DATE=9/15/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=SUHARTO SON ARREST (L)
NUMBER=2-266544
BYLINE=GARY THOMAS
DATELINE=BANGKOK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Indonesia's president has ordered the arrest
of former President Suharto's youngest son in
connection with a recent bombing attack. It is not
clear if it is directly linked to the recent Stock
Exchange bombing that killed 15 people. But, as VOA
Southeast Asia correspondent Gary Thomas reports, this
new development puts more pressure on the embattled
Suharto clan.
TEXT: Speaking after Friday prayers, President
Abdurrahman Wahid said he has ordered police to arrest
President Suharto's youngest son, Tommy Suharto, in
connection with a bombing attack.
The president - who said he gave the order during
Thursday's Cabinet meeting -- also ordered the arrest
of a Muslim cleric who heads a pro-Suharto Islamic
organization.
However, the president's announcement appeared to
catch police and other government officials by
surprise. Participants in the Cabinet meeting made no
mention of it afterward, and at least one participant
says he does not recall the matter being raised.
Mr. Wahid did not specify in which bomb attack Tommy
Suharto - whose formal name is Hutomo Mandala Putra -
is implicated. However, the presidential announcement
comes only two days after a car bomb exploded at the
Jakarta Stock Exchange on Wednesday, killing 15
people. Police have suggested it was linked to
supporters of the former president, who are angry that
Mr. Suharto is on trial for corruption.
It is not known on what evidence Tommy Suharto is to
be arrested, of if he is merely to be questioned.
Proof of pro-Suharto loyalists' involvement has not
been produced, and no one has claimed responsibility
for the Stock Exchange attack.
A spate of bombings has rattled windows and nerves in
the Indonesian capital. In July, a bomb went off at
the attorney general's office after prosecutors
questioned the younger Suharto about his father's
business dealings. Another bomb was found outside the
courtroom where former President Suharto's trial is
being held.
Mr. Wahid said evidence has been uncovered of more
bomb plots.
President Suharto is charged with siphoning off funds
from charitable foundations he chaired during his 32
years in power. He was forced from office in 1998.
Tommy Suharto has himself been accused by critics of
corrupt business practices and benefitting from his
father's generosity towards his family with public
funds. The youngest son was granted a monopoly on the
lucrative Indonesian market in cloves, which are used
in the Indonesian cigarettes known as "kretek", and
was deeply involved in the disastrous national
automobile project. In 1999, Tommy Suharto was
acquitted of graft in connection with a questionable
land deal. (signed)
Neb/gpt/plm
15-Sep-2000 07:13 AM EDT (15-Sep-2000 1113 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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