Reports link ex-military men to Indon bomb plot
RETIRED military officers have been implicated in a murky Jakarta bomb
plot, along with government critics and human rights activists, reports
said yesterday.
Jakarta military commander Maj-Gen Sjafrie Sjamsoedin denied rumours
that former armed forces chief Benny Murdani was among them but said the
names of some former officers were found in documents seized at the
scene of a Jan 18 blast in the capital.
"It is true there are a number of retired military men found in the
documents, but not Benny Murdani," he told reporters, while declining to
identify the officers.
Current Indonesian armed forces chief Gen Feisal Tanjung also denied Gen
Murdani's name had been found in the documents and was quoted as saying
it was premature to suggest his predecessor could be included in the
investigation. Gen Murdani is linked to the Centre for Strategic and
International Studies, an independent think-tank run by prominent ethnic
Chinese figure Jusuf Wanandi, who is allegedly implicated in the plot.
His brother Sofyan, a high-profile businessman, has been questioned
about the blast and is now believed to be in Australia on holiday. There
have been increasing calls for him to return to Indonesia and Gen
Tanjung and other officials have said he should remain in the country in
case he needs to be quizzed again, although they have stopped short of a
formal travel ban.
The Wanandis' names, along with those of a newspaper editor and human
rights activists, were found on an e-mail message at the scene of the
blast, which apparently occurred as the bomb was being handled by its
makers at a Jakarta flat, the military has charged. All have denied any
involvement with the explosion.
Indonesia is currently embroiled in a devastating economic crisis and
the country's ethnic Chinese minority is a traditional target of anger
during times of unrest. More than 90 per cent of Indonesia's 200 million
people are Muslims, while about 5 per cent are ethnic Chinese. -- AFP |
