"If a coup really happens, we are ready to cope with it with military power," Purnomo said on the sidelines of an international defense dialog here on Wednesday.
He said he had never received a report about a number of retired army generals seeking to topple the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono with the help of an Islamic hardline group.
"We (the government) have never heard about it. We have never received reports about anybody planning a coup," he said.
But he also said the government would keep monitoring developments in the field and use its security apparatus to check the truth of the foreign media`s report. Purnomo said if the coup report was true, the government would deal with the plotters with military power.
"For now, the government will not take any action until all detailed data and information about the issue have been collected," he said.
Al-Jazeera television station recently reported that a number of retired three-star generals in Indonesia had been behind the recent anti-Ahmadiyah campaign and violence against followers of the small Islamic sect.
It said the generals secretly supported the hardline group because they had the same goal, namely unseating President Yudhoyono from power.
"They have come just to give support," chief of the Islam Reform Movement, Chep Hernawan, said according to Al Jazeera on Tuesday. "They said the jihad must continue. We must not stop until the liar steps down," he said.
Chep said the retired generals approached him at the end of January or around a month before violence against Ahmadiyah followers in Cikeusik, Pandeglang, Banten. He said the generals were fed up with all the lies President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono`s government had been telling the people.
"The three-star generals asked what issue would be used to topple President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The Century case has failed. Perhaps the Ahmadiyah issue," he said.
Based on his confession,. Al Jazeera journalist Step Vassen said the generals supported the hardline Islamic group. They considered Yudhoyono to be too weak and reformist.(*)
(H-YH/HAJM/f001)
Editor: Ruslan Burhani
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
