TNI ready to leave conflict zones: Chief

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Military (TNI) said it was ready to withdraw its involvement in settling armed conflicts in the country, provided that this decision came from the people.

"I leave it to their consensus. If we are to withdraw from the conflict zones, we would be happy to do so. The more tasks taken away from us, the happier we will be because we can just rest at home, but still get a salary," TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said on Monday during a meeting with House of Representatives Commission I for security affairs.

Endriartono was responding to a proposal from the Brussels- based International Crisis Group (ICG) that the military withdraw from Papua and that the police should take full responsibility of security in the province.

In a report published in this newspaper on Monday, the ICG said the military's involvement in the easternmost province of Irian Jaya should be questioned. The ICG said the presence of military forces on the island worsened the security situation.

Endriartono said that the TNI had been pushing for a clear-cut guideline for its responsibility in security to avoid an overlap with police duties.

"I am expecting to have a discussion with the National Police chief about the draft, so that it will be legally clear what actions need to be taken to cope with the violence," said Endriartono.

"We need to set up such a law," Endriartono said.

The National Police became separated from TNI in 1999 and with the separation, internal security matters come under full police responsibility as stipulated in People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Decree No. VI/1999. However, the decree does not provide clear-cut guidelines on TNI's responsibility in internal security.

According to the existing defense law, TNI shares security responsibility in, among other things, guarding vital installations and projects.

Legislators, meanwhile, defended TNI's presence in conflict areas.

"The number of police officers is limited. Police personnel are also not as well trained as their military counterparts to cope with conflicts," Amris Hassan from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction said.