Indonesia Dispatches Team to Sudan for Arms Smuggling Case

National Police Chief General Tito Karnavian

Jakarta, 27 Rabiul Akhir 1438/26 January 2017 (MINA) – National Police Chief General Tito Karnavian revealed his plan to send a team to Sudan on Wednesday night to offer legal aid in an arms smuggling case allegedly involving members of the Indonesian peacekeeping force in Darfur.

“The team will leave for Sudan tonight to provide legal assistance and to coordinate with the local governments, including the United Nations (UN) and the Sudanese authorities,” Antara quoted Karnavian as stating after accompanying President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to the National Polices leadership meeting here on Wednesday morning.

Earlier a report surfaced in which the North Darfur government had announced that Indonesian police members of the peacekeeping force were arrested at the Al-Fashir Airport in Sudan on Jan 20 for allegedly attempting to smuggle arms and ammunition camouflaged as rare minerals.

However, Karnavian denied the involvement of the Indonesian peacekeeping force members in the smuggling of arms and ammunition through the Al-Fashir Airport.

The National Police chief revealed that 10 suitcases containing a variety of weapons and ammunition did not belong to the Indonesian policemen who had completed their service in Sudan.

According to the Sudanese Media Centre, various weapons and ammunition, including Kalashnikov rifles, GM3 rifles, and other handguns, as well as large quantities of ammunition, were unearthed during a search conducted by the local authorities.

According to the UN, the peacekeeping mission in war-torn Sudan comprises 19,248 police and military personnel from various countries. This number includes 1,583 police personnel and 13 formed police units of up to 140 personnel each, which constitutes the Indonesian police unit.
(T/RS05/RS01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)