January 14, 2003 edition
His meteoric rise from newspaper cartoonist to Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the nation's highest political institution, is phenomenal. As Suharto's longest-serving information minister, he was vested with extraordinary powers: determining the life and death of a publication and the livelihood of tens of thousands of its workers, and controlling the flow of information in the country. His rags-to-riches story is representative of that of an official who amassed wealth and political influence in the Suharto era. Harmoko rose along with Suharto. But he proved cleverer than the patriarch who fell with the collapse of his New Order regime. One after another the dictator's men were dragged before court. But not Harmoko. He was left untouched. TEMPO's investigation into the life of this extraordinary man tells why.
His meteoric rise from newspaper cartoonist to Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the nation's highest political institution, is phenomenal. As Suharto's longest-serving information minister, he was vested with extraordinary powers: determining the life and death of a publication and the livelihood of tens of thousands of its workers, and controlling the flow of information in the country. His rags-to-riches story is representative of that of an official who amassed wealth and political influence in the Suharto era. Harmoko rose along with Suharto. But he proved cleverer than the patriarch who fell with the collapse of his New Order regime. One after another the dictator's men were dragged before court. But not Harmoko. He was left untouched. TEMPO's investigation into the life of this extraordinary man tells why.
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January 1, 1970 edition
Last September, Time magazine ran an amazing cover story: Omar al-Faruq had confessed to Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) interrogators that he was an Al Qaeda operative in Southeast Asia, working in Indonesia. According to CIA documents, al-Faruq confessed to being involved in a spate of bombings in Christmas 2000 and planned the assassination of President Megawati Sukarnoputri on the order of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, head of the Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI).
Much mystery surrounds the confession. Who is al-Faruq? Why did the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), which had a hand in his capture based on charges of immigration violation, allow him to fall into CIA hands? Why isn't al-Faruq being tried here, if he did commit a major crime in Indonesia? Also, why was Abdul Haris, an MMI activist who was arrested with him, so easily released? Is it true that BIN planted him into MMI to entrap Abu Bakar Ba'asyir and friends?
Following is the result of TEMPO's investigations.
Last September, Time magazine ran an amazing cover story: Omar al-Faruq had confessed to Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) interrogators that he was an Al Qaeda operative in Southeast Asia, working in Indonesia. According to CIA documents, al-Faruq confessed to being involved in a spate of bombings in Christmas 2000 and planned the assassination of President Megawati Sukarnoputri on the order of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, head of the Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI).
Much mystery surrounds the confession. Who is al-Faruq? Why did the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), which had a hand in his capture based on charges of immigration violation, allow him to fall into CIA hands? Why isn't al-Faruq being tried here, if he did commit a major crime in Indonesia? Also, why was Abdul Haris, an MMI activist who was arrested with him, so easily released? Is it true that BIN planted him into MMI to entrap Abu Bakar Ba'asyir and friends?
Following is the result of TEMPO's investigations.