Jakarta – An Indonesian human rights group on Thursday accused President Megawati Sukarnoputri of giving the national intelligence agency too much power.

The executive director of Imparsial, Munir, said the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) had recruited regional officials, including village chiefs, as their agents and set up regional offices.

Munir said the agency has asked for excessive powers, including the right to arrest and detain suspects, and for a budget to buy arms and set up forces. The proposals were included in a draft law on intelligence, he said.

"Security has become the focus of Megawati's electoral strategies to win public support, which is in doubt because of her failure to deal with economic problems, unemployment and corruption," Munir said.

BIN is charged with coordinating intelligence-gathering and anti-terror operations. "In fact police work more effectively than BIN. High-ranking police officers have told me that BIN hardly provides valuable intelligence," he told a press conference.

A BIN spokesman could not be reached for comment. Police have received international praise for successful investigations into the Bali bombings which killed 202 people. They have arrested more than 30 suspects for the Bali attack and 12 for the bombing of the Marriott hotel in Jakarta in August.