Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono paid his last respects to the late former Indonesian Military (TNI) commander and former coordinating political and security minister Gen. (ret.) Feisal Tanjung who died at Siloam Hospital in Jakarta on Monday morning.
Feisal, who served in his roles as a military chief and minister during the New Order era under the late former President Soeharto, died at the age of 73 due to an undisclosed illness.
"The President and First Lady [Ani Yudhoyono] visited Feisal's residence in Kuningan, South Jakarta, where the remains have been laid, this morning at 10.30 a.m.," presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha told reporters.
Feisal's remains will be buried at Kalibata National Cemetery in Kalibata, South Jakarta, in a military ceremony later in the afternoon. Vice President Boediono is scheduled to serve as the ceremony's inspector, Julian said.
TNI commander Adm. Agus Suhartono also paid his last respects at Feisal's residence, TNI spokesman Rear Admiral Iskandar Sitompul said.
Born in Tarutung, North Sumatra, on June 17, 1939, Feisal was one of Indonesia's top military figures who had shining military career under the Soeharto regime.
Feisal made headlines in the international media after being appointed by the late president to head the military honorary council set up to investigate the mass killing of demonstrators in Santa Cruz, East Timor (now Timor Leste) in 1991.
Under his leadership, the council recommended the dismissals of a number of then high-ranking military officers, including Maj. Gen. Sintong Panjaitan and Brig. Gen. Rudolf Warouw.
In 2001, Feisal was among several former top military officials summoned by the House of Representatives over their alleged roles in the student killings at Trisakti University and the Semanggi cloverleaf in Jakarta in 1998.
The generals denied any role in the killings and said they had never adopted any policy nor issued any orders authorizing security forces to shoot student demonstrators at the time.