Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – The National Police have agreed to the President's call for the Indonesian Military (TNI) to take an active role in combating terrorism, saying military personnel would be involved in seeking information, conducting raids on terrorists and handling the response to terrorist attacks.

But Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said investigations into acts of terrorism and suspected terrorists would remain the exclusive domain of the police.

"The military will be involved in almost every step made to combat terrorism except the investigation process. This process will be handled entirely by our officers," he told a meeting of the Commission III on law at the House of Representatives on Thursday.

Bambang added the military would be empowered to assist the police in collecting intelligence information and locating suspected terrorists.

"Remembering that the military has both the experience and an established network for doing these duties," he said. Bambang was responding to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's call for the military to assume an active role in counterterrorism efforts, which he said threatened not only foreigners but the nation's interests and integrity.

Human rights defenders and civil society groups have cautiously accepted the military's new role, after opposing to the president's call, which they said would lead to the militarism and extrajudicial abuses of power that characterised the New Order era.

The military are equipped to official help the Police tackle terror as the Army, Navy and Air force all have specialist counterterror units.

A police official, who requested anonymity, confirmed the police chief's statement, stressing that the military would be needed to help empower its forces. "The military have effective, lethal strike forces. We are likely to need this whenever the situation in the field deteriorates," he said.

He continued to say that beside the strike forces, the police would also be grateful to have access to the military's intelligence network, because, he said, the regional police network is ineffective.

"I don't know what has happened with our junior officers these days. In many occasions I see they are just not trying to collect intelligence in their regions. I must admit that many of them have become very elitist, they seldom visit their own people," he said.

This, he continued, has created a situation where regional officers are unable to detect early warning signs in their own backyards.

There have been several incidences where the National Police have traced suspected terrorists to locations mere meters away from police stations, to the surprise of local offices.

Muhammad Jahri's house in Beji Village, Temanggung, Central Java, for example, is located less than 50 meters from a police post. It was on this house that police launched a 17 hour raid after they received reports that Noordin M Top and his accomplices were staying there.

Ibrohim, who worked at the JW Marriott Hotel and is believed to have smuggled in materials used to make the bombs used in the July 17 attacks in Jakarta, was shot dead in the raid.

Former Intelligence Agency Chief General (ret) A.M Hendropriyono said that, theoretically speaking, it would have been almost impossible for wanted terrorists to spend a night in that house if TNI and Police intelligence agencies were better coordinated and had been more involved with local residents.

"The house was not where you would normally expect to find terrorists hiding out. It is located in the middle of a village that is not a home to radicals. This would have never happened if the intelligence clock within the people's hearts was ticking properly," he said at a discussion on de-radicalism several days ago.

He suggested that in order to foster a sense of alertness among Indonesian citizens, some old tactics must be dusted off and revised to met the needs of the current situation.

"We should use every resource that we have, including the military's intelligence network if it is needed, because at the end of the day, we are all facing a common enemy," he said.