SJAFRIE TO THROW PARTY IF DEFENSE BUDGET RAISED

Jakarta, June 13 (ANTARA) - It is still very difficult for Indonesia to increase its defense budget in a few years to come, the secretary general of the ministry of defense Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said.

"I will throw a party if the budget is raised," he said replying to ANTARA's question here Saturday.

The past six months were months full of pain for the Indonesian military (TNI) and all its members.

In the period almost eighty of its best soldiers were killed not in combat but in plane accidents.

The last incident happened on Friday (June 12) when an air force helicopter crashed while conducting a flight test at Atang Senjaya airbase in Bogor, West Java, killing four soldiers.

The incident occurred just four days after a BO-105 Bolkow/HS-7112 from the army's Attack-11 Helicopter Squadron crashed killing three soldiers.

Budget constraints are believed to have contributed to the incidents because lack of funds prevented the planes from being maintained maximally.

Lieutenant General Sjafrie Syamsuddin said ideally the defense budget should reach two to three percent of the Gross Domestic Product.