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Subject: Kopassus Chief to Visit Australia [+FT: Unlikely Allies]
Received from Joyo Indonesia News also: FT: War on terror creates unlikely allies [Indonesia and Australia]; and Indonesia Praises Aussie Links Australian Broadcasting Corporation August 20, 2003 Indonesia's Kopassus chief to visit Australia The head of Indonesia's special forces unit will visit Australia next month to follow-up plans for a resumption of military links between the two countries. Australia stopped joint training exercises after the Indonesian military was implicated in human rights atrocities during East Timor's bloody breakaway from Jakarta in 1999. Indonesia's Army Chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu described the restoration of links between the Kopassus and Australian troops as "important", the state Antara news agency reported. General Ryacudu said Kopassus chief Major-General Sriyanto would visit Australia next month to look into the resumption of ties. Earlier this month, Chief of Australia Defence Forces, General Peter Cosgrove, said the resumption of ties with Kopassus was a necessary part of the regional war against terrorism because the unit was a major counter terrorism force in Indonesia. "We're saying that we should focus on the here and now," he said. "We should collaborate strictly in those areas where we can all agree that it would be folly if we didn't have some relationship and some arrangement to help save lives." ---------------------- Financial Times [UK] August 19, 2003 War on terror creates unlikely allies By Anna Fifield Amid the rubble of Jakarta's shattered JW Marriotthotel, Indonesian and Australian police and forensic experts are working side-by-side sifting for evidence. Thrown together by last year's Bali bombing in which 89 Australians died, the two countries, close neighbours but hardly traditional strategic allies, are developing a security relationship, which analysts say could pave the way for strengthened bilateral ties across the board. John Howard's government has a history of poor relations with Jakarta, mainly due to Australia's armed intervention in East Timor in 1999 to stop the violence stemming from the territory's vote for independence from Indonesia. After the Bali bombing, Australian police met with some resistance when staking their claim to a leading role in the investigations, especially as Canberra was questioning Jakarta's ability to respond effectively. However, such sensitivities were soothed by the success of the investigation in catching and prosecuting key players from the Jemaah Islamiah group blamed for the attack, including Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, who was this month sentenced to death for his part in the bombing. This time around Australia's participation has not been contested. The increased level of co-operation between the two country's defence and security networks is unprecedented, says Alan Dupont, of Australian National University's strategic and defence studies centre. "Relations have been in deep freeze after East Timor but they've started to thaw since Bali and the [Australian Federal Police's] success there," he says. "This security and military action is basically a template for the kind of co-operation Australia and Indonesia could have in other areas." But unlike Bali, where a joint task force was set up, Australia is merely assisting the Indonesian-led inquiry into the Marriott blast, contributing police, forensic and intelligence officers to the Indonesian squad. As one of the lessons from Bali, Australia is now sharing specialist skills - as well as state-of-the-art technology and forensics - with Indonesia in "a very co-operative, genuine way", without coming across as colonial, Mr Dupont says. Greg Moriarty, an assistant secretary at the department of foreign affairs, adds: "Indonesia realised Bali was a huge, significant thing and that they didn't have a good a grip on JI. They had to make a political point [after Bali] but they were nowhere near as well-policed as they are now." Australia can take a lot of the credit for helping Indonesia upgrade its police and intelligence forces, he says. As well as transferring practical skills, the government has committed A$10m ($6.6m) over four years to boosting Indonesia's counter-terrorist ability. "If you look at the working-level co-operation on law and order, and particularly on terrorism, we've really achieved some good outcomes," Mr Moriarty said. Indonesia has asked for Australia's help in financing, training and drafting legislation for its financial intelligence unit to stop terrorist funding. The Australian Federal Police agents are also due to provide training for Indonesian officers at the Jakarta-based Transnational Crime Centre, which will look at wider issues such as money laundering and drugs, and is similar to one already established in Canberra. But their new co-operation is challenging Canberra's much-vaunted morals in the war against terrorism - Mr Howard this week said Australia would resume ties with the country's notorious Kopassus special forces. Australia stopped joint training exercises with the Indonesian military following massacres in East Timor, which were allegedly co-ordinated by Kopassus. In addition, seven Kopassus members were jailed this year for torturing a Papuan separatist leader to death. But Mr Howard now says: "There is a capacity within that organisation to deal with hijacking and terrorist situations - I do think it is appropriate in limited cases to have contact." He added that Kopassus had the most effective capability in Indonesia to resolve situations which could involve Australians. The equivalent of the SAS in Australia and Britain, Kopassus responds to terror and bomb attacks, and to hijackings. Mr Dupont said: "Australia cannot have any sort of effective co-operation with Indonesia without them - Kopassus and the military are part of the solution." --------------------------- Indonesia praises Aussie links INDONESIA'S army chief today welcomed Australian plans to resume links with an Indonesian special forces unit which has been implicated in abuses in East Timor and elsewhere. General Ryamizard Ryacudu described the restoration of links between the Kopassus special forces and Australian troops as "important," the state Antara news agency reported. Ryacudu said Kopassus chief Major General Sriyanto would visit Australia next month to look into the possibility of resuming ties. Australia stopped joint training exercises after the Indonesian military was implicated in militia atrocities during East Timor's bloody breakaway from Jakarta in 1999. But Australia's defence chief Peter Cosgrove said this month that resumption of ties with Kopassus was a necessary part of the regional war against terrorism. Cosgrove said Kopassus was the major counter terrorism force in Indonesia, meaning his troops had to have some contact with it, even if in a strictly limited capacity. "We're saying that we should focus on the here and now and what is very necessary for the safety of our people and Indonesian people," he said. "We should collaborate strictly in those areas where we can all agree that it would be folly if we didn't have some relationship and some arrangement to help save lives." Opposition Labor foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd has called on Defence Minister Robert Hill to explain why the government did not announce the move. He said he had serious concerns about what he termed Kopassus's historical ties with paramilitary and terrorist groups. Back to August menu |