[Kabar-indonesia] Indonesian Army Denies Illegal Arms Purchase

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

Indonesian Army Denies Illegal Arms Purchase

JAKARTA, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Indonesia's military denied on Tuesday any links 
with four Indonesians charged in the United States with a conspiracy to export 
arms. 

U.S. officials said last week that six people had been arrested in Guam, a 
U.S. territory in the Pacific, and charged with conspiring to sell arms to Sri 
Lankan rebels and customers in Indonesia. 

"The TNI (Indonesian army) requires our partners abroad to have a valid 
export license. If there were accusations that the TNI is buying illegal arms, this 
can't be true," military chief Air Marshal Djoko Suyanto told reporters. 

The U.S. officials said four of the men -- two Indonesians, a Singaporean and 
a Sri Lankan -- intended to export surface-to-air missiles, machine guns, 
ammunition and night vision goggles to the Tamil Tigers, considered a terrorist 
group by the United States. 

The men were identified as Haniffa Bin Osman, 55, a citizen of Singapore; 
Erick Wotulo, 60, and Haji Subandi, 69, of Indonesia; and Thirunavukarasu 
Varatharasa, 36, a Sri Lankan. 

Osman, Wotulo and Subandi also were charged with conspiracy to provide 
material support to a foreign terrorist organisation and money laundering. 
 
Suyanto confirmed that Wotulo was a retired Indonesian general from the 
marine corps. 

The three other Indonesians are accused of trying to export night vision 
goggles and long-range sniper telescopic sights to Indonesia and are civilian, he 
said. 

"Night vision goggles can be used by anyone. In Russia they are sold freely 
in stores," he said. The U.S. attorney's office in Maryland said the men were 
arrested in Guam late this week after making a down payment for the weapons and 
inspecting them. 

The Singaporean suspect met undercover agents and test-fired several of the 
weapons in Maryland. The men submitted a purchase order for about $900,000 
worth of arms and said a deal could be made for another order of up to $15 million 
of weapons, the statement said. 

All six men face a maximum sentence of five years in jail for conspiracy to 
export arms. Subandi, Osman and Wotulo also face up to 15 years in jail for 
conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and 20 years in prison if 
convicted of money laundering. 

Indonesia foreign ministry spokesman Desra Percaya said separately that 
embassy officials in the United States would travel to Guam later on Tuesday to 
offer consular assistance to the detained suspects. 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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