U.S. to resume military assistance to Indonesia: Juwono

U.S. to resume military assistance to Indonesia: Juwono

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono has
expressed his optimism that the United States will resume its
military assistance to Indonesia.

Speaking before Indonesian citizens in New York on Thursday,
Juwono said his prior talks with Pentagon officials indicated
that the U.S. government would review the embargo on Hercules
aircraft components in the next two or three months.

He said, however, the U.S. would not restore the International
Military Exercise and Training (IMET) program, until after
Indonesia manages to bring repatriation of East Timor refugees
and pro-Jakarta militia activities under control.

"If all conditions are fulfilled, the program could be
restored immediately," Juwono said as quoted by Antara.

Washington suspended all joint military exercises and
exchanges and other support for Indonesia in September of last
year to protest against the killings in East Timor.

Juwono said on Thursday that he had convinced the Pentagon of
Indonesia's desperate need for Hercules aircraft for humanitarian
missions, including in the riot-hit provinces of Aceh and Maluku.

"Never think that the planes were used only to transport
military personnel to conflicting areas. The aircraft have saved
many lives in the strife-torn territories also," he said.

Indonesia has eight Hercules aircraft, but five of them are
not eligible to fly.

Juwono also said that the government would respond to the
lawsuit against former Army deputy chief of staff Lt. Gen. Johny
Lumintang 20 days after it was filed in the Washington DC
district court on Feb. 28.

The decision was taken upon the advice of Pentagon officials,
according to Juwono.

"Otherwise, Pak Lumintang might receive a subpoena when he
visits the U.S.," Juwono said, adding that a quick response was a
gesture of respect to the court.

He said the military attache of the Indonesian embassy in
Washington DC, Brig. Gen. Dadi Susanto, had been assigned to meet
the court summons on Johny's behalf.

The U.S.-based Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the
Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA) and James Klimaski on
behalf of several victims of the East Timor mayhem sued Johny,
who is also the governor of the National Resilience Institute
(Lemhanas), for his alleged role in human rights violations.

The charges against Johny were made on behalf of a mother
whose son was killed, a man who was tortured, and another man who
lost his leg during the violence. The identities of the
plaintiffs, who are East Timorese, are kept secret for security
reasons.

The suit also cited a June 1999 army manual, also signed by
Johny, which stated that the Army's Kopassus intelligence
operatives were to be trained in propaganda, kidnapping, terror,
agitation, sabotage, infiltration, undercover operations, wire-
tapping and photographic intelligence.

Juwono said many items in the lawsuit were incorrect. He
suspected that certain Indonesian nongovernmental organizations
whom he refused to identify offered the information on which
their U.S. counterparts based their lawsuit.