Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07JAKARTA3214
2007-11-20 10:11:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Jakarta
Cable title:  

SULAWESI -- RADICALISM ON THE WANE WITH POLICE

Tags:  PREL PGOV PINS ASEC PTER ID 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO0900
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #3214/01 3241011
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 201011Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7124
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS PRIORITY
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1607
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1152
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 2044
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHHJJPI/USPACOM HONOLULU HI
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 003214 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, INR/EAP, DS/IP/EAP AND
DS/T/ATA
NSC FOR EPHU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINS ASEC PTER ID
SUBJECT: SULAWESI -- RADICALISM ON THE WANE WITH POLICE
PLAYING ROLE

REF: A. JAKARTA 3143


B. JAKARTA 2597

C. JAKARTA 1585

D. SURABAYA 74

Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons 1.4 (b,d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 003214

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, INR/EAP, DS/IP/EAP AND
DS/T/ATA
NSC FOR EPHU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINS ASEC PTER ID
SUBJECT: SULAWESI -- RADICALISM ON THE WANE WITH POLICE
PLAYING ROLE

REF: A. JAKARTA 3143


B. JAKARTA 2597

C. JAKARTA 1585

D. SURABAYA 74

Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons 1.4 (b,d).


1. (U) This message was coordinated with Consulate Surabaya.


2. (C) SUMMARY: During a recent trip to Sulawesi Island,
poloff met with various GOI officials, including from the
police. There was widespread agreement that radicalism in
Sulawesi had been largely contained, while tensions between
Muslims and Christians had dissipated to a significant
extent. Effective police work has played a key role, with
community policing helping keep a lid on problems.
Authorities expressed confidence that they had largely closed
potential terrorist transit routes. For now, government
strategies seem to be working in the region, with the
policies in play helping to create a more livable environment
in previously tense areas. END SUMMARY.

RADICALISM ON THE WANE


3. (C) Poloff visited Sulawesi Island, November 5-8. In the
southern city of Makassar, poloff met with the Deputy
Provincial Police Chief, Brigadier General Surya Iskandar.
In comments echoed elsewhere, Iskandar told poloff he was
optimistic about ongoing efforts to marginalize religious
extremism throughout Sulawesi and noted that southern
Sulawesi had not had a terrorist incident since 2002.
According to Iskandar, Islamic radicalism was not embraced by
the vast majority of Muslims on the island, and he dismissed
the notion that radical cleric and Jemmah Islamiya (JI)
co-founder Abu Bakar Ba'asyir's brand of extremism had any
hold in the region. Iskandar told poloff that local
Indonesia National Police (INP) deployments had successfully
used community policing initiatives to "empower" citizens to
work with the police to reduce both religious tension and
general crime.


4. (C) Turning to the issue of police and military
collaboration (a sometimes tricky matter in Indonesia),

Iskandar said the INP and Indonesian military worked well
together in Sulawesi, often training side by side. During
the recent gubernatorial election in South Sulawesi (Ref C),
for example, the INP and military cooperated on crowd control
management issues, and there were no significant problems on
election day. Iskandar also noted that SD-88--the key GOI
anti-terrorism task force--was stationed at his headquarters
and trained as a unit in preparation for potential
deployments. SD-88 was authorized to have 100 men, but only
60 were on active duty.

POSSIBLE TRANSIT ISSUES


5. (C) Possible terrorist transit routes also came up for
discussion. Poloff met with the southern Sulawesi
Immigration Superintendent--Brigadier General Syaiful--who
told poloff that southern Sulawesi did not have problems with
JI operatives, largely as a result of the area's distance
from the tri-border region that Indonesia shares with
Malaysia and the Philippines. His office did a lot of
monitoring of the region, however. He noted that his office
recently coordinated with the INP and the Australian Federal
Police in the apprehension of 13 refugees from Iran and
Afghanistan. They had attempted to transit through Makassar
to Australia, he said. Other police officials commented that
they were confident that security forces had effectively
closed terrorist transit routes.

CENTRAL SULAWESI "CALM"


6. (C) The Central Sulawesi region--which has seen
inter-religious violence and terrorism in the past--seemed
relatively quiet. On November 7, poloff met Poso Police
Chief Dr. H. Adeni Muhan. Muhan emphasized that the
situation in the area was "calm" and that INP community
policing efforts were helping the situation (Ref A). The INP

JAKARTA 00003214 002 OF 002


had four to five police officers posted to each of the
approximately 20 villages in the vicinity, and were
continuously reaching out to community leaders to identify JI
members stirring up trouble between Christians and Muslims.
So far, the program seemed to be working well, despite some
isolated complaints about police insensitivity to local
cultures.


7. (C) Chief Muhan--who is not from Sulawesi--told poloff
that when he arrived last March he fully expected to confront
an enormous divide between the Christian and Muslim
communities. (Note: SD-88 raided JI safehouses in Poso in
January and communal tensions were generally believed to be
very high at that time.) Contrary to his expectations,
however, Muhan related that the situation was actually so
peaceful that he was "bored" with life in Poso. He even
joked that he wanted to be transferred back to Jakarta so
that he could enhance his career.


8. (C) During poloff's November 7 conversation with INP First
Inspector F. Tarigan--the de facto police chief of
Tentena--Tarigan mirrored Muhan's comments about the lack of
inter-religious tensions. Like other interlocutors, Tarigan
told poloff that community policing efforts had paid handsome
dividends. Tarigan claimed that religious conflict was
"over" in the area and reported that Muslims and Christians
were working to ensure no further violence took place.
Tarigan blamed radical "outsiders" from both religions as the
cause for past problems. Now, according to Tarigan, he
devoted most of his time to stopping youth delinquency,
public drunkenness and fights.

CORRUPTION A PROBLEM


9. (C) A number of interlocutors mentioned police corruption
as a problem. When poloff mentioned that several NGOs had
accused the INP in Poso of complicity in illegal logging
operations, INP Brigadier General Badrodin Haiti, the Central
Sulawesi Police Chief, replied that decentralization had
created confusion about the applicability of national and
local laws. Corruption flourished in such an environment.
When poloff asked about rumors that some INP in Poso provided
"protection" to a new coal-fired electrical generation plant,
Haiti--without answering directly--said he was working hard
to end the corruption. Haiti vowed to continue efforts
within the INP to create a more professional police force.

IMPROVED POLICING HELPS SITUATION


10. (C) During the four-day trip to Sulawesi, poloff heard
repeatedly that inter-religious problems were still an issue,
but that much of the tension had dissipated over time.
Effective policing--including community patrols--seem to have
played a very positive role in this process. Community
leaders and police also both highlighted the importance of
further economic development as a way of warding off future
violence. For now, the GOI's strategy seems to be working,
with policies in play that help to create a more livable
environment in previously tense areas.

HEFFERN