COUNTERTERRORISM -- PERSONNEL MOVES POSITIVE FOR

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 000385 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, S/CT, INL, INL/AAE, DS/ATAT NSC FOR E.PHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/26/2018 TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL ASEC ID SUBJECT: COUNTERTERRORISM -- PERSONNEL MOVES POSITIVE FOR KEY ANTI-TERROR UNITS Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons 1.4 (b+d). ¶1. (S/NF) SUMMARY: The Indonesian National Police (INP) are making various personnel moves involving senior officers. Of key importance, Brigadier General Suprapto--who heads the elite counterterrorism unit Special Detachment 88--is being transferred to become Police Chief for North Sulawesi. Brigadier General Dharma, who leads the other police counterterrorist unit, "Team Bomb," will move up to lead both units. We think the personnel moves are positive in that they help unite and focus CT efforts while spreading expertise outside of Jakarta. END SUMMARY. PERSONNEL MOVES ¶2. (U) On February 20, Indonesian National Police Chief Sutanto (one name only) publicly announced the reassignment of 28 high-ranking officers to new positions within the force. The transfers in most cases represent standard career progression and they will take effect shortly. ¶3. (U) Senior reassignments include: -- Rubani Pranoto will become the Deputy Director of Operations for Chief Sutanto, replacing FX Sunary. -- Inspector General Abu Bakar Nata Prawira will become the Head of the Public Relations Division of National Police Headquarters. ¶4. (U) The transfers include the following new Provincial Police Chiefs (KAPOLDAS): -- Inspector General FX Sunary, Central Java KAPOLDA, replacing Inspector General Sumantyawan. Sunary was the Deputy Director of Operations for Chief Sutanto. -- Inspector General Sisno Adiwinoto, South Sulawesi KAPOLDA, replacing Inspector General Aryanto Boedihardjo. Adiwinoto was the Head of the Public Relations Division of National Police Headquarters in Jakarta. -- Brigadier General Ino Suripno, West Sumatra KAPOLDA, replacing Brigadier General Utjin Sudiana Djamhari, who was reassigned to police headquarters in Jakarta. -- Brigadier General Untung Suharsono Radjab, Jogjakarta KAPOLDA, replacing Brigadier General Anggoro Rahardjo. Radjab was the Chief of the Administrative Bureau for Planning at police headquarters in Jakarta. -- Senior Police Commissioner Bachrudin Ismail, Gorantalo (a province in northern Sulawesi) KAPOLDA, replacing Brigadier General Hendra Sukmana. Ismail was the Regional Supervisory Inspector for the North Sumatra Regional Police. ON THE CT FRONT ¶5. (S/NF) Two personnel moves--which were not made fully public (contacts told Mission about the moves)--are considered highly important in the counterterrorism area. These are: -- Brigadier General Bekto Suprapto, North Sulawesi KAPOLDA, replacing Yakhobus Jacki Uly, who will become a lead lecturer at the Police Leadership School. Suprapto was the Head of the elite counterterrorism strike force Special Detachment 88 in Jakarta. -- Brigadier General Surya Dharma will become the INP's Director for Security and Transnational Crime. Dharma will also lead Special Detachment 88 as well as continue to lead Team Bomb. JAKARTA 00000385 002 OF 002 STEPS SEEN AS POSITIVE ¶6. (C) The reassignments do not appear to signal any major shift in either policy or focus for the police. Sutanto is a professional and does not seem to be favoring either personal cronies or a favored coterie. ¶7. (S/NF) The decision to transfer Brig. Gen. Suprapto from his leadership of SD-88 seems to be a necessary but constructive step by Chief Sutanto--and key CT official Major General Gores Mere--to effect greater synergy in Indonesia's CT effort. In his wide-ranging portfolio, MG Mere oversees both SD-88 and Team Bomb. There are some indications that Suprapto did not work well with Team Bomb leader Brig. Gen. Dharma. It is also reported that Suprapto had, at times, seemed to undermine Team Bomb's attempts to gather intelligence on suspected terrorists by assigning his own men to watch the same targets. ¶8. (S/NF) While SD-88 has received the credit publicly for the arrests of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leaders, especially Zarkasih and Abu Dujana in June 2007, it was Team Bomb that had gathered the intelligence on the terrorists, executed the assault on the safehouses and made the arrests. With Dharma in charge of both CT teams, the central coordination of Indonesia's CT efforts should become better organized and even more capable. ¶9. (S/NF) At the same time, Suprapto is a very capable officer whom Mere clearly wants to retain in the force and in the CT effort. Aware of the personal rivalry between Suprapto and Dharma, Mere appears to have obtained Sutanto's permission to transfer Suprapto to the KAPOLDA job in North Sulawesi. The transfer puts Suprapto in charge of a large provincial police force and is not seen as a demotion. Given North Sulawesi's strategic location south of Mindanao and southeast of the Sulu Archipelago, etc., Suprapto will still be involved in the national CT effort. HUME