DEMOCRAT PARTY DEFENDS YUDHOYONO'S ANNOUNCEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

Jakarta, March 11 (ANTAR) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's surprise announcement on Dulmatin's death before the Australian prime minister and MPs was defended by the chairman of the Democrat Party faction in the House of Representatives (DPR), Anas Urbaningrum.

He also urged the nation not to link the police's war on terror in Aceh Province and Pamulang sub-district, Banten Province, to the US President Barack Obama's planned visit to Indonesia later this March.

The police's success in killing Dulmatin as the most wanted terrorist in Southeast Asia, needed to made public inside and outside Indonesia, he told ANTARA here Thursday.

Therefore, the announcement of Dulmatin's death by President Yudhoyono during his state visit in Canberra, Australia, was acceptable, he said.

"Crushing terrorism is an international commitment and agenda. So, don't build an opinion as if President Yudhoyono was serving an Australian interest. This is wrong," he said.

Instead, the Indonesian government had met the security needs of its people, and contributed to the security and stability of the region and beyond, Urbaningrum said.

"President Yudhoyono emphasized the importance of the fight against terrorism and Indonesia's commitment and success in doing that. So, once again, it was not only in Australia's interest but in that of regional and international security," he said.

The anti-terror police's operations in Aceh and Pamulang should neither be linked to President Barack Obama's planned visit, he said.

The police's success needs to be highly appreciated but it must not make the police and people inattentive to the root causes and seeds of terrorism, he said.

"The growth of terrorist seeds must continuously be anticipated, and terrorism is an endless security threat that we all need to be alert to any time," he said.

In response to the Indonesian police's success in the war on terror, Prof.Hendrawan Supratikno, a member of parliament of the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDIP) faction, also warned the nation not to overlook the root causes of terrorism.

Among the root causes that need to be tackled for eliminating the threat of terrorism were poverty, injustices, religious radicalism, weakening social solidarity, and state arrogance.

In crushing the terrorists, the principle of 'unity in diversity' as the nation's social capital should also be maintained because only by honoring this value would the efforts to eradicate the terrorists' ideology succeed, he said.

Over the past two weeks, Indonesian police anti-terror personnel have been hunting a group of armed terror suspects in Aceh Besar district.

Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf said the terror suspects wanted to make his province their base of struggle in Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, in a separate operation in Pamulang sub-district, Tangerang City, Banten Province, on Tuesday (March 9), the police also gunned down three terror suspects and arrested three others.

The dead terror suspects were Dulmatin and two of his body guards. Dulmatin, who was confirmed by the Indonesian police responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings, was shot dead in a raid on an internet outlet in Pamulang.

The top terrorist's death was not only announced by the Indonesian police chief in Jakarta on Wednesday but also by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during his state visit in Canberra, Australia.

Indonesia has been fighting terrorist cells in the country since the 2002 Bali bombings that claimed 202 lives, including 88 Australian holiday makers.

Two years before the terrorists attacked the resort island of Bali, Indonesia was rocked by the Christmas eve bombings in 2000.