"I feel relieved that now I can explain it completely and openly to the Indonesian people. I had to refrain from giving unnecessary explanations for two months because I didn`t want on-duty soldiers to fall victim," he said when receiving the MV Sinar Kudus liberation team here on Sunday.
Despite many comments and criticisms, the President said he preferred to keep silent.
"Once again the special operations need secrecy, security, speed and surprise attack. So if we spoke of what we were doing and what were going to do this means that we informed enemies or opponents and that they could foil our operations and destroy our force," he said.
The President said since MV Sinar Kudus was hijacked on March 16 he had held five limited cabinet meetings to discuss preparations to dispatch a task force to free the ship and its crew from Somali pirates.
Even the task force was also equipped with weapons to conduct military operations, if possible. Yet the owner of the ship preferred to pay ransom to the pirates, he said.
"Why did we send more than two battalions of soldiers? This is because we had prepared everything. The operations were designed to do more than what God predestined." he said.
The President said of course, all the quick steps including projecting the existing force were not made public.
"Viewed from the long distance and the number of soldiers deployed this was certainly not ordinary operations. And no any other country in the world has leaked such military operations to the public," he said.
MV Sinar Kudus was hijacked by Somali pirates while en route to Rotterdam, the Netherlands, carrying approximately 200 tons of ferronickel. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
