JAKARTA: For years, Western spy agencies paid little attention to Indonesia as a potential base for international terrorists. The country’s intelligence services also failed to collect information, because they were distracted by separatist rebellions and almost four years of political turmoil in the capital.

Indonesia’s economic woes hampered what little intelligence- gathering was attempted. The government cannot afford equipment that is standard in many countries, including devices to tap mobile phones, the senior Indonesian intelligence official said. “How can we pursue these guys if we can’t even listen to their phone calls?” the official said.

Even if details of Al-Qaeda’s operations in Indonesia become clearer, pursuing terrorists in this conflict-racked country of 220 million could prove vexing.

Unlike Somalia or Iraq, Indonesia has a friendly relationship with the United States, making unilateral military action by Washington highly unlikely. Cooperating with local forces, as the United States is doing in the Philippines, also is doubtful because of a US law, passed in the wake of the Indonesian army’s alleged human rights abuses in East Timor, that prevents military assistance to Indonesia.

US military officials have said the law should be rescinded in the interest of the war on terrorism. Efforts to overturn the amendment failed last month, but the Pentagon did win the right to provide anti-terrorist training to the Indonesian military this year.

US officials also have quietly expanded the scope of intelligence about terrorist-related issues that is shared with Indonesia, in hopes it might spur police and military leaders to take more aggressive steps to crack down on extremist groups. But the effort has received a mixed reception.

Although some officials in Jakarta want to rein in such militia groups as Laskar-e-Jihad, many others are reluctant, fearing a crackdown could spark retaliation by the groups and alienate conservative Muslim political parties that are part of President Megawati Sukarnoputri’s ruling coalition.

“Our American friends need to understand that we are in a very difficult position,” the senior Indonesian intelligence official said.

“These groups are our enemy. They are hurting us and we want to hurt them back. But we need to take careful steps. If we approach it the wrong way, our government can be toppled.” —Dawn/The Washington Post News Service.