Leader Consolidates Control of Military

Indonesia’s president, Abdurrahman Wahid, moved to consolidate his control over the country’s restive military, dismissing the armed forces’ chief spokesman, whose public comments had stoked rumors of a rift between the president and the troops. In Jakarta, the capital, the president said military spokesman Maj. Gen. Sudradjat had been replaced by air force Rear Marshal Graito Husodo. Sudradjat, a critic of Wahid, told the Indonesian newspaper Republika last week that the president did not have “the right to interfere in the internal affairs of the military” even though he is commander in chief. Wahid also named air force Rear Marshal Ian Santoso Perdanakusumah as the new head of military intelligence.