TNI thwarts attack on headquarters

TNI thwarts attack on headquarters

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesia Military (TNI) headquarters in Cilangkap, East
Jakarta has thwarted a possible bomb attack allegedly planned by
the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) as the man picked for the mission
did not have the gumption to carry it out, an officer said.

The man, identified as 33-year-old Riduansyah from Aceh, a
civilian employee at the TNI headquarters, has sought police
protection after the rebels threatened to kill him and his
family, TNI spokesman Col. D.J. Nachrowi said on Saturday.

"They (GAM) thought they could influence him. But I think he
has the nationalist spirit as he rejected their order," he told
The Jakarta Post.

TNI headquarters is located in Cilangkap in East Jakarta. The
compound is also the Navy and Air Force headquarters.

The military launched a major offensive against GAM in May
last year to end the decades-long rebellion in the resource-rich
province.

Riduansyah, who lives with his wife and two children in a
housing complex in Parung, Depok, West Java, is a native of
Kutacane in Southeast Aceh.

He is currently being questioned at the Jakarta Police
headquarters, according to Sr. Comr. Mathius Salempang, who heads
the detective and crime unit.

"We need to verify whether his statement is true or not," he
told the Post.

An officer at Depok Police station, with whom Riduansyah filed
his report of the death threat, said the TNI employee had been
involved in talks with a man who claimed to be a local GAM
commander.

The GAM commander then asked Riduansyah to meet him somewhere
in Parung. Riduansyah later met three men, who all claimed to be
GAM members, in the area early in the morning, the police said.

"They had a gun and forced him (Riduansyah) to go with them.
They later asked him to set a bomb in the headquarters and gave
him Rp 23 million (US$2,738)," the officer, who requested
anonymity, said.

It remains unclear whether the three people also provided
Riduansyah with explosives.

Riduansyah said he did not have the nerve to follow the
instruction, but spent the money for his personal needs. The men
who claimed to be GAM members continued to phone him, asking him
to carry out the bombing.

Nachrowi said the police would investigate the case thoroughly
in a bid to identify those who ordered Riduansyah to bomb the TNI
headquarters.

GAM spokesman Sofjan Dawood denied any plan to carry out a
bomb attack on the TNI headquarters.

"We don't have any plan to blow up the TNI headquarters,
although it is permissible," he said.

Sofjan also said he did not know Riduansyah or the rebels who
ordered the bomb attack.

"Riduansyah must be questioned thoroughly to understand his
motive. He comes from Kutacane, which is not a strategic
operational area for GAM," he asserted.

Central Aceh and Southeast Aceh are known to be a "white
areas" where GAM influence is minimal.

The authorities have linked GAM to a series of bombings across
the country, particularly after the deadly 2000 blast at the
Jakarta Stock Exchange building on Jl. Sudirman in Central
Jakarta.

A number of Acehnese, who were sent to jail for the incident,
were accused of being GAM members. However, Tengku Ismuhadi
Jafar, the alleged mastermind of the bombing, has denied any link
with GAM.

Following the imposition of the martial law in Aceh in May
last year, subdistricts in Jakarta have required residents to
watch over Acehnese neighbors.