JAKARTA (JP): National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on
Thursday that his office was still pondering several candidates to
be the next deputy of the Security Restoration Operation (Opslihkam)
in Maluku.
This came after the installment of Maj. Gen. Djoko Santoso as
the new Pattimura Military Command chief earlier in the day.
Djoko will also be appointed commander of the operation.
Da'i said the police have not yet decided whether to appoint
incumbent Maluku Police chief Brig. Gen. Soenarko D.A. as deputy
chief of the Maluku operation.
"We're hoping to make a decision soon," Da'i said,
after the opening of a Marine and Fisheries ministerial meeting at
the State Palace on Thursday, as quoted by Antara.
Earlier on Thursday, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono
Sutarto officially installed Maj. Gen. Djoko Santoso as the new
Pattimura Military chief overseeing Maluku and North Maluku inthe
provincial capital, Ambon.
Djoko has replaced Brig. Gen. Mustopo, who will be stationed
back at Army Headquarters.
Djoko Santoso is a 1975 graduate of the Indonesian
MilitaryAcademy. He was, at one time, the social and political
assistant to the Jakarta Military Command. Currently, Djoko is the
chief of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) division
II andcommander of the TNI's quick response troops, known as PPRC.
The government has decided to restructure the Civil Emergency
Administration in Maluku by forming a coordinated security
command, which will be led by the Pattimura Military chief, along
with a deputy from the National Police holding the rank of
brigadier general.
The decision was taken following a series of differences over
the handling of several incidents in Ambon, which ended in a
violent dispute between personnel from the Police's Mobile Brigade
(Brimob) and members of the Army's Special Forces earlierthis
month. (edt)
