Arms plot alleged here brings denial in Jakarta
Indonesian officials say one suspect sold them spare parts only
Associated Press
JAKARTA, Indonesia » An Indonesian arrested in Hawaii for conspiring to smuggle weapons out of the United States is a supplier of spare parts for the Indonesian military, but the armed forces had no involvement in the alleged plot, a spokesman said yesterday.
The hundreds of weapons that Hadianto Djoko Djuliarso allegedly tried to buy in the United States "were not ordered by us," said military spokesman Rear Adm. Moh Sunarto.
Djuliarso, 41, and three others suspects were arrested a week ago in Hawaii after meeting with people they thought were representing a Detroit-area company that would provide the military hardware, U.S. authorities said.
The weapons -- including handguns, machine guns and Sidewinder missiles -- were to be shipped to Indonesia through Singapore.
Indonesia's military has been accused of involvement in illegal activities such as logging, drug smuggling and prostitution, and critics say corruption is especially widespread in weapons procurement.
But Sunarto said Djuliarso "is a supplier of spare parts, not guns and missiles" for Indonesia's armed forces.
He said Djuliarso had been in the U.S. to inspect radar systems for F-5 Tiger jet fighters.
Many of the Indonesia's F-5 Tiger II and F-16 fighter jets remain grounded after the United States cut all military ties with Jakarta in 1999 to protest alleged human rights abuses by Indonesian troops in East Timor.
Washington lifted the ban in November, partly as a reward for Indonesia's cooperation in the war on terror.
Djuliarso was arrested along with Singaporean Ibrahim Bin Amran, David Beecroft, whose nationality is still not known and another Indonesian, Ignatius Ferdinandus Soeharli.
Sunarto said he knew nothing about Soeharli.
All four men were charged with conspiring to violate the U.S. Arms Export Control Act, which is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
They were being held in Hawaii but will be transferred to Detroit to answer the charges.