U.S. Embassy rejects Mahfud's charges

JAKARTA (JP): The United States on Tuesday refuted a statement by Indonesian defense minister Mahfud MD that Washington was maintaining its ban on the supply to Indonesia of spare parts for Hercules C-130 aircraft.

The U.S. Embassy in Jakarta in a statement said Mahfud's allegations were simply "not true."

"In response to the request of the Indonesian Air Force chief Marshall Hanafie Asnan last year, the U.S. government lifted restrictions on the export of C-130 parts to Indonesia," the embassy said in a statement.

"During his visit to Jakarta last September, then U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen personally informed President (Abdurrahman) Wahid and Minister Mahfud that he was working to lift the restriction on the sale of C-130 parts to Indonesia."

The statement then added that on Sept. 22, U.S. Ambassador Robert Gelbard notified Hanafie and Mahfud that Washington "had approved the export of these parts to Indonesia."

Mahfud on Monday claimed that the embargo had hampered the ability of the Indonesian Military (TNI) to quell the recent bloody ethnic pogrom in Central Kalimantan.

Mahfud said the military found it difficult to reach the affected area in Sampit due to "insufficient transportation."

He claimed that the U.S.'s policy had prevented 24 Indonesia C-130 transport planes from being repaired, thus delaying the military's response to the unrest.

Washington imposed a military embargo on Indonesia in 1999 following the violence that swept the former province of East Timor. However, the ban has slowly been eased, particularly concerning non-lethal military equipment.

The U.S. Embassy in its statement said that Washington "currently places no restrictions on the commercial sale of C-130 parts to Indonesia."

It pointed out that as part of standard procedure the U.S. State Department issued licenses for such sales.

"In response to the Indonesian Air Force's request to purchase C-130 spare parts, six U.S. companies have already applied for export licenses. Four companies have received approval."

Separately, Mahfud after a meeting with the President said Indonesia would go ahead with its plan to purchase C-130 parts from Jordan.

Mahfud conceded that the U.S. had now lifted its ban on C-130 parts, but maintained that the negotiations with Jordan had begun when the restrictions were still in place and that Indonesia would go ahead with its plan to acquire spare parts from that country.

The purchase would be carried out through a private company, which Mahfud refused to name. (mds)