Tim Dodd, Jakarta – With Indonesia facing a new round of instability if war goes ahead in Iraq, the country's top political and military leaders say the army will not "return to barracks" but will retain its domestic security role.

Army chief of staff General Ryamizard Ryacudu said his forces would not be pulling out of their domestic function. "When people talk about military professionalism by asking us to return to barracks I don't think they understand what the Indonesian army is about," The Jakarta Post quoted him as saying.

General Ryamizard was speaking after briefing more than 200 serving and retired generals who had gathered for what was described as a keep-in-touch social gathering. The main topic at the closed meeting was the threat to national unity.

Those present included former armed forces chief and security minister General Wiranto, his disgraced rival Lieutenant-General Prabowo Subianto (former son-in-law of former president Soeharto), and current security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Afterwards General Ryamizard said the concept of a professional army in Western countries such as the United States could not be applied to Indonesia. "We are still dealing with disintegration problems, whereas the US is beyond that," he said.

The army chief's views echo those of one of Indonesia's most senior political figures, who told The Australian Financial Review that he was confident the army would be able to control any disturbances by Islamic extremists. "They can be controlled by the security apparatus thanks to the territorial system," he said, referring to the army's practice of assigning personnel to shadow every level of Indonesia's civil government. Speaking anonymously, he said: "It [the territorial system] will not be abolished. This is not America or Australia. It is a different situation. "There will be no back-to-barracks for the army."

The army has enjoyed a resurgence of influence since President Megawati Soekarnoputri took power 19 months ago. Both General Ryacudu and his superior, armed forces commander General Endriartono Sutarto, are regarded as close to the President. Following Soeharto's fall in 1998, the army withdrew from some of its more overt political roles. For example, its representation in Indonesia's two parliamentary bodies has diminished and is scheduled to be phased out over the next few years.

Following the formal separation of the police from the armed forces in 1999 the army was supposed to play no further role in domestic security. In practice, it has continued to do so. If instability grows, and if regions such as Papua and Aceh continue to press demands for independence, the army's internal security function is likely to grow.