Indonesia Ma- Stir Up Army

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30886, 20 October 1965, Page 21

Indonesia MaStir Up Army

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) DJAKARTA, Oct. 19. A big shake-up in the General Staff of the Indonesian Army is expected soon.

The newly-appointed Army Minister and Army Chief of Staff, Major General Suharto, told the Armycontrolled official Antara news agency, that he had attended a meeting yesterday of the Presidium—President Sukarno and his three Deputy Premiers.

The meeting had discussed the consolidation of the Indonesian Army, especially the General Staff. The composition of the General Staff would be announced soon. General Suharto said. Pledge by Forces

The Army, Navy and Air Force and police commands of Central Java, stationed at Semarang, have issued a statement pledging their will to destroy all counter-revolu-tionary movements. The statement said the October 1 coup attempt had brought closer together the various branches of the Armed Forces.

One of the signatories was Brigadier-General Surjosoempeno, commander of the Diponegoro Seventh Military District, Antara reported. Elements of the Diponegoro division were accused of complicity in the coup attempt. Radio Djakarta announced last night that the Djakarta garrison commander, MajorGeneral Umar, had ordered a “temporary halt” to the activities of the Communist Party and its affiliated organisations in the Djakarta area. This followed 10 days of agitation by non-Communist organisations demand that the Government ban the party on the grounds that it was involved in the coup attempt. Implication Given Openly

For the first time today a member of the Government openly said that the Communist Party was implicated in the coup. The Minister for Information (Mr Ruslan Abdul Gani), told officials of the State-

owned Garuda Airways that the October 1 coup attempt was similar to the “Madiun affair.”

This referred to the uprising of Indonesian Communists under their leader Musso against the Government of President Sukarno in September, 1948.

Indonesia today officially denied that troops raided Chinese embassy premises and searched them last Saturday.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman and two Army spokesmen made the denials in separate interviews to A.A.P.Reuter correspondents last night.

China yesterday lodged a strong protest with the Indonesian embassy in Peking, alleging that Indonesian troops entered the office of the Chinese commercial counsellor in Djakarta by force and looted and damaged the premises. Abrupt Change A Reuter’s correspondent in Peking said the bitterlyphrased note represented an abrupt change in China's attitude to a country which had hitherto been portrayed as one of her closest allies. In Djakarta the Chinese allegation came as a bombshell among the diplomatic community and foreign correspondents. No-one—includ-ing the Russians and the Americans—had had any inkling of the incident. Correspondents who visited the building yesterday were not allowed in and Chinese at the gate refused to talk. No damage was visible from out side.

Indonesian neighbours said they had heard nothing on Saturday evening. The Indonesian Second Deputy Foreign Minister (Mr Ganis Harsono) said that to his knoweldge there had certainly not been a raid on Chinese embassy premises.

But he said that in the Army’s search and moppingup operations against dissidents it was possible that houses occupied by Chinese officials as residences would be searched.