Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06JAKARTA5851
2006-05-09 09:29:00
SECRET//NOFORN
Embassy Jakarta
Cable title:  

INDONESIAN BIOGRAPHICAL AND POLITICAL GOSSIP, Q4

Tags:  PINR PGOV PTER KISL ID 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHJA #5851/01 1290929
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P 090929Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3931
INFO RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
S E C R E T JAKARTA 005851 

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/09/2016
TAGS: PINR PGOV PTER KISL ID
SUBJECT: INDONESIAN BIOGRAPHICAL AND POLITICAL GOSSIP, Q4
2005/Q1 2006

REF: A. JAKARTA 5217 (ECONOMIC NATIONALISM)

B. 05 JAKARTA 14077 (BIO TIDBITS Q3 2005)

C. 05 JAKARTA 10107 (BIO TIDBITS Q2 2005)

D. 05 JAKARTA 8768 (PD CONGRESS)

Classified By: Political Officer David R. Greenberg, reason: 1.4 (b) an
d (d).

SUMMARY
-------

S E C R E T JAKARTA 005851

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/09/2016
TAGS: PINR PGOV PTER KISL ID
SUBJECT: INDONESIAN BIOGRAPHICAL AND POLITICAL GOSSIP, Q4
2005/Q1 2006

REF: A. JAKARTA 5217 (ECONOMIC NATIONALISM)

B. 05 JAKARTA 14077 (BIO TIDBITS Q3 2005)

C. 05 JAKARTA 10107 (BIO TIDBITS Q2 2005)

D. 05 JAKARTA 8768 (PD CONGRESS)

Classified By: Political Officer David R. Greenberg, reason: 1.4 (b) an
d (d).

SUMMARY
--------------


1. (S/NF) Yudhoyono's relatives seen as key advisors on
policy... Yudhoyono held off pressure on Taufik Kiemas...
Yudhoyono directed intelligence agency to surveil State
Secretary... Cabinet members seen as sympathetic toward

SIPDIS
radicals... Security forces' ties to Islam Defenders' Front
(FPI) discussed... Playboy publisher paid off FPI... Details
of political party figures playing money politics... Top
legislator Agung Laksono sympathetic toward Iran... PKS
Secretary General named as channel to Hamas and Muslim

SIPDIS
Brotherhood... Al-Irsyad allegedly contains group of Afghan
veterans... And more. This cable is the latest in a series
that has provided political tidbits and rumors, rather than
more developed information. Most of the gossip stems from
single but well-placed sources. End Summary.

SBY'S RELATIVES SEEN AS KEY POLICY ADVISORS
--------------


2. (C) Former top Indonesian Democratic Party - Struggle
(PDI-P) legislator Roy Janis, who broke from PDI-P in 2005,
told us recently that he maintained indirect contact with
President Yudhoyono through one of Yudhoyono's family
members. Roy claimed that an informal grouping of
Yudhoyono's relatives held more influence over Yudhoyono than
even the GOI cabinet. Roy told us that this group of family
members met regularly in order to discuss policy matters.
The meetings included President Yudhoyono; First Lady
Kristiani; Yudhoyono's brother in law, Gatot Suwondo, a top
BNI official; and another brother in law of Yudhoyono,
Special Forces (Kopassus) Brigadier General Pramono Edhi
Wibowo. Roy claimed that Yudhoyono brother in law Hadi Utomo
did not attend these meetings prior to becoming Chairman of
the Democratic Party, but, since his election to the party's

top position, he has joined the group.

YUDHOYONO PROTECTS FORMER FIRST GENTLEMAN
--------------


3. (C) According to presidential Senior Advisor T.B.
Silalahi, speaking to us in October, Assistant Attorney
General Hendarman Supandji, who has a leading role in
anti-corruption efforts, had sufficient evidence of the
corruption of former First Gentleman Taufik Kiemas to warrant
Taufik's arrest. However, T.B. said that President Yudhoyono
had personally instructed Hendarman not to pursue a case
against Taufik.

YUDHOYONO OFFERS TO REPAY PARTY FINANCIER
--------------


4. (C) After the 2004 presidential runoff election,
then-Deputy General Chairman of PD Vence Rumangkang met with
President-elect Yudhoyono, according to former PD official
Silo Marbun, a close associate of Vence. Yudhoyono
reportedly offered Vence a position in the administration, as
well as a check for 5 billion Rupiah (approximately 550,000
USD),to repay Vence's substantial contributions to PD.
(Marbun described Vence as the principal financier of PD
during the party's early years, and said Vence had likely
poured more than 5 billion into the party.) Vence reportedly
declined to accept both the check and the offer of a
political position, saying that he only hoped to have
Yudhoyono's support as he continued his business endeavors.
In this discussion of campaign finance, Marbun also claimed
that Aburizal Bakrie's contributions to Yudhoyono's
presidential campaign totaled 200 billion Rupiah
(approximately 20 million USD). (Comment: We believe the 200
billion figure is credible. End Comment.)

SBY ORDERS BIN TO FOLLOW YUSRIL
--------------


5. (S/NF) Yahya Asagaf, an assistant to State Intelligence
Agency (BIN) Chief Syamsir Siregar, claimed in late January
that, a few weeks previously, Yudhoyono called to speak with
Syamsir. Yudhoyono was angry with State Secretary Yusril
Mahendra, because Yudhoyono had approved a week's leave for
Yusril to go back to his hometown and deal with a family
matter. Instead, however, Yusril went on a trip to Singapore
and Vietnam. Yudhoyono asked Syamsir to instruct BIN

officials to follow and photograph Yusril. Yahya claimed BIN
officials in Singapore were able to do so and ascertained
that Yusril was meeting with ethnic Chinese businessmen.
Yahya, who claimed he was in the room with Syamsir when
Yudhoyono made the initial call, said it was the second time
that Yusril had made this sort of unapproved trip.

CABINET MEMBERS ALLEGEDLY SYMPATHETIC TO NGRUKI
-------------- --


6. (S/NF) Yahya Asagaf further told us that, after attending
a January 21-22 conference at Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) Emir Abu
Bakar Ba'asyir's Ngruki pesantren, Minister for Religious
Affairs Maftuh Basyuni came away favorably impressed and
privately told Yahya that the Ngruki people were "good" and
"intellectual." Yahya claimed Maftuh had decided to support
the construction of a new road leading to the pesantren.
Yahya added that Maftuh told him that BIN Chief Syamsir
Siregar had provided money to Ngruki. Yahya said he had not
confirmed this with Syamsir but suspected it might be true,
as Syamsir might want to back moderates at Ngruki, to cause
them to split with the more radical people there.

SUDI LINKED TO ISLAMISTS, AGAIN
--------------


7. (S/NF) According to former top PDI-P legislator Roy Janis,
at an unspecified time during the Megawati administration,
Roy (who then held significantly more influence than now)
received information that Sudi Silalahi, then working in the
Coordinating Ministry for Political and Security Affairs, was
behind an outbreak of sectarian violence in the Maluku
islands. To test this allegation, Roy asked Engelina
Pattiasina, a native of Ambon who at the time had a seat in
parliament, to raise concerns about the violence with Sudi.
Immediately thereafter, the violence stopped. Roy
interpreted this development as confirming Sudi's ability to
control the situation and, therefore, his responsibility for
the outbreak of violence.


8. (S/NF) A Singaporean diplomat also recently confirmed a
perception that Sudi maintains links to radical Islamists.
(Ref C has further information on these links.) The diplomat
told us that multiple senior media editors had separately
raised the story of a 2005 meeting at the end of Ramadan that
involved at least one representative of JI fugitive Noordin
Top, and either Sudi himself or, more likely, a
representative of Sudi's. The editors commented that Sudi
was a natural figure to take the GOI lead in such a meeting,
because of his connections to Islamists. (Note: A November
15, 2005, "Kompas" newspaper article, available on-line,
describes such a meeting taking place on November 7, days
before Azahari's killing in a police raid. The reported
purpose of the meeting was to broker a truce in which JI
would refrain from bombings in return for the GOI not
pursuing arrests. End Note.)

YUDHOYONO ASSOCIATE PRESSURES JUDGES
--------------


9. (C) PKB Deputy Secretary General Yenny Wahid told us in
December that PKB had "no other choice" but to reposition
itself to support the Yudhoyono administration, given its
precarious position of Abdurrahman Wahid, the PKB overlord
who was then involved with a court case in which rival Alwi
Shihab sought to wrest control of the party from Wahid. She
claimed that highly influential people around Yudhoyono had
sought to influence the court case, and "SBY's right hand
man" -- likely a reference to Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi
-- had sought to intimidate a judge handling the case. The
"right hand man" sent associates to the judge to argue that
Gus Dur was a nuisance to the government, and if the court
were to help Gus Dur, it would be like helping to overthrow
the government.


10. (C) Yenny said that the judge in question reported this
incident to PKB figures, who subsequently complained to
Yudhoyono. Yenny claimed that Yudhoyono looked genuinely
surprised and said he was upset to hear this allegation.
Yenny told us that Manpower Minister Erman Suparno's
appointment to the cabinet appeared to be an effort to
compensate/apologize for the interference in the court case.

AKSA MAHMUD INFLUENCING PKB OFFICIALS
--------------


11. (C) Yenny further told us that meddling of outside actors
in PKB's internal affairs reached a new level during the 2005
party congress, when Golkar Board of Advisors member (and
brother of Vice President Jusuf Kalla) Aksa Mahmud began
operating out of the hotel room of Alwi Shihab, dispensing

cash in order to influence representatives of PKB branch
offices.


12. (C) In a discussion unrelated to the PKB Party Congress,
National Mandate Party legislator Alvin Lie claimed that
then-PKB DPR Faction Chairman Ali Masykur Musa had fallen
into disfavor with PKB overlord Abdurrahman Wahid. Alvin
claimed that, during the March 2005 debate in the DPR on fuel
subsidy cuts, Ali Masykur received "a lot of money" from Aksa
Mahmud in return for assurances that PKB would support the
GOI position. However, Ali Masykur did not spread the money
he had received to others in the party; thus, PKB failed to
support the GOI position.

YENNY NOT YET A SKILLED BAGWOMAN
--------------


13. (C/NF) Yenny Wahid tried her hand at influencing
delegates at the April congress to select the chairwoman of
the NU Muslimat organization, according to a Singaporean
diplomat. The diplomat, citing a conversation with Khofifah
Indar Parawansa (the re-elected incumbent Muslimat
Chairwoman),claimed that Yenny had personally distributed
envelopes containing cash in an unsuccessful attempt to
promote a rival candidate. This effort reportedly appeared
clumsy because Yenny operated too publicly, often gave the
money to assistants instead of the principals she ought to
influence, and often gave the money to figures already
committed to backing Khofifah (who won in a landslide).

SECURITY FORCES' RELATIONS WITH FPI
--------------


14. (S/NF) BIN official Yahya Asagaf, who had sufficiently
close contacts within FPI to provide us with advance notice
of FPI's hostile intent hours prior to the February 19
vandalism of the Embassy, told us that, prior to that
incident, National Police Chief Sutanto had provided some
funds to FPI. Yahya claimed that, after the attack, Sutanto
had cut off this funding. When we questioned Yahya's
allegation that Sutanto funded FPI, Yahya said Sutanto found
it useful to have FPI available to him as an "attack dog."
When pressed further on the usefulness of FPI playing this
role, noting that the Police should be sufficiently capable
of intimidation, Yahya characterized FPI as a useful tool
that could spare the security forces from criticism for human
rights violations, and he said funding FPI was a "tradition"
of the Police and BIN. (The principal BIN figure who
provided funds to FPI was BIN Deputy Chief Said Ali As'at,
Yahya claimed.) Yahya said the FPI had obtained a majority
of its funds from the security forces, and, after
mid-February, FPI faced a budget crunch.


15. (C/NF) Yahya added that former Jakarta Police Chief
Nugroho Djayusman had called on BIN Chief Syamsir Siregar on
February 18 in order to claim he was "not involved with FPI."
This claim implied Nugroho had advance knowledge of FPI's
plan for the February 19 incident.


16. (C/NF) In March, we met with Nugroho Djayusman, who
admitted, "I used to be close to the radical Islamists." He
then explained defensively that it was natural for him, as
the Jakarta Police Chief, to have contacts with all sorts of
organizations. This was necessary because the sudden release
of energy from the Islamists, who had been repressed under
Suharto, could have posed a security risk. "But it doesn't
mean I was involved," he said, distancing himself from
responsibility for any violent activities.


17. (C/NF) To illustrate his point, Nugroho claimed that
Sutanto lacked useful connections, and when the violent FPI
demonstration took place, Sutanto had to call Nugroho to
request assistance. Nugroho told us that he (Nugroho) then
called FPI Chairman Habib Rizieq and arranged the surrender
of three men who had arranged the violence outside of the
U.S. Embassy.


18. (C/NF) Nugroho acknowledged FPI had a clear track record
of violence, but he characterized the organization as a
small, relatively insignificant group. He said it was not
ideological, except insofar as it opposed gambling,
prostitution, and pornography. By contrast, he noted that
"Ngruki" (shorthand for Ba'asyir's pesantren and, one can
assume, the Jemaah Islamiyah organization) was a much more
serious ideological group.

PLAYBOY PUBLISHERS PAYS OFF FPI
--------------


19. (C) Ponti Carolus Pandean, the director of PT Velvet
Silver Media (publisher of Playboy magazine),spoke to us in

February about his efforts to tamp down opposition by Muslim
groups to Playboy's publication. (Note: Until 2005, Ponti
was a Deputy Secretary General of Yudhoyono's Democratic
Party. End Note.) Ponti claimed that he had sought to head
off likely opposition by FPI by meeting with FPI Chairman
Habib Rizieq. Ponti said he first met with Rizieq in
December at the Hilton Hotel in order to interview Rizieq for
the magazine. On that occasion, Ponti paid Rizieq
approximately 1,500 USD, ostensibly as compensation for the
interview. As the controversy over publication of Playboy
intensified, Ponti again met with Rizieq during the Idul Adha
holiday and provided Rizieq with 40 million Rupiah
(approximately 4,000 USD),ostensibly as a gift on the
occasion of the holiday. Ponti noted that, predictably, many
lower-level FPI figures came to his office to request smaller
handouts of approximately 50 USD. (Comment: These efforts
appeared to keep FPI quiet in the run-up to the magazine's
launching; however, FPI-led sweepings of Playboy began within
days of it hitting the racks and on April 12, FPI thugs
vandalized the building housing PT Velvet Silver Media's
Jakarta office. End Comment.)


20. (C) Ponti also told us that Yudhoyono originally agreed
to be interviewed for publication in the Indonesian version
of Playboy, and to attend the magazine's launching, a large
event intended to take place in Bali (although later
canceled, in light of the controversy over its publication).
Ponti claimed that Yudhoyono recommended that photos of
Indonesian women not be included in the Indonesian version of
Playboy, but Ponti told us that would appear unrealistic.
(Comment: Ponti's account of Yudhoyono's willingness to be
interviewed by Playboy seems slightly at odds with
Yudhoyono's public statements, which on repeated occasions
have endorsed modest dress for women. End Comment.)

AGUNG CONSIDERS INDONESIA-IRAN COOPERATION
--------------


21. (C) According to Arief Budiman, Chairman of the Golkar
Party's Young Intellectuals Association (KIMPG),DPR Speaker
Agung Laksono consulted with prominent Indonesian Shi'ite
figure Jalaludin Rahmat, the head of the Islamic Cultural
Center (ICC) in Jakarta, around the time of Agung's trip to
Iran. Agung reportedly envisioned that the DPR would work
with its counterpart legislature in Iran, but the ICC and
Jalaludin would use their existing ties to Iran's Majelis
Ulama to help push matters through the Iranian legislature
when necessary. Arief claimed that Agung appeared
sympathetic to the Iranian perspective on peaceful nuclear
energy development and took on board the Iranians' claim they
were engaged only in peaceful research.

PKS CHANNEL TO HAMAS, BROTHERHOOD
--------------


22. (C) PKS legislator Zulkiflimansyah claimed in December
that PKS, in its contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood in
Egypt and with Hamas, encouraged those groups to seek
political power through elections and participation in the
political system. Zulkiflimansyah identified PKS Secretary
General Anis Matta as the primary channel of communication to
Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

AL-IRSYAD: FUAD BAWAZIER'S TIES, AFGHAN VETERANS
-------------- ---


23. (C/NF) In November, we asked Fuad Bawazier about his
rumored ties to Al-Irsyad (ref B). Fuad said he had no
formal position in the organization, but two or three years
ago, some leading Al-Irsyad figures asked him to mediate a
split between two rival factions claiming to represent the
legitimate leadership. Fuad claimed he did nothing for a
year, then brought the two sides together at his office in
Kuningan; at his advice, they held a national congress, then
split again. He also denied knowing anyone in Al-Irsyad who
goes by the name of Fuad (as alleged in ref B).


24. (C/NF) In further conversations about Al-Irsyad, BIN
official Yahya Asagaf reinforced concerns he had expressed to
us previously about the organization. He claimed that a
faction of Al-Irsyad included Indonesia-born Afghan veterans,
and around 50 of these people had also received training
(NFI) in Yemen. Yahya claimed it would be difficult for the
GOI to crack down on Al-Irsyad, because Attorney General
Abdul Rahman Saleh was also a member.

HADI UTOMO'S LIMITED CONVERSATION SKILLS
--------------


25. (SBU) The Ambassador called on PD Chairman Hadi Utomo,
who was accompanied by other top PD officials, at PD

Headquarters in October. Hadi was able to exchange
pleasantries in English but switched to Indonesian when
discussing political matters. Even in this relatively
informal setting, Hadi read from prepared remarks and
deferred to his subordinates to ask questions after the
Ambassador's exposition on bilateral relations.

SURIPTO: INFLUENCE AND BACKGROUND
--------------


26. (C) According to a former Ministry of Agriculture
official, after Anton Apriyantono became Agriculture
Minister, PKS Board of Experts Chairman Suripto vetted all
appointees to Echelon One positions in the Ministry of
Agriculture, to ensure party loyalty.


27. (C) In October, activist Hariman Siregar discussed with
us the accusation that Suripto had been involved in the
infamous 1972 Malari riots. Hariman (whose leading role in
the riots is well known in Indonesian circles) told us that
Suripto was not involved in the protests, despite rumors to
the contrary. However, he claimed that the allegations of
Suripto's involvement caused so much stress for his wife that
she became ill and died. Hariman claimed that Suripto was
Fuad Hassan's right hand man when Fuad served as Education
Minister (1985-1993),and, until reemerging with PKS years
later, Suripto lost most of his influence after Fuad left the
cabinet. PDI-P legislator Amris Hassan (Fuad's son)
confirmed to us that Suripto and Fuad were close; Amris
characterized Suripto as one of the political figures with
the best connections to the entire spectrum of student
organizations, ranging from the extreme left to the extreme
right.

PRESIDENTIAL SENIOR ADVISOR'S CHANNELS TO MEGAWATI
-------------- --------------


28. (C) Senior Advisor to the President T.B. Silalahi told us
in October that he had repeatedly pressed former President
Megawati to meet with Yudhoyono, but Megawati declined. His
channels of choice to Megawati were: Puan Maharani
(Megawati's daughter),Guruh Soekarnoputra (Megawati's
brother),and PDI-P Vice Chairman Tjahjo Kumolo.

GOVERNOR HENDROPRIYONO?
--------------


29. (C) BIN official Yahya Asagaf claimed that former BIN
Chief Hendropriyono told him (Yahya) in late 2005 that he
would run for Governor of Jakarta in 2007, and he was
building a campaign team for the effort. (Since that time,
Yahya has heard nothing more about this planned run for
office. Other contacts have also told us Hendropriyono is
planning to run, but few view him as a leading contender.)

PKS TIES TO HEALTH MINISTER
--------------


30. (C) PKS Majelis Syuro Member Syahfan Badri told us in
December that, among others in the cabinet, PKS also worked
closely with Health Minister Fadilah Supari. He noted that
Fadilah often invited PKS officials to travel with her to the
site of health-related crises. (Comment: This may reflect
PKS's reputation for charity works and the delivery of relief
supplies to disaster-stricken areas. End Comment.)

AMIEN SLAMS U.S.
--------------


31. (C) According to PAN legislator Alvin Lie, as of late
2005, the relationship between PAN Central Board Chairman
Soetrisno Bachir and his predecessor, Amien Rais, had
deteriorated. Therefore, Amien had made a deliberate effort
to focus on international affairs, both in order to develop a
statesmanlike image and to avoid conflicts with Soetrisno.


32. (C) To whatever extent Amien is focusing on foreign
affairs, he has taken an increasingly anti-American tone.
Most recently, he has publicly criticized foreign investors
(ref A). Earlier, in a December 2005 Asia Foundation funded
seminar, organized by the International Center for Islam and
Pluralism, Amien became agitated and spiteful in an off-topic
digression in which he derided the United States as a bad
example for democracies. Amien cited the American invasions
of Iraq and Afghanistan, scandals involving the abuse of
prisoners in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, and even claimed that
the USG's response to Hurricane Katrina reflected racist
attitudes. In a separate appearance, reported by the press
on December 7, Amien also warned that the GOI should refrain
from searching Islamic boarding schools as part of a CT
effort; otherwise, Amien said, the GOI risked stigmatizing

the boarding schools and becoming a tool of U.S. imperialism.

GOLKAR'S WISH LIST FOR CABINET APPOINTMENTS
--------------


33. (C) Golkar official Arief Budiman told us in November
that, responding to President Yudhoyono's well telegraphed
intention to reshuffle the cabinet, Golkar had formally
proposed ten party figures for ministries: Theo Sambuaga, for
Defense; Andi Mattalatta, for Law/Human Rights; Burhanuddin
Napitapulu, for Housing; Aulia Rachman, for Law/Human Rights
or Attorney General; Rully Azwar, for Industry; Paskah
Suzetta, for Finance; Yuddy Krisnandi, for Youth/Sport;
Firman Subagio, for Cooperatives; Yuniwati, for Women's
Empowerment; and Agus Manafendi, for Energy.


34. (C) Comment: Arief acknowledged that Golkar was unlikely
to receive as many as ten cabinet positions in the reshuffle.
Nevertheless, this list is useful in indicating some Golkar
figures who seem to have relatively prominence and the
support of the Central Board. We believe Arief has
sufficient access to top Golkar officials, especially to
Agung Laksono, to acquire this list, which Golkar did not
publicize. End Comment.

TOMY WINATA ASSOCIATE LINKED TO SBY
--------------


35. (C) According to Sino-Indonesian legislator Alvin Lie,
during the 2004 campaign, two Sino-Indonesians very active in
supporting Yudhoyono's presidential candidacy attempted to
lure Alvin into their camp. He identified the two as Ridwan
Soeriyadi (who has ties to the Democratic Party -- ref D) and
Sugiyanto Kusuma (a.k.a. Sugianto Kusuma),whose Chinese name
is Aguan. Separately, Chief of the Taiwanese Economic and
Trade Representative Office David Lin told us that he met
regularly with Aguan, and that Aguan was a senior business
partner of underworld figure Tomy Winata; Lin implied that
Aguan represented the same interests as Tomy but was a more
useful/palatable interlocutor for diplomats. (Comment: In a
March 2003 "Gatra" magazine interview, Tomy confirmed his
relationship with Sugiyanto, whom Tomy described as his
"superior." Allegedly, Sugiyanto and Tomy are members of the
"Gang of Nine" or "Nine Dragons," a leading gambling
syndicate. End Comment.)

PASCOE