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