The Jakarta Post, November 10, 2005
Security officials in hot water over latest Poso incident
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Senior lawmakers in the House of Representatives lashed out at top security officials
following the latest terror attacks in Poso, Central Sulawesi.
Some even demanded the removal of the officials because of what they said was the
officials' inability to ensure security in religiously-divided Poso.
"We should learn from Japan where a minister who fails to resolve a crucial problem
will resign from office," said House deputy speaker Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno from the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI), which is one of the opposition parties.
He singled out for particularly criticizing the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal
and Security Affairs Widodo A.S., Minister of Home Affairs Muh. Ma'aruf, Indonesian
Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, and National Police chief Gen. Sutanto,
whom he said should be held responsible for the return of violence to the region,
despite a government-sponsored truce at the end of 2001 aimed at ending a two-year
Muslim-Christian conflict that killed over 1,000 people.
The President is currently in the process of evaluating the performance of his Cabinet
amid high public expectations of a reshuffle.
Senior House security commission member Yuddy Chrisnandie called on the
President to set a deadline for the security authorities to end the brutality in Poso.
"There has to be a rewards and punishment mechanism. If they are unable to perform,
then we must remove the provincial police chief and provincial military commander,"
he said, referring to Insp. Gen. Oegroseno and Maj. Gen. Ari Budi Sampurno of the
Wirabuana Military Command, which oversees military affairs in the Sulawesi region.
House Speaker Agung Laksono was also infuriated by the latest terrorist outrages in
Poso, and called on security officials to work harder to return stability to the region.
"The government must take action, not talk only," he said.
Agung said that he would ask the House security commission to summon
Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo AS in the near
future to seek explanations regarding the preparedness of the security authorities in
dealing with terror threats.
The statements came after Poso residents were shocked by the shooting of two
teenage girls in the town on Tuesday evening by unidentified men more than a week
after masked assailants beheaded three Christian schoolgirls late last month.
Susilo said that the series of attacks in Poso was aimed at "provoking religious
conflict in Poso."
Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said that the President had ordered the
security forces to bring the perpetrators to justice, and urged residents not to launch
revenge attacks.
Meanwhile, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Djoko Santoso confirmed that the Indonesian
Military (TNI) had apprehended five men who were believed to be the perpetrators of
the beheadings.
But he said that none of them were TNI members.
Earlier reports said that the Army's 714th Battalion in Central Sulawesi had
apprehended five men, including a retired soldier, in connection with the beheadings.
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