U.S. agrees to help Indonesia with investigations

U.S. agrees to help Indonesia with investigations

By Budiman Moerdijat

NEW YORK (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid after a meeting with U.S. President Bill Clinton here on Monday claimed that Washington has agreed to assist Jakarta's investigations into the wealth of former top Indonesian officials, including former president Soeharto.

Abdurrahman said Clinton had given him assurances during their meeting at the White House in Washington D.C. earlier in the day.

"Thank God there's a good response from the U.S. government and he (Clinton) promised to give assistance through the U.S. Center for the Study of Corruption," Abdurrahman told journalists held shortly after his arrival in New York.

"I have met with representatives of the Center before in Jakarta and they will visit Jakarta again in the near future," he added.

The Indonesian Attorney General's Office is currently conducting an investigation into the alleged abuse of power by Soeharto which reportedly opened the way to amass wealth through various foundations by the issuance of various rulings.

Abdurrahman has said that the information obtained from the research agency would be used as evidence in court.

He reiterated, however, that if Soeharto is found guilty, then he would be pardoned by the government.

"The Soeharto family has so far been asking me one big question and I told Clinton this afternoon that the question is whether there is a guarantee that Pak Harto will be treated well if he returns his wealth to the state".

"I say that if they do want a guarantee, even a written one if necessary, I will make it as soon as I return (to Jakarta)," Gus Dur, as the President is popularly called, said.

Abdurrahman added that Soeharto would not even have to be present in the courtroom if the trial eventually takes place.

"It is not necessary for him (Soeharto) to be present in court, he could be represented by his lawyers and if he is found guilty, the government will pardon him and I think the majority of the nation agree with this," Abdurrahman said.

The President said that during the meeting Clinton also expressed his support for Indonesia's territorial integrity.

"He (Clinton) said there will be too many countries in the world if disputes within states are resolved through a declaration of an independent state, army or flag," Abdurrahman said.

Nearing the end of his briefing, in an apparent move to remind Abdurrahman to add something in his statement, Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab was heard whispering to the President: "He (Clinton) said to you that (the U.S.) wants to see your administration successful."

The President snapped back at Alwi, however, and said: "Let it be, if we tell it to Indonesian journalists it would be useless."

Abdurrahman on Tuesday is scheduled to have breakfast at his hotel with former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. He is also due to meet with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan later in the day.

The president is then scheduled to leave for Paris on Tuesday evening.

Meanwhile in Jakarta, Attorney General Marzuki Darusman on Tuesday brushed aside suggestions that his office's questioning of Soeharto due to increasingly incoherrent answers by the former president.

"Don't worry, we will not drop the case because of it (incoherent answers). We have gone this far ... we can't just stop," Marzuki told journalists adding that the questioning was part of the requirements needed to bring a case to court.

"We have to do the questionings, whatever the answers are," he remarked. "Everything is on the right track, and we will submit the case to court on July or August".

The Attorney General's Office has conducted seven questionings on Soeharto and has posed around 100 questions over the former president's foundations.

Soeharto's lawyers on Monday again claimed that their client cannot be account for all his answers because he was losing his memory after suffering a mild stroke last year.

They said that Soeharto has failed to answer all questions posed on him because he has forgotten most things about his foundations and even if he tries to, his answers were irrelevant to the questions.