect, he
said.

Nurdin did not rule out the possibility of military
involvement in the theft, which authorities initially blamed
solely on the Free Papua Movement (OPM) rebel group.

Security was uncharacteristically light, enabling raiders to
easily get in and escape, Nurdin noted. He suspected an insider
job.

"I must admit that this raid was possible because officers'
let down their guard," he told reporters.

"Rumors of an possible attack against a TNI facility have
circulated since January. Furthermore, the group was likely able
to influence someone from inside to make the operation easier,"
he said.

A group believed to be members of the OPM rebel group broke
into the Army arsenal in Wamena on April 4.

They stole at least 13 M-16 rifles, 13 SP-1 rifles and three
PM rifles along with thousands of rounds of ammunition.

The raid also killed two Army soldiers, First Lt. A.
Napitupulu and First Sgt Ruben Lena. A civilian identified as
Islae Nurib and an alleged member of the group was also killed.

The three died during a shoot out that followed when soldiers
passed the location and spotted the burglary.

TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin had said earlier
that the soldiers assigned to guard the arsenal were
conspicuously absent during the raid.

TNI has sent 144 combat soldiers of the Army's Special Forces
(Kopassus) to Papua to hunt down the group and recoup the stolen
weapons.

Trikora military commander Nurdin said that of the 29 stolen
weapons, 19 had been recovered. The remaining 10, he said, were
still in the hands of the attackers now hiding out in the village
of Napua.

"We already know the current position of the attackers... but
we will approach them through persuasive means, talking to local
figures to enable us to recover the weapons peacefully," he said.

He also called on the people of Wamena to remain calm despite
the military-led manhunt in the district.

Activists have often criticized the TNI over their scant
respect for civilians and human rights during military
operations.

But Nurdin said people in Wamena had nothing to fear, noting
that three of the stolen weapons were recovered on information
from the locals.

Antara reported that one of the suspected gang members was
arrested, bringing to three the total number of arrests in this
case.

"The suspect was arrested in the Sinale region. He was wounded
in the leg after he tried to escape," Wamena military commander
Col. Agus Muljadi said on Saturday.

The raid in Wamena marked the third major incident in a row
that implicated soldiers.

In 2001, the government recalled members of Kopassus in Papua
after soldiers of the unit were named suspects in the murder of
Papua independence figure Theys Hiyo Eluay in 2001.

Last year, soldiers were also implicated in an ambush that
killed three employees of the U.S. giant gold and copper mining
company PT Freeport Indonesia.