Jakarta – Indonesia's military denied on Tuesday any links with four Indonesians charged in the United States with a conspiracy to export arms.
US officials said last week that six people had been arrested in Guam, a US territory in the Pacific, and charged with conspiring to sell arms to Sri Lankan rebels and customers in Indonesia.
"The TNI (Indonesian army) requires our partners abroad to have a valid export license. If there were accusations that the TNI is buying illegal arms, this can't be true," military chief Air Marshal Djoko Suyanto told reporters.
The US officials said four of the men – two Indonesians, a Singaporean and a Sri Lankan – intended to export surface-to-air missiles, machine guns, ammunition and night vision goggles to the Tamil Tigers, considered a terrorist group by the United States.
The men were identified as Haniffa Bin Osman, 55, a citizen of Singapore; Erick Wotulo, 60, and Haji Subandi, 69, of Indonesia; and Thirunavukarasu Varatharasa, 36, a Sri Lankan.
Osman, Wotulo and Subandi also were charged with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation and money laundering. Suyanto confirmed that Wotulo was a retired Indonesian general from the marine corps. The three other Indonesians are accused of trying to export night vision goggles and long-range sniper telescopic sights to Indonesia and are civilian, he said.
"Night vision goggles can be used by anyone. In Russia they are sold freely in stores," he said. The US attorney's office in Maryland said the men were arrested in Guam late this week after making a down payment for the weapons and inspecting them.
The Singaporean suspect met undercover agents and test-fired several of the weapons in Maryland. The men submitted a purchase order for about $900,000 worth of arms and said a deal could be made for another order of up to $15 million of weapons, the statement said.
All six men face a maximum sentence of five years in jail for conspiracy to export arms. Subandi, Osman and Wotulo also face up to 15 years in jail for conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and 20 years in prison if convicted of money laundering.
Indonesia foreign ministry spokesman Desra Percaya said separately that embassy officials in the United States would travel to Guam later on Tuesday to offer consular assistance to the detained suspects.