TNI appoints Djoko as Maluku military chief

Kurniawan Hari and Imanuddin, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Military (TNI) Headquarters appointed on Tuesday Maj. Gen. Djoko Santoso to lead the security restoration operations and head the Pattimura Regional Military Command in the troubled Maluku province, a report said.

TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said the decision was stipulated in a decree No. 388/2002 issued by TNI chief Adm. Widodo A.S. on Monday.

"In an attempt to maintain unity and establish a clear chain of command in the Security Restoration Operations Command in Maluku, it has been decided that the Command will be led also by the chief of the Pattimura Regional Military Command," Sjafrie said as quoted by Antara.

The TNI chief decree also called for outgoing chief of the Pattimura Military Command Brig. Gen. Mustopo to be transferred to another post at Army Headquarters. The TNI claimed it was a routine changeover.

Djoko, who was born in the Central Java town of Surakarta in August 1952, was a 1975 graduate of the National Military Academy. He was appointed Chief of Staff of Central Java's Diponegoro Regional Military Command in 2000.

He was then assigned to lead the Malang-based Second Division of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) in East Java last year.

The plan to establish the security restoration operations command was revealed last week by Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who said that the command would still work under the Regional Civil Emergency Administration, led by Governor Saleh Latuconsina.

Coordination, not necessarily weak law enforcement, has been cited as the reason behind a recent outbreak of conflicts in the eastern Indonesian islands, which has seriously damaged a Feb. 12, 2002 peace deal signed in Malino, South Sulawesi.

One of the worst incidents occurred when scores of well-armed militiamen attacked the Christian village of Soya on April 28, in which at least 14 people were killed.

Former defense minister Juwono Sudarsono said on Tuesday that the presence of the security forces in Maluku was important to restore order in the troubled province.

"Let's end the debate. We had expected the police to restore order, but the police, the attorneys and the judges failed to create the order we'd been hoping for," Juwono said.