Monday September 18 5:41 AM ET
Indonesian Head Fires Police Chief
By GEOFF SPENCER, Associated Press Writer
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - President Abdurrahman Wahid fired his
national police chief on Monday after police failed to carry out
his order to arrest the youngest son of ex-dictator Suharto (news - web
sites) in an
effort to end a spate of unexplained terrorist bombings.
The blasts, including one that killed 15 people in a garage
beneath the Jakarta Stock Exchange (news - web sites) on Wednesday, have
cast a shadow
of fear over the capital and have shaken Wahid's year-old reformist
government.
``Recent security developments require changes,'' Wahid told a
hastily called news conference at the presidential palace.
The dismissal of Gen. Rusdihardjo also comes amid international
condemnation of Indonesia's security forces, particularly the
police, which failed to stop the mob murders of three U.N.
humanitarian workers Sept. 6 in Indonesian West Timor.
Wahid announced the dismissal an hour before he met visiting
U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen about deteriorating security
in West Timor, where militias, opposed to independence for
neighboring East Timor (news - web sites), are waging a war of terror with
covert
backing from sections of Indonesia's military.
Cohen later warned Indonesia that it could face an international
diplomatic and economic backlash if it did not fix West Timor's
security.
The firing of Rusdihardjo is a slap in the face for Indonesia's
armed forces, which reigned supreme during Suharto's 32-year
authoritarian rule.
Until last year, the police force had been an integral part of
the military, which Wahid has battled for many months to subdue as
part of wider democratic reforms.
Indonesia's influential head of Parliament, Akbar Tandjung, on
Monday urged Wahid to take firmer measures to prevent terrorist
attacks, but criticized his move to order the arrest of Suharto's
youngest son.
``We are in the new era. You cannot arrest someone if you don't
have evidence,'' Akbar said.
On Friday, Wahid stunned many when he publicly demanded that
police arrest Tommy Suharto as a way of ending the bomb attacks.
Detectives questioned the younger Suharto on Saturday, but said
there was no evidence on which to hold the 38-year-old
multimillionaire, who flatly denied any involvement in Wednesday's
attack or other bombings.
No one has claimed responsibility for the bombings. But many
blame supporters of former President Suharto.
The explosions have coincided with major developments in a
corruption case being brought against the former leader, who is
facing trial for allegedly stealing a fortune from the Indonesian
state while in power.
The failure of the police force to act on Wahid's order to
arrest Suharto's son has weakened his public image as a leader in
control.
The president said Rusdihardjo, who was appointed to head
Indonesia's 200,000-strong police force after the president assumed
office last October, would be replaced temporarily by his deputy,
Lt. Gen. Bimantoro.
Until now, Rusdihardjo had been regarded as a Wahid loyalist who
had been implementing major reforms in the police force - reviled
during Suharto's time for corruption and human rights abuses.
Wahid's security has been tightened, but the president said he
had no information about being personally targeted by the bombers.
``I don't know about any threat about blowing me up,'' he said.
Wednesday's stock exchange blast had been preceded by explosions
that rocked the attorney general's office, which is responsible for
bringing Suharto to justice, and the home of the Philippine
ambassador. A small bomb also exploded outside the Malaysian
embassy.
Indonesian shares nose-dived Monday as the Jakarta Stock
Exchange reopened for the first time since the bomb blast there.
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