U.S. gives RI credit facility for Hercules spare parts

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The United States has granted Indonesia a credit facility to procure spare parts for its Hercules aircraft to be used for relief efforts in tsunami-hit Aceh province, a defense official said on Thursday.

Ministry of Defense's director general of defense strategy Maj. Gen. (ret.) Sudrajat said Washington would open a so-called Foreign Military Sale Account for Jakarta to be able to buy Hercules hardware directly from the U.S. in installments.

Earlier on Wednesday, Indonesian presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal quoted visiting U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell as saying that restrictions on equipment to mend a fleet of grounded military cargo planes would be eased.

Sudrajat clarified that the U.S. embargo imposed on non-lethal equipment had actually been lifted in 2002, so Indonesia's military cargo planes could airlift aid for victims in conflict areas, such as Ambon in Maluku, and Poso regency in Central Sulawesi.

Despite the lifting of the ban, Jakarta had not been allowed to purchase spare parts for Hercules directly from Washington, but had to procure them from third countries, such as Singapore, Malaysia and Europe, which used similar hardware to the U.S., Sudrajat said.

All transactions, however, had to be with the consent of U.S. authorities, he added.

"This forced us to shop for double prices, while there was no guarantee that other countries wanted to merchandise their U.S. spare parts," he told The Jakarta Post.

Sudrajat urged Washington to ease its standing embargo on lethal equipment for Jakarta to help the Indonesian military (TNI) restore security and stop disturbances across the country.

Indonesia has two squadrons of Hercules planes, with only 40 of them airworthy. This is often used by the TNI as a reason for being late in sending troops and humanitarian aid to remote areas hit by security disturbances or natural disasters.

According to Sudrajat, the military needs at least US$1 million to $2 million to repair each of its grounded cargo planes.

Military analyst Andi Widjajanto from the University of Indonesia asked the government not to be reactive in responding the U.S. move to further ease the military embargo that was imposed on Indonesia in the wake of alleged gross human rights abuses in East Timor in 1999.

It could just be a "political gesture" rather than a willingness to revive permanent military to military relations, he said.

"The U.S. administration is unable to address the issue because any bilateral cooperation in arms and technology transfer must be endorsed by the U.S. Congress," Andi said.

Andi was pessimistic that the decision to lift the embargo could happen immediately.

"We should not change our policy of looking for new suppliers of military equipment," he said.