The New York Times, Saturday, December 13, 2003
The Saturday Profile
An Indonesian Voice in the Antiterror Wilderness
By JANE PERLEZ
JAKARTA, Indonesia - IN the year before terrorists killed more than 200 people in a
Bali nightclub, the head of Indonesia's intelligence agency, Gen. A. M. Hendropriyono,
says he was a lonely man.
He had alerted Indonesian leaders that terrorists were at work, and could strike at
anytime. No one listened, he said. After the World Trade Center attack, some
politicians who noticed his friendship with the United States ambassador, denounced
him as a tool of the Americans.
"I warned all of these things might happen," the general, dressed in a bold,
blue-checked shirt, said over a takeout Chinese brunch his staff had laid out elegantly
in his spacious, wood-paneled office. "Instead of listening to me, they blamed me."
To illustrate how prescient he was, the general has a presentation titled "The Problem
of Terrorism in Indonesia" ready for viewing in an adjoining conference room.
Prominently featured is the Indonesian vice president, Hamzah Haz, saying, "I
guarantee there are no terrorists in Indonesia," juxtaposed with portraits of the Islamic
militants who have been arrested in the 14 months since the Bali attack.
General Hendropriyono - widely known in Indonesia as "Hendro" - says he feels less
alone today, now that his political colleagues can no longer deny that terrorism is a
problem for Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.
He has in fact become an important component here of the American campaign
against terror and has helped Indonesia arrest scores of militants from Jemaah
Islamiyah, the homegrown terror organization responsible for the Bali attack and for an
attack on the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta in July that killed 12 people.
Earlier this month, he met in Washington with the director of central intelligence,
George J. Tenet, and White House officials, and according to an American official he
was shown appreciation for his "leadership from the very beginning" in fighting
terrorism. Another American official said he gave the general top marks for infiltrating
Jemaah Islamiyah but wondered whether he wanted to "manipulate" rather than
"crush" the group.
BEYOND satisfying the demands of the Americans themselves, it is no easy job
being a crucial ally of the United States in a region where American policy has
generated deep resentment. One of Mr. Hendropriyono's colleagues, Foreign Minister
Hassan Wirajuda, in a speech attended by the United States ambassador, said this
week that America's "arbitrary" war in Iraq had made the world more dangerous. Polls
show a deep popular suspicion of the United States since the Iraq war.
But General Hendropriyono is convinced that terrorists here are now on the run..
"Jemaah Islamiyah is no longer intact," the general said, and the result is that "it is
difficult to trace individuals one by one."
His most wanted man, Jemaah Islamiyah's chief bombmaker, Azahari Husin, recently
slipped through the fingers of the Indonesian police. The general said he believed that
Mr. Azahari had been isolated, and knew that he was no longer able to conduct
reconnaissance of a site he wished to attack.
While most spymasters are reluctant to talk about their work, the general is not above
trying to build a higher profile for himself in the rivalry between the police and his
intelligence agency, which, much like the F.B.I. and the C.I.A., compete for credit. He
is also keen to demonstrate that the intelligence agency, which has a reputation for
wielding a strong hand at home, is today a less secretive, more modern outfit.
He agreed to an interview to coincide with the publication of "Intel: Inside Indonesia's
Intelligence Service," an account of the service's history since its founding 50 years
ago. The book was written by an American expert, Ken Conboy, and published by
Equinox, an English-language press here.
Born in central Java in 1945 three months before World War II ended, A. M.
Hendropriyono followed in his father's footsteps and chose a military career. As a
special forces officer, he received early training in Australia and climbed the military
command during the authoritarian rule of President Suharto. He was banished in the
early 1990's after supporting Megawati Sukarnoputri, who later became president,
during her efforts to lead an opposition party. As president, Mrs. Megawati appointed
him head of Indonesia's intelligence agency in August 2001.
He received military training in the United States in 1979, when Washington viewed
Indonesia as an important bulwark in another struggle, the one against Communism.
Such exchanges were suspended during the Clinton administration because of
abuses by the Indonesian military, an indication even today of how the need for allies
can compete with a desire to promote humans rights. The program remains on hold -
a mistake, the general says.
"It is very hard for many Indonesians to understand the ideas of the United States if
they have never been to school there," he said. "These people consider a big country
like the United States with suspicion."
THE general's own record is blemished by an incident 14 years ago, in Lampung, on
the island of Sumatra, where he was head of the regional military command.
After a group of Islamic militants hacked a military commander to death, he retaliated
with an attack on their compound, killing as many as 100 people. The event has gone
down in contemporary Indonesian history as a particularly violent one.
Asked about it, the general said that under the circumstances he had "no choice." He
also had at the ready a book on the incident that described later reconciliation efforts
he had made.
His experience as a jungle fighter against Communist insurgents in the 1970's taught
him how difficult it was to fight terrorists, who, the general said, can operate with less
popular support than guerrillas need. His early knowledge of Islamic militants goes
back to the mid-1980's, when they were exiled to Malaysia.
"The radicals are only a thin layer of our society but they are well prepared because
they are cast very wide," he said.
He says he believes that Indonesian extremists are largely self-motivated, and do not
receive much help from Al Qaeda.
"I don't think they are guided by Al Qaeda," he said. "Maybe money comes from
outside."
Despite his successes in Indonesia, and his clear affection for America, the general
said that on his visit to the United States he still had to defend Indonesia to his
American friends.
"I showed how the bomb in Jakarta was not worse than at the World Trade Center,"
he said, "and that the W.T.C. did not mean New York was unsafe afterward."
Copyright © 2003 The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.
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