http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4284118.stm
some pretty interesting opinions on the bird flu problem in indonesia!
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Kamoro, the coastal people of West Papua
Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Pigapu, Mimika
When asked briefly to describe the Kamoro people of Papua, celebrated photographer and ethnologist Kal Muller said: "The Kamoro people are lovers, not fighters."
There are about 18,000 members of the Kamoro, one of dozens of tribal groups in Papua. They live in the southwest coastal area of Mimika regency in West Papua. Geographically, they are close to tribal groups like the Asmat, Amungme and Sempan.
Muller, who was born in Hungary, has spent decades living with the Kamoro. He compared the Kamoro with the neighboring Asmat tribe, which is well known for its outstanding carvings.
He said the Asmat were much closer to the traditional way of life of their ancestors than the Kamoro. The Dutch administration and the Roman Catholic Church, which set up their Kamoro headquarters in Kokonau in the mid-1920s, forbade and discouraged many elements of the Kamoro's traditions.
"To the Asmat, the Kamoro people are like their praise pieces. The Asmat have a stronger character and are more aggressive than the Kamoro. In the past, the Asmat people hunted down Kamoro people to show off their power. You know the Asmat people have the bisj, a totem-like pole that is made every time they kill an enemy. The Kamoro have a similar carving, the mbitoro, but it is made to praise their ancestors. See the difference."
Kamoro youth figure Thomas "Tom" Kamipeyau said one of the tales often told by elderly Kamoro was the story of the origin of Kokonau. The word Kokonau is derived from Koka and Nau, which respectively mean women and slaughter.
"A long time before the Portuguese and Dutch came to our island, the Asmat people came and hunted our women. They killed most of the mothers and young women while the men ran into the jungle," said Tom, who is a teacher and is currently continuing his studies at Cendrawasih University in Jayapura.
"When the Portuguese people came they only met a bunch of frightened men. And they could not communicate because of the language, and only pointed in the direction of their village, saying 'koka nau', or our women were slaughtered," he said.
This folktale makes it clear the nature of the Kamoro.
"The Asmat were forced to defend their survival because they were praise pieces for other, stronger tribes as well, while the Kamoro had a kind of laid-back lifestyle living off the generosity of nature," Muller said at his house in Pigapu village.
Pigapu is about 30 kilometers west of Timika, the capital of Mimika regency, which is home to mining company Freeport.
"And Freeport ended up with the losers," Muller quipped. "But as the Bible says, the last shall be the first and the first shall be the last."
In terms of culture, the Kamoro have got off to a late start compared to the Asmat, whose wood carvings have been displayed at museums and galleries around the world.
Muller has worked with PT Freeport Indonesia as a special consultant and sort of liaison with local communities. Despite the ups and downs of the job, Muller has shown that what he does can make a difference.
One of his ideas was the Festival Kamoro, locally known as Kamoro Kakuru, which has proven to be a very effective way of introducing the arts and culture of the Kamoro to a wider audience.
The festival was inspired by the yearly Asmat auction that was set up and carried out by Bishop Al Sowada, a Roman Catholic missionary of extraordinary vision who also set up the Asmat art museum in Agats.
While its main objective was to preserve the cultural heritage of the Kamoro, the festival also serves as a forum to generate income for carvers and the women who weave grass to make bags.
Besides dance performances, canoe races and cooking demonstrations of traditional food, the festival also features an auction of Kamoro carvings.
During the most recent Kamoro Kakuru, held from Sept. 29 through Oct. 2, the top price paid for a carving was Rp 7 million. The highest price ever paid at the festival was Rp 11 million, and that was last year.
Although more and more Kamoro are showing an interest in carving, Muller is not sure if carving is the way to generate sustainable income for the people, as "few of the people have good taste when it comes to carving. Many learned the skills from their parents, but they still have a lot more to learn".
Slightly different from the carvings of the Asmat, the works of the Kamoro range from mbitoro, yamate (a kind of shield) and wemawe (the carving of the images of ancestors in an elbows-on-knees position), to tongkat (walking stick), eme or tifa (drum), and mbiikao masks (large masks worn over the head and shoulders for ceremonies).
"It has taken time to make the Kamoro people understand that their carvings are worth something. The arrival of people from Freeport or Jakarta will help them realize that their art has value," Muller said.
As a coastal tribe, most Kamoro rely on fishing for their livelihood. And nature has been very generous.
The Kamoro living on the coast travel to kapiri kame (shelters made of pandanus leaves) inland where they have easier access to sago trees and other resources from the tropical rain forest.
Sago palms are scattered in the wild and the Kamoro just fell the trees and break up the pith in the trunk. A felled sago tree, if left to rot, will produce one of the Kamoro's favorite delicacies: koo, or the sago grub.
Another favorite delicacy is tambelo, a kind of mollusk found in felled mangrove trees. Both delicacies are always eaten raw.
In his book, Between the Tides, cowritten with David Pickell, Muller said the Kamoro was a culture -- like many others in Papua -- facing a delicate, sometimes humorous, and occasionally painful process of change.
The question is how this change will shape the lives and the culture of the Kamoro.
Photo caption:
Hungarian-born Kal Muller wears traditional costume to show Kamoro people that they should feel proud of their tradition and culture. (JP/P.J. Leo)
Taken from The Jakarta Post
When asked briefly to describe the Kamoro people of Papua, celebrated photographer and ethnologist Kal Muller said: "The Kamoro people are lovers, not fighters."
There are about 18,000 members of the Kamoro, one of dozens of tribal groups in Papua. They live in the southwest coastal area of Mimika regency in West Papua. Geographically, they are close to tribal groups like the Asmat, Amungme and Sempan.
Muller, who was born in Hungary, has spent decades living with the Kamoro. He compared the Kamoro with the neighboring Asmat tribe, which is well known for its outstanding carvings.
He said the Asmat were much closer to the traditional way of life of their ancestors than the Kamoro. The Dutch administration and the Roman Catholic Church, which set up their Kamoro headquarters in Kokonau in the mid-1920s, forbade and discouraged many elements of the Kamoro's traditions.
"To the Asmat, the Kamoro people are like their praise pieces. The Asmat have a stronger character and are more aggressive than the Kamoro. In the past, the Asmat people hunted down Kamoro people to show off their power. You know the Asmat people have the bisj, a totem-like pole that is made every time they kill an enemy. The Kamoro have a similar carving, the mbitoro, but it is made to praise their ancestors. See the difference."
Kamoro youth figure Thomas "Tom" Kamipeyau said one of the tales often told by elderly Kamoro was the story of the origin of Kokonau. The word Kokonau is derived from Koka and Nau, which respectively mean women and slaughter.
"A long time before the Portuguese and Dutch came to our island, the Asmat people came and hunted our women. They killed most of the mothers and young women while the men ran into the jungle," said Tom, who is a teacher and is currently continuing his studies at Cendrawasih University in Jayapura.
"When the Portuguese people came they only met a bunch of frightened men. And they could not communicate because of the language, and only pointed in the direction of their village, saying 'koka nau', or our women were slaughtered," he said.
This folktale makes it clear the nature of the Kamoro.
"The Asmat were forced to defend their survival because they were praise pieces for other, stronger tribes as well, while the Kamoro had a kind of laid-back lifestyle living off the generosity of nature," Muller said at his house in Pigapu village.
Pigapu is about 30 kilometers west of Timika, the capital of Mimika regency, which is home to mining company Freeport.
"And Freeport ended up with the losers," Muller quipped. "But as the Bible says, the last shall be the first and the first shall be the last."
In terms of culture, the Kamoro have got off to a late start compared to the Asmat, whose wood carvings have been displayed at museums and galleries around the world.
Muller has worked with PT Freeport Indonesia as a special consultant and sort of liaison with local communities. Despite the ups and downs of the job, Muller has shown that what he does can make a difference.
One of his ideas was the Festival Kamoro, locally known as Kamoro Kakuru, which has proven to be a very effective way of introducing the arts and culture of the Kamoro to a wider audience.
The festival was inspired by the yearly Asmat auction that was set up and carried out by Bishop Al Sowada, a Roman Catholic missionary of extraordinary vision who also set up the Asmat art museum in Agats.
While its main objective was to preserve the cultural heritage of the Kamoro, the festival also serves as a forum to generate income for carvers and the women who weave grass to make bags.
Besides dance performances, canoe races and cooking demonstrations of traditional food, the festival also features an auction of Kamoro carvings.
During the most recent Kamoro Kakuru, held from Sept. 29 through Oct. 2, the top price paid for a carving was Rp 7 million. The highest price ever paid at the festival was Rp 11 million, and that was last year.
Although more and more Kamoro are showing an interest in carving, Muller is not sure if carving is the way to generate sustainable income for the people, as "few of the people have good taste when it comes to carving. Many learned the skills from their parents, but they still have a lot more to learn".
Slightly different from the carvings of the Asmat, the works of the Kamoro range from mbitoro, yamate (a kind of shield) and wemawe (the carving of the images of ancestors in an elbows-on-knees position), to tongkat (walking stick), eme or tifa (drum), and mbiikao masks (large masks worn over the head and shoulders for ceremonies).
"It has taken time to make the Kamoro people understand that their carvings are worth something. The arrival of people from Freeport or Jakarta will help them realize that their art has value," Muller said.
As a coastal tribe, most Kamoro rely on fishing for their livelihood. And nature has been very generous.
The Kamoro living on the coast travel to kapiri kame (shelters made of pandanus leaves) inland where they have easier access to sago trees and other resources from the tropical rain forest.
Sago palms are scattered in the wild and the Kamoro just fell the trees and break up the pith in the trunk. A felled sago tree, if left to rot, will produce one of the Kamoro's favorite delicacies: koo, or the sago grub.
Another favorite delicacy is tambelo, a kind of mollusk found in felled mangrove trees. Both delicacies are always eaten raw.
In his book, Between the Tides, cowritten with David Pickell, Muller said the Kamoro was a culture -- like many others in Papua -- facing a delicate, sometimes humorous, and occasionally painful process of change.
The question is how this change will shape the lives and the culture of the Kamoro.
Photo caption:
Hungarian-born Kal Muller wears traditional costume to show Kamoro people that they should feel proud of their tradition and culture. (JP/P.J. Leo)
Taken from The Jakarta Post
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
'Bikinis and booze caused bombings'
Simon Kearney in Surabaya
October 10, 2005
AUSTRALIANS had declared a moral war on Muslims in Indonesia with their drinking and skimpy clothes in Bali, the eldest brother of three of those responsible for the 2002 attacks said yesterday.
Muhammed Khozin told The Australian at his home in Tenggulun, East Java, that his community didn't care about the October 1 Bali bombings because they were not linked to people from his village.
Mr Khozin's younger brothers Amrozi and Mukhlas were sentenced to death and Ali Imron to life imprisonment for their roles in the attacks on the Sari Club and Paddy's bar, which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
Mr Khozin said the behaviour of Westerners in his country was to blame for the radicalism adopted by his brothers.
"Alcohol, bikinis, that kind of thing makes Muslims angry. Don't do that when visiting a country with a Muslim majority," he said. "I'm sorry, Australian culture makes war on morality. They come to Bali with bikinis, they make war on morality. Not physical war, morality war. Respect the culture and religion of Indonesia."
His son, 19-year-old university student Afif, said there would be no end to terrorism while Australians continued going to Bali and behaving without respect for Muslim culture.
He believed the first Bali bombing committed by his uncles was justified because it discouraged tourists in Bali. "If Muslims died in that action, the Muslims will go to heaven," he said.
Afif said Muslims and Christians would only live side by side when Christians learned to respect Muslim culture.
Mr Khozin runs the Al-Islaman boarding school in the village that he founded with his late father 30 years ago. Such schools, known as pesantren, are seen as a breeding ground for terrorists.
He said if Canberra wanted to stop radicalism in Indonesia, it should teach Australians to be more respectful of Islam.
Moreover, Australia could help fund facilities at Islamic schools like his, which are mainly in poor areas and are under-resourced, to help better educate Muslims in Indonesia.
"Please give to us because maybe that's the way to make the relationship with Indonesia and Australia better," he said.
He taught his students the concept of "dakwah", which means to confront people who do things that are wrong and tell them to stop.
But he did not subscribe to the view of radicals that they should act to physically erase something they did not agree with.
His brothers had a different view of Islam to his but he believed they were still good people. He called on the Indonesian Government to return them to their community, where they could be rehabilitated.
"The community have a dream. If Amrozi came back here, he will do things like that."
Taken from The Australian
October 10, 2005
AUSTRALIANS had declared a moral war on Muslims in Indonesia with their drinking and skimpy clothes in Bali, the eldest brother of three of those responsible for the 2002 attacks said yesterday.
Muhammed Khozin told The Australian at his home in Tenggulun, East Java, that his community didn't care about the October 1 Bali bombings because they were not linked to people from his village.
Mr Khozin's younger brothers Amrozi and Mukhlas were sentenced to death and Ali Imron to life imprisonment for their roles in the attacks on the Sari Club and Paddy's bar, which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
Mr Khozin said the behaviour of Westerners in his country was to blame for the radicalism adopted by his brothers.
"Alcohol, bikinis, that kind of thing makes Muslims angry. Don't do that when visiting a country with a Muslim majority," he said. "I'm sorry, Australian culture makes war on morality. They come to Bali with bikinis, they make war on morality. Not physical war, morality war. Respect the culture and religion of Indonesia."
His son, 19-year-old university student Afif, said there would be no end to terrorism while Australians continued going to Bali and behaving without respect for Muslim culture.
He believed the first Bali bombing committed by his uncles was justified because it discouraged tourists in Bali. "If Muslims died in that action, the Muslims will go to heaven," he said.
Afif said Muslims and Christians would only live side by side when Christians learned to respect Muslim culture.
Mr Khozin runs the Al-Islaman boarding school in the village that he founded with his late father 30 years ago. Such schools, known as pesantren, are seen as a breeding ground for terrorists.
He said if Canberra wanted to stop radicalism in Indonesia, it should teach Australians to be more respectful of Islam.
Moreover, Australia could help fund facilities at Islamic schools like his, which are mainly in poor areas and are under-resourced, to help better educate Muslims in Indonesia.
"Please give to us because maybe that's the way to make the relationship with Indonesia and Australia better," he said.
He taught his students the concept of "dakwah", which means to confront people who do things that are wrong and tell them to stop.
But he did not subscribe to the view of radicals that they should act to physically erase something they did not agree with.
His brothers had a different view of Islam to his but he believed they were still good people. He called on the Indonesian Government to return them to their community, where they could be rehabilitated.
"The community have a dream. If Amrozi came back here, he will do things like that."
Taken from The Australian
Jakarta turns blind eye to holy wars
Indonesia's Christians fear going to church as authorities sanction sectarian violence, writes Sian Powell
October 10, 2005
FROM the recent suicide bombings in Bali, to the forcible closing of churches in West Java and persecution of so-called heretical and liberal Muslims, the march of militant Islam is leading to a sense of increasing intolerance across Indonesia.
In the province of Aceh, militants were this week out to commemorate the holy fasting month of Ramadan by menacing discos and bars.
As many as 23 so-called "wild" or unlicensed Christian churches in West Java have been forced to close by militant Muslims in recent months, according to prominent Christians, who fear they are facing a surge of bigotry.
Muslims considered insufficiently orthodox have also been under threat. Hundreds of militants recently attacked mosques, as many as 33 houses and a number of cars in Cianjur, West Java, because the property belonged to the "heretical" Islamic Ahmadiyah sect. Ominously, the militants say their actions are condoned by both the state and by peak Islamic bodies.
Muhammad Mu'min, chief of the Anti-Apostasy Movement Alliance (AGAP), says the proliferation of illegal churches must be stopped, because the spread of Christianity damages the fabric of Islam in Indonesia. "The substance of closing 'wild' churches is an apostasy issue," he says. "Many of our brothers have converted to non-Muslim religions, especially Christianity, because of overt or covert activities, and even with force."
Conversion from Islam to another religion is a very serious matter in Indonesia. Leaving Islam is considered a sin by Muslims, and apostates are reviled. Three Indonesian Christian women from Indramayu in West Java were each jailed for three years earlier this month for inviting Muslim children to church events, and apparently thereby luring them away from Islam.
Mu'min says Christians will stop at nothing to convert Muslims. "(They use) forceful acts; like beatings, and sexual harassment, and worse. One reverend was captured and sentenced to 12 years in prison," he says.
The violence can hit even humanitarian organisations. Around the same time as the Cianjur violence, seven former counsellors at a cancer and drug rehabilitation centre in Probolinggo, East Java, were sentenced to prison terms of between three and five years for insulting Islam -- militants had earlier raided the centre, driving out patients and vandalising the interior. A few weeks earlier, two Christian congregations in Bekasi were forced to pray in the streets, after extremists blocked the way to their churches.
This intolerance, in a nation long famed for its easygoing and gentle brand of Islam, seems to stem from the edicts of Indonesia's highest Islamic authority, the Indonesian Council of Scholars (MUI). In July, the MUI issued a much-criticised series of decrees outlawing liberal interpretations of Islam, religious pluralism and secularism.
The 11 fatwas also banned interfaith marriage and prayers performed with people of other faiths, as well as renewing a decades-old ban on the heretical Muslim sect Ahmadiyah.
Ignored by most Muslims, the edicts were seized upon by a lunatic fringe of militants, including the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and the newer umbrella organisation AGAP. Indonesia's beleaguered Christians, comprising about 9 per cent of the nation's population of roughly 230 million, have been feeling particularly threatened. Long inured to violence in the conflict zones of Ambon and Poso, where internecine warfare has claimed thousands of lives, they now fear going to church on Sundays. As well as using the MUI fatwas as justification for the forcible closing of churches, the militants say the Indonesian Government has given them every right to take action against churches without licences.
A 1969 ministerial decree says permission must be sought from the local administration head and local residents for the construction of a place of worship. In largely Muslim Indonesia, this often means no permission is forthcoming for Christian churches, so Christians use houses, shops, hotels, and even office towers for worship. Concerned by the widespread and often violent attacks on these unlicensed churches in recent months, the Government has promised to revise the decree -- but Christians remain anxious.
A former head of the Indonesia Church Association, Reverend Nathan Setiabudi, says he is compiling a detailed list of the violence. "The problem is, the national police chief thinks the people coming down to the streets (to attack churches) are justified," he says. "I still think it's against the law, and it has nothing to do with the decree."
There is freedom of religion in Indonesia, which recognises five official creeds, including Christianity and Catholicism (an interesting separation), but Mr Setiabudi fears there is a plot afoot to meddle with the status quo.
"There are those who have power who have no heart, victimising and setting Muslims and Christians against each other as happened in Ambon and Poso," he says. "They bombed Tentena (a market in the Christian town of Tentena in Sulawesi was attacked in May, killing 20). Now they are closing churches. If we allow it, there could be another Ambon or Poso on a national scale." Christians and liberal-thinking Muslims are appalled both by the upsurge in violence and the authorities' seeming unwillingness to do anything about it.
Although MUI head Umar Shihab has condemned the violence, the edicts that nurtured it have not been withdrawn.
"We have members in the MUI," says Mu'min. "The first time we closed a wild church, it was at the MUI's request. They asked me directly, 'Please help us close them'. So we helped them."
The hardliner, who has in the past been arrested for anti-alcohol and anti-gambling violence, says his movement has the support of prominent Muslims.
Asserting the AGAP organisation has members throughout Indonesia, Mu'min says he is ready for battle.
Ordinarily a small team would be sent to close a church, he says, but if the Christians resist, there will be violence.
"If they bring a mob, we will bring our mob, ready for physical battle."
From The Australian
October 10, 2005
FROM the recent suicide bombings in Bali, to the forcible closing of churches in West Java and persecution of so-called heretical and liberal Muslims, the march of militant Islam is leading to a sense of increasing intolerance across Indonesia.
In the province of Aceh, militants were this week out to commemorate the holy fasting month of Ramadan by menacing discos and bars.
As many as 23 so-called "wild" or unlicensed Christian churches in West Java have been forced to close by militant Muslims in recent months, according to prominent Christians, who fear they are facing a surge of bigotry.
Muslims considered insufficiently orthodox have also been under threat. Hundreds of militants recently attacked mosques, as many as 33 houses and a number of cars in Cianjur, West Java, because the property belonged to the "heretical" Islamic Ahmadiyah sect. Ominously, the militants say their actions are condoned by both the state and by peak Islamic bodies.
Muhammad Mu'min, chief of the Anti-Apostasy Movement Alliance (AGAP), says the proliferation of illegal churches must be stopped, because the spread of Christianity damages the fabric of Islam in Indonesia. "The substance of closing 'wild' churches is an apostasy issue," he says. "Many of our brothers have converted to non-Muslim religions, especially Christianity, because of overt or covert activities, and even with force."
Conversion from Islam to another religion is a very serious matter in Indonesia. Leaving Islam is considered a sin by Muslims, and apostates are reviled. Three Indonesian Christian women from Indramayu in West Java were each jailed for three years earlier this month for inviting Muslim children to church events, and apparently thereby luring them away from Islam.
Mu'min says Christians will stop at nothing to convert Muslims. "(They use) forceful acts; like beatings, and sexual harassment, and worse. One reverend was captured and sentenced to 12 years in prison," he says.
The violence can hit even humanitarian organisations. Around the same time as the Cianjur violence, seven former counsellors at a cancer and drug rehabilitation centre in Probolinggo, East Java, were sentenced to prison terms of between three and five years for insulting Islam -- militants had earlier raided the centre, driving out patients and vandalising the interior. A few weeks earlier, two Christian congregations in Bekasi were forced to pray in the streets, after extremists blocked the way to their churches.
This intolerance, in a nation long famed for its easygoing and gentle brand of Islam, seems to stem from the edicts of Indonesia's highest Islamic authority, the Indonesian Council of Scholars (MUI). In July, the MUI issued a much-criticised series of decrees outlawing liberal interpretations of Islam, religious pluralism and secularism.
The 11 fatwas also banned interfaith marriage and prayers performed with people of other faiths, as well as renewing a decades-old ban on the heretical Muslim sect Ahmadiyah.
Ignored by most Muslims, the edicts were seized upon by a lunatic fringe of militants, including the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and the newer umbrella organisation AGAP. Indonesia's beleaguered Christians, comprising about 9 per cent of the nation's population of roughly 230 million, have been feeling particularly threatened. Long inured to violence in the conflict zones of Ambon and Poso, where internecine warfare has claimed thousands of lives, they now fear going to church on Sundays. As well as using the MUI fatwas as justification for the forcible closing of churches, the militants say the Indonesian Government has given them every right to take action against churches without licences.
A 1969 ministerial decree says permission must be sought from the local administration head and local residents for the construction of a place of worship. In largely Muslim Indonesia, this often means no permission is forthcoming for Christian churches, so Christians use houses, shops, hotels, and even office towers for worship. Concerned by the widespread and often violent attacks on these unlicensed churches in recent months, the Government has promised to revise the decree -- but Christians remain anxious.
A former head of the Indonesia Church Association, Reverend Nathan Setiabudi, says he is compiling a detailed list of the violence. "The problem is, the national police chief thinks the people coming down to the streets (to attack churches) are justified," he says. "I still think it's against the law, and it has nothing to do with the decree."
There is freedom of religion in Indonesia, which recognises five official creeds, including Christianity and Catholicism (an interesting separation), but Mr Setiabudi fears there is a plot afoot to meddle with the status quo.
"There are those who have power who have no heart, victimising and setting Muslims and Christians against each other as happened in Ambon and Poso," he says. "They bombed Tentena (a market in the Christian town of Tentena in Sulawesi was attacked in May, killing 20). Now they are closing churches. If we allow it, there could be another Ambon or Poso on a national scale." Christians and liberal-thinking Muslims are appalled both by the upsurge in violence and the authorities' seeming unwillingness to do anything about it.
Although MUI head Umar Shihab has condemned the violence, the edicts that nurtured it have not been withdrawn.
"We have members in the MUI," says Mu'min. "The first time we closed a wild church, it was at the MUI's request. They asked me directly, 'Please help us close them'. So we helped them."
The hardliner, who has in the past been arrested for anti-alcohol and anti-gambling violence, says his movement has the support of prominent Muslims.
Asserting the AGAP organisation has members throughout Indonesia, Mu'min says he is ready for battle.
Ordinarily a small team would be sent to close a church, he says, but if the Christians resist, there will be violence.
"If they bring a mob, we will bring our mob, ready for physical battle."
From The Australian
Friday, October 07, 2005
Bali bombers from 'new generation': Police
DENPASAR, Bali (AP): The suicide bombers who attacked three tourist-packed restaurants on Bali island were part of a "new generation" of terrorists, and were likely recruited only recently, the officer in charge of the investigation said on Friday.
Two key leaders of the al-Qaeda-linked militant group Jamaah Islamiyah are suspected of masterminding the near-simultaneous attacks that killed 22 people, including the three bombers, but terrorism experts say they may be working with other groups or individuals.
Bali police chief Maj. Gen. I Made Mangku Pastika said the bombers were likely recently recruited specifically to launch the weekend attacks on three crowded cafes on Bali.
"There is an indication they are a new generation," he told reporters Friday.
The bombers' severed heads were found meters from the blast sites, and photographs of their swollen but easily identifiable faces have been circulated nationwide and shown to several jailed Jamaah Islamiyah members.
So far, no one appears to recognize them. (**)
Taken from The Jakarta Post
Two key leaders of the al-Qaeda-linked militant group Jamaah Islamiyah are suspected of masterminding the near-simultaneous attacks that killed 22 people, including the three bombers, but terrorism experts say they may be working with other groups or individuals.
Bali police chief Maj. Gen. I Made Mangku Pastika said the bombers were likely recently recruited specifically to launch the weekend attacks on three crowded cafes on Bali.
"There is an indication they are a new generation," he told reporters Friday.
The bombers' severed heads were found meters from the blast sites, and photographs of their swollen but easily identifiable faces have been circulated nationwide and shown to several jailed Jamaah Islamiyah members.
So far, no one appears to recognize them. (**)
Taken from The Jakarta Post
$10m bounty on Bali bombs suspect
The US is offering a $10m reward for information leading to the capture or death of a key suspect in the Bali bombings three years ago.
Officials say the suspect, known as Dulmatin, is an electronics specialist and a senior figure in the Islamic militant group, Jemaah Islamiah (JI).
More than 200 people were killed in the bomb attacks in 2002.
Only al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and Iraq insurgency leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi have a higher US bounty.
Both men have a price tag of $25m on their heads.
Al-Qaeda link
JI is also suspected of being behind last week's bombing attack in Bali, which killed 22 people.
Dulmatin, a Indonesian also known as Amar Usman, is believed to have set off one of the 2002 bombs with a mobile phone.
He is also suspected of having worked alongside another Malaysian, Azahari Husin, to assemble the massive car bomb, as well as the explosives vest used by a suicide bomber who attacked the nearby Paddy's Bar.
In his mid to late 30s, he believed to be hiding in the Philippines and is thought to have trained at an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan.
The US Department of State has also posted a $1m reward for the arrest of a second JI member, identified as Umar Patek, for his suspected help in coordinating the operation on the ground for the 2002 bombings.
"The United States is determined to bring these men to justice for their crimes," state department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Taken from BBC News
Officials say the suspect, known as Dulmatin, is an electronics specialist and a senior figure in the Islamic militant group, Jemaah Islamiah (JI).
More than 200 people were killed in the bomb attacks in 2002.
Only al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and Iraq insurgency leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi have a higher US bounty.
Both men have a price tag of $25m on their heads.
Al-Qaeda link
JI is also suspected of being behind last week's bombing attack in Bali, which killed 22 people.
Dulmatin, a Indonesian also known as Amar Usman, is believed to have set off one of the 2002 bombs with a mobile phone.
He is also suspected of having worked alongside another Malaysian, Azahari Husin, to assemble the massive car bomb, as well as the explosives vest used by a suicide bomber who attacked the nearby Paddy's Bar.
In his mid to late 30s, he believed to be hiding in the Philippines and is thought to have trained at an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan.
The US Department of State has also posted a $1m reward for the arrest of a second JI member, identified as Umar Patek, for his suspected help in coordinating the operation on the ground for the 2002 bombings.
"The United States is determined to bring these men to justice for their crimes," state department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Taken from BBC News
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
All Aussies accounted for in Bali
October 3, 2005 - 11:17AM
All Australians are believed to be accounted for in Bali following the deadly blasts across the resort island, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Bruce Bilson said today.
Mr Bilson confirmed two Australians had been identified as among the 26 people killed in the blasts while another two were feared dead.
More than 120 people were injured in the near simultaneous blasts in restaurants in bustling Kuta and on the seafront at popular Jimbaran Bay.
The Australians identified as killed include 16-year-old Brendan Fitzgerald, from Busselton in Western Australia, and 48-year-old Jennifer Williamson, a mother from Newcastle in NSW.
In addition to the two Australians named, the government believes a Newcastle couple — Fiona and Colin Zwolinski, a mining company executive — are also among the dead.
"I would anticipate for there to be four Australian fatalities," Mr Bilson told ABC radio in Melbourne.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has altered its travel advice last night, warning that Australians in Bali should exercise extreme caution and remain in their hotels if possible.
Qantas has put on three relief flights to help people leave Bali. Two of the flights left yesterday, while the third departed from Sydney this morning and is expected to return at 9.20 tonight.
Confirming identities
Mr Bilson said disaster victim identification experts from the federal police were working with Indonesian authorities to confirm the identities of two bodies believed to be those of Australians.
At this stage we believe they are (all accounted for) bar the two (where) the identity issues remain unresolved," Mr Bilson said.
"At this stage, two are quite seriously injured but are receiving the medical care that should provide the support that they need.
"There's been a number of flights out of Bali, some to Indonesia and also a number to Darwin carrying both injured Australians and injured Indonesian and Japanese tourists as well.
"All Australians that were injured have now been evacuated. Two that were previously hospitalised have now been released and that's encouraging news."
Mr Bilson said the department of foreign affairs had received about 3,500 telephone calls from Australians trying to establish the welfare and location of loved ones.
This map shows where the attacks took place.
This map shows where the attacks took place.
He said the bombings came as the number of Australians travelling to Bali reached record levels.
Suicide bomber
Senior counter-terrorism officials claimed a suicide bomber ignited each of the three blasts on Saturday night, but intelligence sources said two bombs were buried and detonated underneath tables on Jimbaran beach.
Investigators have seized an Australian tourist's video of a dinner party on the beach, which features vision of a black-shirted figure running towards the site of the blast shortly before the explosion.
Prime Minister John Howard said the Bali bombers were cowards who had shown blind hatred and indifference towards their victims. He said Australia would help catch those responsible.
Two of 21 injured Australians were flown to Singapore yesterday, and Australian officials were trying to evacuate more of the seriously injured last night. In total 105 people have been admitted to hospital in Bali.
The blasts have rocked Bali and alarmed Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who inspected the blast sites on Jimbaran beach and Kuta Square yesterday and vowed to catch the culprits. He said investigations indicated that the attacks were carried out by suicide bombers.
JI modus operandi
The director of counter-terrorism for Indonesia's National Security Ministry, Major-General Ansyaad Mbai, said the three attackers entered the packed restaurants wearing explosive vests. The remains of their bodies were found at the scenes, he said.
"I have seen them. All that is left is their head and feet," he said. "By the evidence we can conclude the bombers were carrying the explosives around their waists."
General Mbai claimed the two most-wanted Jemaah Islamiah operatives in South-East Asia, Malaysians Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Top, were behind the attacks.
"The modus operandi of Saturday's attacks is the same as earlier ones," he said.
Dr Yudhoyono revealed that specific intelligence from the Philippines had led him to warn a month ago of an imminent terrorist strike, although Mr Howard and Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said there was no warning that the attacks were coming.
The bombs detonated almost simultaneously in the early evening, with two exploded at seafood restaurants the Nyoman Cafe and the Menega, along Jimbaran Beach about 7.40pm, just as tourists were settling down for dinner. Soon after, a blast in the Raja restaurant in Kuta Square gutted the whole of the ground floor and much of the first floor.
Hospital officials said the Australian dead included a 16-year-old boy from Western Australia, Brendan Fitzgerald, and 48-year-old Newcastle woman Jennifer Williamson.
A family spokesman said the boy's 43-year-old father, Terry, was in a critical condition at Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar, and his 13-year-old sister, Jessica, was in a serious but stable condition.
The attacks come nearly three years after militants linked to al-Qaeda bombed two nightclubs in Bali, killing 202 people, including 88 Australians.
- AAP with Mark Forbes
Taken from The Age
All Australians are believed to be accounted for in Bali following the deadly blasts across the resort island, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Bruce Bilson said today.
Mr Bilson confirmed two Australians had been identified as among the 26 people killed in the blasts while another two were feared dead.
More than 120 people were injured in the near simultaneous blasts in restaurants in bustling Kuta and on the seafront at popular Jimbaran Bay.
The Australians identified as killed include 16-year-old Brendan Fitzgerald, from Busselton in Western Australia, and 48-year-old Jennifer Williamson, a mother from Newcastle in NSW.
In addition to the two Australians named, the government believes a Newcastle couple — Fiona and Colin Zwolinski, a mining company executive — are also among the dead.
"I would anticipate for there to be four Australian fatalities," Mr Bilson told ABC radio in Melbourne.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has altered its travel advice last night, warning that Australians in Bali should exercise extreme caution and remain in their hotels if possible.
Qantas has put on three relief flights to help people leave Bali. Two of the flights left yesterday, while the third departed from Sydney this morning and is expected to return at 9.20 tonight.
Confirming identities
Mr Bilson said disaster victim identification experts from the federal police were working with Indonesian authorities to confirm the identities of two bodies believed to be those of Australians.
At this stage we believe they are (all accounted for) bar the two (where) the identity issues remain unresolved," Mr Bilson said.
"At this stage, two are quite seriously injured but are receiving the medical care that should provide the support that they need.
"There's been a number of flights out of Bali, some to Indonesia and also a number to Darwin carrying both injured Australians and injured Indonesian and Japanese tourists as well.
"All Australians that were injured have now been evacuated. Two that were previously hospitalised have now been released and that's encouraging news."
Mr Bilson said the department of foreign affairs had received about 3,500 telephone calls from Australians trying to establish the welfare and location of loved ones.
This map shows where the attacks took place.
This map shows where the attacks took place.
He said the bombings came as the number of Australians travelling to Bali reached record levels.
Suicide bomber
Senior counter-terrorism officials claimed a suicide bomber ignited each of the three blasts on Saturday night, but intelligence sources said two bombs were buried and detonated underneath tables on Jimbaran beach.
Investigators have seized an Australian tourist's video of a dinner party on the beach, which features vision of a black-shirted figure running towards the site of the blast shortly before the explosion.
Prime Minister John Howard said the Bali bombers were cowards who had shown blind hatred and indifference towards their victims. He said Australia would help catch those responsible.
Two of 21 injured Australians were flown to Singapore yesterday, and Australian officials were trying to evacuate more of the seriously injured last night. In total 105 people have been admitted to hospital in Bali.
The blasts have rocked Bali and alarmed Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who inspected the blast sites on Jimbaran beach and Kuta Square yesterday and vowed to catch the culprits. He said investigations indicated that the attacks were carried out by suicide bombers.
JI modus operandi
The director of counter-terrorism for Indonesia's National Security Ministry, Major-General Ansyaad Mbai, said the three attackers entered the packed restaurants wearing explosive vests. The remains of their bodies were found at the scenes, he said.
"I have seen them. All that is left is their head and feet," he said. "By the evidence we can conclude the bombers were carrying the explosives around their waists."
General Mbai claimed the two most-wanted Jemaah Islamiah operatives in South-East Asia, Malaysians Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Top, were behind the attacks.
"The modus operandi of Saturday's attacks is the same as earlier ones," he said.
Dr Yudhoyono revealed that specific intelligence from the Philippines had led him to warn a month ago of an imminent terrorist strike, although Mr Howard and Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said there was no warning that the attacks were coming.
The bombs detonated almost simultaneously in the early evening, with two exploded at seafood restaurants the Nyoman Cafe and the Menega, along Jimbaran Beach about 7.40pm, just as tourists were settling down for dinner. Soon after, a blast in the Raja restaurant in Kuta Square gutted the whole of the ground floor and much of the first floor.
Hospital officials said the Australian dead included a 16-year-old boy from Western Australia, Brendan Fitzgerald, and 48-year-old Newcastle woman Jennifer Williamson.
A family spokesman said the boy's 43-year-old father, Terry, was in a critical condition at Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar, and his 13-year-old sister, Jessica, was in a serious but stable condition.
The attacks come nearly three years after militants linked to al-Qaeda bombed two nightclubs in Bali, killing 202 people, including 88 Australians.
- AAP with Mark Forbes
Taken from The Age
Hunt for Bali bombing masterminds
October 3, 2005 - 1:10PM
Indonesia's capital was on top alert today after the president warned of more attacks following three suicide bombings on Bali island, where a chilling video shot by a tourist showed a suspected bomber clutching a backpack as he strolled past diners moments before one of the blasts.
The near-simultaneous bombings, which killed 26 and injured 122 on Saturday, appeared to have been planned by South-East Asia's two most-wanted men, Indonesian anti-terrorism official Major General Ansyaad Mbai said yesterday.
The Age Indonesia correspondent Mark Forbes reports that while Indonesian officials feel they've made significant progress in finding those responsible for the bombings, the alleged Malaysian masterminds - Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top - have eluded authorities since the 2002 Bali bombings.
"They (police) will be focusing on individuals fairly quickly there, and there is an expectation that the investigation will move apace," Forbes said.
But neither of chief suspects were among the three suspected bombers, whose decapitated remains were found at the scenes.
The attack came three years after 202 people - 88 of them Australian - were killed in nightclub bombings on Bali, Indonesia's premier resort island.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned that terrorists could be planning more strikes in the world's most populous Muslim nation as Jakarta's police chief elevated the capital's security status to top alert, putting two-thirds of its police force on stand by.
"The terrorists are still looking for soft targets," Yudhoyono said at a news conference yesterday after getting a firsthand look at the devastation.
Last month, Yudhoyono said that the extremist network might strike Jakarta during September or October. He said over the weekend that his warning was based on intelligence that the terrorists had already prepared the explosives.
Nobody claimed responsibility for Saturday night's coordinated attacks on two packed seafood cafes in the Jimbaran beach resort and the Raja Cafe in the bustling tourist centre of Kuta, where bombers struck nightclubs in 2002.
Video footage captured one of the suspected bombers walking determinedly past local and foreign tourists who were eating dinner, sipping drinks and chatting at candlelit tables at a noodle-and-steak restaurant in Kuta.
He clutches his backpack, adjusts it slightly, and then disappears from the screen. Moments later there is a large blast, followed by gray smoke and the sound of terrified screams. Police said the video, shot by a tourist and obtained by Associated Press Television News, was part of their investigation.
Suspicion immediately fell on the Southeast Asian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), whose members were convicted of the Bali attacks in 2002, and attacks on the JW Marriott hotel and the Australian Embassy, which together killed 22.
Scores of JI suspects have been arrested in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand since 2002, leading some officials to say the group's leadership has been crippled. But analysts say it appears to have taken on a different form, working with recruits from other organisations.
Twelve Indonesians, up to four Australian and one Japanese man were among the 26 people killed. Officials were trying to identify the nationalities of the other corpses in the morgue, a hospital statement said.
The 101 wounded included 49 Indonesians, up to 20 Australians, six Americans, six Koreans, four Japanese, officials said.
Bobby Nugroho, an Indonesian whose mother and father were killed, went to collect his parents' remains at the hospital's morgue.
"A witness said that my father was sitting facing the beach when a man opened his jacket and pulled the trigger in front of him," said Nugroho, a Jakarta-based reporter in his late 20s who works for the Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizan Shimbun.
Officials said remains of three bombers indicated they had carried explosives around their waists. It was not clear if they were included in the official death toll.
"I have seen them," Major General Mbai said.
"All that is left is their head and feet."
Saturday's attacks threaten to ruin a tourist boom on the mostly Hindu island, where hotels and restaurants have in the last 18 months reported that business had exceeded pre-2002 levels. Some say it may take even longer to recover a second time around.
Veli-Matti Enqvist, 51, had been scheduled to leave Wednesday with his wife, but was one of hundreds of tourists waiting for flights at the airport.
"We finally found something ... we're going," he said.
Like 2002, the bombings took place on the busiest night of the week, just as crowds began to swell.
The head waiter at the Menega Cafe in Jimbaran said the bomb went off at his beachside restaurant between the tables of two large dinner parties. Most of the 120 diners at the restaurant were Indonesian, he said.
"Everyone started screaming 'Allah, Allah, help!'," said Wayan Subagia, 23, who escaped with leg injuries.
"One woman rushed to pick up her child but the little girl was already dead."
Near-simultaneous blasts went off at the nearby Nyoman seafood restaurant and Kuta's Raja restaurant, five kilometres away.
For months intelligence officials had received information about a terrorist attack like the latest Bali bombing - but the plot's details were not uncovered in time to thwart it, security officials said.
"The fact that there's going to be an attack was known to the intelligence community," said Ric Blancaflor, executive director of a Philippine anti-terrorism task force.
"The problem always is how to get the exact details, like where."
- AP, with Mark Forbes
Taken from The Age
Indonesia's capital was on top alert today after the president warned of more attacks following three suicide bombings on Bali island, where a chilling video shot by a tourist showed a suspected bomber clutching a backpack as he strolled past diners moments before one of the blasts.
The near-simultaneous bombings, which killed 26 and injured 122 on Saturday, appeared to have been planned by South-East Asia's two most-wanted men, Indonesian anti-terrorism official Major General Ansyaad Mbai said yesterday.
The Age Indonesia correspondent Mark Forbes reports that while Indonesian officials feel they've made significant progress in finding those responsible for the bombings, the alleged Malaysian masterminds - Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top - have eluded authorities since the 2002 Bali bombings.
"They (police) will be focusing on individuals fairly quickly there, and there is an expectation that the investigation will move apace," Forbes said.
But neither of chief suspects were among the three suspected bombers, whose decapitated remains were found at the scenes.
The attack came three years after 202 people - 88 of them Australian - were killed in nightclub bombings on Bali, Indonesia's premier resort island.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned that terrorists could be planning more strikes in the world's most populous Muslim nation as Jakarta's police chief elevated the capital's security status to top alert, putting two-thirds of its police force on stand by.
"The terrorists are still looking for soft targets," Yudhoyono said at a news conference yesterday after getting a firsthand look at the devastation.
Last month, Yudhoyono said that the extremist network might strike Jakarta during September or October. He said over the weekend that his warning was based on intelligence that the terrorists had already prepared the explosives.
Nobody claimed responsibility for Saturday night's coordinated attacks on two packed seafood cafes in the Jimbaran beach resort and the Raja Cafe in the bustling tourist centre of Kuta, where bombers struck nightclubs in 2002.
Video footage captured one of the suspected bombers walking determinedly past local and foreign tourists who were eating dinner, sipping drinks and chatting at candlelit tables at a noodle-and-steak restaurant in Kuta.
He clutches his backpack, adjusts it slightly, and then disappears from the screen. Moments later there is a large blast, followed by gray smoke and the sound of terrified screams. Police said the video, shot by a tourist and obtained by Associated Press Television News, was part of their investigation.
Suspicion immediately fell on the Southeast Asian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), whose members were convicted of the Bali attacks in 2002, and attacks on the JW Marriott hotel and the Australian Embassy, which together killed 22.
Scores of JI suspects have been arrested in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand since 2002, leading some officials to say the group's leadership has been crippled. But analysts say it appears to have taken on a different form, working with recruits from other organisations.
Twelve Indonesians, up to four Australian and one Japanese man were among the 26 people killed. Officials were trying to identify the nationalities of the other corpses in the morgue, a hospital statement said.
The 101 wounded included 49 Indonesians, up to 20 Australians, six Americans, six Koreans, four Japanese, officials said.
Bobby Nugroho, an Indonesian whose mother and father were killed, went to collect his parents' remains at the hospital's morgue.
"A witness said that my father was sitting facing the beach when a man opened his jacket and pulled the trigger in front of him," said Nugroho, a Jakarta-based reporter in his late 20s who works for the Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizan Shimbun.
Officials said remains of three bombers indicated they had carried explosives around their waists. It was not clear if they were included in the official death toll.
"I have seen them," Major General Mbai said.
"All that is left is their head and feet."
Saturday's attacks threaten to ruin a tourist boom on the mostly Hindu island, where hotels and restaurants have in the last 18 months reported that business had exceeded pre-2002 levels. Some say it may take even longer to recover a second time around.
Veli-Matti Enqvist, 51, had been scheduled to leave Wednesday with his wife, but was one of hundreds of tourists waiting for flights at the airport.
"We finally found something ... we're going," he said.
Like 2002, the bombings took place on the busiest night of the week, just as crowds began to swell.
The head waiter at the Menega Cafe in Jimbaran said the bomb went off at his beachside restaurant between the tables of two large dinner parties. Most of the 120 diners at the restaurant were Indonesian, he said.
"Everyone started screaming 'Allah, Allah, help!'," said Wayan Subagia, 23, who escaped with leg injuries.
"One woman rushed to pick up her child but the little girl was already dead."
Near-simultaneous blasts went off at the nearby Nyoman seafood restaurant and Kuta's Raja restaurant, five kilometres away.
For months intelligence officials had received information about a terrorist attack like the latest Bali bombing - but the plot's details were not uncovered in time to thwart it, security officials said.
"The fact that there's going to be an attack was known to the intelligence community," said Ric Blancaflor, executive director of a Philippine anti-terrorism task force.
"The problem always is how to get the exact details, like where."
- AP, with Mark Forbes
Taken from The Age
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Blasts in Bali tourist area
October 1, 2005 - 10:32PM
Explosions rocked a hotel and department store on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali today, leaving dozens wounded and at least two dead, witnesses and local media reports said.
There was no immediate confirmation of what caused the blasts.
Witnesses said they saw body parts, including a severed head and a leg.
Reports said two explosions happened around 1850 local time near the Four Seasons Hotel in Jimbaran on Bali's south coast, and 10 minutes later near the Matahari department store in the centre of the popular tourist area of Kuta, the site of deadly bombings in 2002, witnesses told local Metro television.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned in late August that terrorists were likely to launch an attack in Indonesia in the next two months during what has become known in the country as "bomb season" owing to a series of attacks that has occurred around this time over the past three years.
The attack in Bali in October 2002 left some 202 people dead, mostly foreign tourists. Bomb attacks on the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta in August 2003 left 12 dead, and an attack outside the Australian embassy in September 2004 killed 11 and injured some 180.
Police have continued to search for two Malaysian fugitives accused of being behind the attacks, Azahari and Noordin, who are also believed to be senior members of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) regional terror group.
JI has been linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network.
Although JI members have been involved in several deadly bombings in Indonesia, authorities have not officially outlawed the organisation which many Muslim leaders claim does not exist.
- DPA
From The Age newspaper
Explosions rocked a hotel and department store on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali today, leaving dozens wounded and at least two dead, witnesses and local media reports said.
There was no immediate confirmation of what caused the blasts.
Witnesses said they saw body parts, including a severed head and a leg.
Reports said two explosions happened around 1850 local time near the Four Seasons Hotel in Jimbaran on Bali's south coast, and 10 minutes later near the Matahari department store in the centre of the popular tourist area of Kuta, the site of deadly bombings in 2002, witnesses told local Metro television.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned in late August that terrorists were likely to launch an attack in Indonesia in the next two months during what has become known in the country as "bomb season" owing to a series of attacks that has occurred around this time over the past three years.
The attack in Bali in October 2002 left some 202 people dead, mostly foreign tourists. Bomb attacks on the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta in August 2003 left 12 dead, and an attack outside the Australian embassy in September 2004 killed 11 and injured some 180.
Police have continued to search for two Malaysian fugitives accused of being behind the attacks, Azahari and Noordin, who are also believed to be senior members of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) regional terror group.
JI has been linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network.
Although JI members have been involved in several deadly bombings in Indonesia, authorities have not officially outlawed the organisation which many Muslim leaders claim does not exist.
- DPA
From The Age newspaper
Monday, September 26, 2005
More Indonesian Idol
Congratulations to Mike for winning Indonesian Idol 2!
I couldn't find much in English about Indonesian Idol, but I did find out that apparently Joy quit because management would be taking a slice of her earnings for 15 years. She is going to have her first single performance in Singapore for some reason.
Delon quit his job in a Japanese import-export company to follow his dreams to be in Indonesian Idol. His other singing dream is to sing The Prayer with Charlotte Church.
I found all this info at http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t23463.html, which has much more information. :)
I couldn't find much in English about Indonesian Idol, but I did find out that apparently Joy quit because management would be taking a slice of her earnings for 15 years. She is going to have her first single performance in Singapore for some reason.
Delon quit his job in a Japanese import-export company to follow his dreams to be in Indonesian Idol. His other singing dream is to sing The Prayer with Charlotte Church.
I found all this info at http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t23463.html, which has much more information. :)
My first week in Yogya....
I thought this piece about ACICIS was fairly amusing
By Zahra Matthews
University of Sydney
Well, here I am again in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and it's absolutely wonderful! To answer the question most of you seemed to be asking- yes, I have found a place to live, and no, it's not exactly what you'd call 'good'! But it's quite luxurious by Indonesian standards. Although I had read all the pre-departure info we were given, I don't think I was quite prepared for the standard of accommodation available. I am staying in a 'kos' (boarding house) in a rather luxurious suburb called Pogung Baru, about 30 mins walk from Uni. Before I came here I had a list of criteria for my kos room - it had to have a western toilet, own bathroom, Air Con, fridge inside room, desk, plenty of cupboard space… ha! What a joke! As I cruised around kos-hunting they sort of went down the drain and in the end I got none of those things (except my own bathroom)! But I do admit it's not that bad, once you get used to it. I have a bed with a mattress that is too big for the frame, a very small cupboard, and a desk. That's it. My bathroom is similarly sparse, with a non-Western toilet (am still trying to work it out) and a tap (Yes, that's it!!!!). No sink, just a drain in the ground, and no shower head! It's okay, though, because I do have a makeshift 'bak' (bath) - a plastic container filled with water, and a small plastic bucket to throw (cold) water over myself. It's quite refreshing after the first throw!
The atmosphere of my kos makes up for the room, though. There are about 12 or 13 girls staying in it, and most go to UGM (Universitas Gadjah Mada) too. They're all from different parts of Indonesia, and all have different religions, but they get along so well, and are very friendly (and talk extremely fast). Just don't ask me all their names, I don't have a clue! Just outside my room there's an open area with a TV where we all hang out and watch Indonesian Idol and MTV Indonesia. It's actually a very noisy kos, because if MTV is not blaring at some ungodly hour, one of the girls will be singing at the top of her lungs in the shower (very popular here in Indonesia).
After a lot of confusion as to enrolling (get different pieces of paper stamped and signed and returned to different places in different faculties), I started going to classes on Tuesday. We're actually allowed to enrol in normal units of study from Arts, Politics, Economics etc, so I've chosen a few subjects pretty unrelated to what I've been studying at home. The first is called 'Community Health', which is a basic overview of the Indonesian health system and its strengths and weaknesses. The lecturer was really good, spoke very slowly and tried to explain case studies to me in English. It felt strange though, because only 4 people turned up to the lecture (because apparently it is very unusual for lecturers to turn up during the 1st week). It's also a bit strange because the lecturer insists on calling me 'Matthews' eg "As Matthews here just said…." and "Matthews, what is it like in Australia?"
My second lecture was well,….completely different. "Social Change in Indonesia", Room 01- or so I thought. Because I wanted to check the room number, I had to enter via the front door, something I had no particular desire to do, but thinking I'd look like an idiot if I walked to the back again, I bravely entered. Picture this: 200 first year students suddenly erupting into loud cheers and clapping madly as I walked between the aisles to the back of the room and slid into my seat. I don't think I need to explain how embarrassing that was. Now picture 200 students falling over chairs (literally) to introduce themselves and ask where I'm from. I was then obliged to shake hands with all of them, and answer questions about myself and Australia and the Bali Bomb and what Australia's like and whether I could help them practice their English. Then the class clown at the front stood at the lectern and said that it was unfair that they couldn't hear what I was saying at the front, and would Miss Australia please come down to the microphone and give a speech! How could I refuse 200 chanting people??? If public speaking is bad at the best of times, I can't describe to you what it was like in front of 200 crazy students, in Indonesian. My 'speech' went something like this:
Me: My name is Zahra
Everyone: (cheers)
Me: I am from Australia
Everyone: (silence)
Me: I am studying in the faculty of Arts
Everyone: (more cheers and clapping and shouting)
Me: In Australia-
Everyone: (shouting questions)
Me: In Australia-
Everyone: Shhhh!
Me: In Australia I study Economics, Politics, and Indonesian
Class clown: How old are you?
Me: 19
Everyone: (foot stomping)
Me: Ok, that's enough, bye!
The lecturer never turned up, so it was only later, as I sat at a food stall for lunch, that one of the girls in the lecture approached me, and said that they thought that I was the lecturer! How bizarre! Furthermore, the subject was not 'Social Change', but 'Introduction to Law 1A', so I went through all of that in the wrong class!
The other subject I'm taking is Australian Politics. None of you Science students have anything to complain about any more- this subject is at 7am, and lasts 2.5 hours! It's not too bad, but the lecturer talks really fast. Sort of reminded me home though - we told him how much we wanted the assessment to be worth! I have my first assignment- a few paragraphs on the ideology of the Labor Party (should have brought all my books with me!). At least it gives me a chance to work on my language.
Ok, I think I better end this… I have to go shopping for things for my kos (eg a mirror- haven't looked in a mirror for almost 5 days!). Luckily I have a very helpful 'buddy' who is 100% fluent in English and willing to carry parcels on his motorbike!
Taken from ACICIS Website
By Zahra Matthews
University of Sydney
Well, here I am again in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and it's absolutely wonderful! To answer the question most of you seemed to be asking- yes, I have found a place to live, and no, it's not exactly what you'd call 'good'! But it's quite luxurious by Indonesian standards. Although I had read all the pre-departure info we were given, I don't think I was quite prepared for the standard of accommodation available. I am staying in a 'kos' (boarding house) in a rather luxurious suburb called Pogung Baru, about 30 mins walk from Uni. Before I came here I had a list of criteria for my kos room - it had to have a western toilet, own bathroom, Air Con, fridge inside room, desk, plenty of cupboard space… ha! What a joke! As I cruised around kos-hunting they sort of went down the drain and in the end I got none of those things (except my own bathroom)! But I do admit it's not that bad, once you get used to it. I have a bed with a mattress that is too big for the frame, a very small cupboard, and a desk. That's it. My bathroom is similarly sparse, with a non-Western toilet (am still trying to work it out) and a tap (Yes, that's it!!!!). No sink, just a drain in the ground, and no shower head! It's okay, though, because I do have a makeshift 'bak' (bath) - a plastic container filled with water, and a small plastic bucket to throw (cold) water over myself. It's quite refreshing after the first throw!
The atmosphere of my kos makes up for the room, though. There are about 12 or 13 girls staying in it, and most go to UGM (Universitas Gadjah Mada) too. They're all from different parts of Indonesia, and all have different religions, but they get along so well, and are very friendly (and talk extremely fast). Just don't ask me all their names, I don't have a clue! Just outside my room there's an open area with a TV where we all hang out and watch Indonesian Idol and MTV Indonesia. It's actually a very noisy kos, because if MTV is not blaring at some ungodly hour, one of the girls will be singing at the top of her lungs in the shower (very popular here in Indonesia).
After a lot of confusion as to enrolling (get different pieces of paper stamped and signed and returned to different places in different faculties), I started going to classes on Tuesday. We're actually allowed to enrol in normal units of study from Arts, Politics, Economics etc, so I've chosen a few subjects pretty unrelated to what I've been studying at home. The first is called 'Community Health', which is a basic overview of the Indonesian health system and its strengths and weaknesses. The lecturer was really good, spoke very slowly and tried to explain case studies to me in English. It felt strange though, because only 4 people turned up to the lecture (because apparently it is very unusual for lecturers to turn up during the 1st week). It's also a bit strange because the lecturer insists on calling me 'Matthews' eg "As Matthews here just said…." and "Matthews, what is it like in Australia?"
My second lecture was well,….completely different. "Social Change in Indonesia", Room 01- or so I thought. Because I wanted to check the room number, I had to enter via the front door, something I had no particular desire to do, but thinking I'd look like an idiot if I walked to the back again, I bravely entered. Picture this: 200 first year students suddenly erupting into loud cheers and clapping madly as I walked between the aisles to the back of the room and slid into my seat. I don't think I need to explain how embarrassing that was. Now picture 200 students falling over chairs (literally) to introduce themselves and ask where I'm from. I was then obliged to shake hands with all of them, and answer questions about myself and Australia and the Bali Bomb and what Australia's like and whether I could help them practice their English. Then the class clown at the front stood at the lectern and said that it was unfair that they couldn't hear what I was saying at the front, and would Miss Australia please come down to the microphone and give a speech! How could I refuse 200 chanting people??? If public speaking is bad at the best of times, I can't describe to you what it was like in front of 200 crazy students, in Indonesian. My 'speech' went something like this:
Me: My name is Zahra
Everyone: (cheers)
Me: I am from Australia
Everyone: (silence)
Me: I am studying in the faculty of Arts
Everyone: (more cheers and clapping and shouting)
Me: In Australia-
Everyone: (shouting questions)
Me: In Australia-
Everyone: Shhhh!
Me: In Australia I study Economics, Politics, and Indonesian
Class clown: How old are you?
Me: 19
Everyone: (foot stomping)
Me: Ok, that's enough, bye!
The lecturer never turned up, so it was only later, as I sat at a food stall for lunch, that one of the girls in the lecture approached me, and said that they thought that I was the lecturer! How bizarre! Furthermore, the subject was not 'Social Change', but 'Introduction to Law 1A', so I went through all of that in the wrong class!
The other subject I'm taking is Australian Politics. None of you Science students have anything to complain about any more- this subject is at 7am, and lasts 2.5 hours! It's not too bad, but the lecturer talks really fast. Sort of reminded me home though - we told him how much we wanted the assessment to be worth! I have my first assignment- a few paragraphs on the ideology of the Labor Party (should have brought all my books with me!). At least it gives me a chance to work on my language.
Ok, I think I better end this… I have to go shopping for things for my kos (eg a mirror- haven't looked in a mirror for almost 5 days!). Luckily I have a very helpful 'buddy' who is 100% fluent in English and willing to carry parcels on his motorbike!
Taken from ACICIS Website
Indonesian Idol
Bu Indra said it would be nice if I found some articles about Indonesian Idol. So here they are:
It's Joy to the world as she becomes first Indonesian Idol
Features - September 05, 2004
Stevie Emilia, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After 34,358 hopefuls sang their hearts out in the pitch battle to be the first Indonesian Idol, Joy Destiny Tiurma Tobing was the last singer standing on Saturday night.
To thunderous applause before the full house of 7,000 at Istora Indoor Stadium, Joy was announced to have won the majority of the four million votes over rival Delon after a weeklong voting frenzy by SMS and premium calls.
Looking elegant in a blue dress by Adjie Notonegoro, she literally lived up to her name by crying for joy.
"Thank you all," was all the student of the Christian University of Indonesia's School of English Literature in Jakarta could say after the announcement.
Besides the millions watching at home, those in the audience included House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung and many celebrities. President Megawati Soekarnoputri, despite reports she would attend, was a no-show.
Joy finished the show by singing Glenn Fredly's Karena Cinta (Because of Love) through tears. Her parents, taxi driver-turned record producer Jamarudut ML Tobing, and mother Roma Sibuea were in the audience.
Joy, a seasoned performer who had won RCTI's Cipta Pesona Bintang contest and the Grand Championship Laser Karaoke Pioneer in Asia in Shanghai, China, and Japan, was the heavy favorite to win after last week's final performances.
However, some had feared Stanislaus Alexander Liauw Delon Thamrin, better known to all his fans as Delon, would win by a sympathy vote due to the often harsh criticism meted out to him by the celebrity jury.
The latter, who gained heart-throb status, was gracious in defeat, hugging and kissing the winner.
"Whatever happens, I am sure it's for the best," he said before the announcement.
Delon is also expected to get a record deal and take part in a tour of major cities in the country with the other finalists from the show.
"Your career as a singer starts tomorrow, I hope you become a professional singer," said musician Indra Lesmana, one of Joy's strongest supporters among the four-member jury, told her.
As the winner of the show -- jointly produced by Freemantle Media Productions Asia and RCTI -- Joy won a record deal, a Toyota Vios and the right to represent Indonesia at the World Idol later this year.
Private TV station RCTI began auditions for the show on April 9 this year, visiting five cities -- Bandung, Jakarta, Medan, Surabaya and Yogyakarta. RCTI reportedly will start the second Indonesian Idol in December this year.
Taken from The Jakarta Post
It's Joy to the world as she becomes first Indonesian Idol
Features - September 05, 2004
Stevie Emilia, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After 34,358 hopefuls sang their hearts out in the pitch battle to be the first Indonesian Idol, Joy Destiny Tiurma Tobing was the last singer standing on Saturday night.
To thunderous applause before the full house of 7,000 at Istora Indoor Stadium, Joy was announced to have won the majority of the four million votes over rival Delon after a weeklong voting frenzy by SMS and premium calls.
Looking elegant in a blue dress by Adjie Notonegoro, she literally lived up to her name by crying for joy.
"Thank you all," was all the student of the Christian University of Indonesia's School of English Literature in Jakarta could say after the announcement.
Besides the millions watching at home, those in the audience included House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung and many celebrities. President Megawati Soekarnoputri, despite reports she would attend, was a no-show.
Joy finished the show by singing Glenn Fredly's Karena Cinta (Because of Love) through tears. Her parents, taxi driver-turned record producer Jamarudut ML Tobing, and mother Roma Sibuea were in the audience.
Joy, a seasoned performer who had won RCTI's Cipta Pesona Bintang contest and the Grand Championship Laser Karaoke Pioneer in Asia in Shanghai, China, and Japan, was the heavy favorite to win after last week's final performances.
However, some had feared Stanislaus Alexander Liauw Delon Thamrin, better known to all his fans as Delon, would win by a sympathy vote due to the often harsh criticism meted out to him by the celebrity jury.
The latter, who gained heart-throb status, was gracious in defeat, hugging and kissing the winner.
"Whatever happens, I am sure it's for the best," he said before the announcement.
Delon is also expected to get a record deal and take part in a tour of major cities in the country with the other finalists from the show.
"Your career as a singer starts tomorrow, I hope you become a professional singer," said musician Indra Lesmana, one of Joy's strongest supporters among the four-member jury, told her.
As the winner of the show -- jointly produced by Freemantle Media Productions Asia and RCTI -- Joy won a record deal, a Toyota Vios and the right to represent Indonesia at the World Idol later this year.
Private TV station RCTI began auditions for the show on April 9 this year, visiting five cities -- Bandung, Jakarta, Medan, Surabaya and Yogyakarta. RCTI reportedly will start the second Indonesian Idol in December this year.
Taken from The Jakarta Post
Indonesia bird flu toll increases
Another two people are confirmed to have died from bird flu in Indonesia, bringing the death toll there to six.
Test results show that both a young girl who died last week and a 27-year-old woman who died on Monday had been exposed to the H5N1 virus.
Several other recent fatalities are being investigated, and about 20 people are in hospital with bird flu symptoms.
The deadly disease has already killed dozens of people across Asia, and led to millions of birds being culled.
There is so far no evidence of human-to-human transmission, but health officials fear that if the virus combines with the human influenza virus, it could become highly infectious and lead to a global flu pandemic.
Laboratory tests
The latest victim - a 27-year-old woman who died on Monday morning - had been hospitalised with bird flu symptoms last week.
Health ministry officials confirmed on Monday that she had died of the disease.
Officials also announced that a five-year-old girl who died last week had succumbed to bird flu.
There was initial confusion as to whether she had in fact died of the disease - she was found to be positive for the virus in one test but negative in another - and at one stage officials said that meant she could not be classified as having had bird flu.
But according to the BBC correspondent in Jakarta, Rachel Harvey, they now appear to have changed their minds.
It also seems that a second child, a two-year-old, was buried before samples could be taken for testing to see if she too had bird flu.
'Extraordinary' measures
The first case of human infection in Indonesia was announced in July.
Last week Health Minister Siti Fadila Supari warned that Indonesia could be facing an epidemic, remarks which were later played down by other officials.
But the government is evidently worried. The authorities have already instituted tough new "extraordinary" measures, including the power to force people suspected of having bird flu into hospital.
The WHO has urged countries with infected poultry to use widespread mass culling as the best method of stopping the spread of the disease.
But the government has only carried out limited culling, preferring to vaccinate poultry because of the expense of compensating farmers.
The recent outbreak in Jakarta is causing particular concern because of the close proximity between birds and humans.
Most Indonesian households keep chickens for food or caged birds for pets.
Finding the source of an outbreak is therefore extremely difficult, our correspondent says, and the chances of the virus spreading in a teeming city of more than 15 million people are high.
The government says it expects delivery of 40,000 more doses of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu by the end of this week, with a further 40,000 provided by Australia sometime soon.
Taken from BBC News
Test results show that both a young girl who died last week and a 27-year-old woman who died on Monday had been exposed to the H5N1 virus.
Several other recent fatalities are being investigated, and about 20 people are in hospital with bird flu symptoms.
The deadly disease has already killed dozens of people across Asia, and led to millions of birds being culled.
There is so far no evidence of human-to-human transmission, but health officials fear that if the virus combines with the human influenza virus, it could become highly infectious and lead to a global flu pandemic.
Laboratory tests
The latest victim - a 27-year-old woman who died on Monday morning - had been hospitalised with bird flu symptoms last week.
Health ministry officials confirmed on Monday that she had died of the disease.
Officials also announced that a five-year-old girl who died last week had succumbed to bird flu.
There was initial confusion as to whether she had in fact died of the disease - she was found to be positive for the virus in one test but negative in another - and at one stage officials said that meant she could not be classified as having had bird flu.
But according to the BBC correspondent in Jakarta, Rachel Harvey, they now appear to have changed their minds.
It also seems that a second child, a two-year-old, was buried before samples could be taken for testing to see if she too had bird flu.
'Extraordinary' measures
The first case of human infection in Indonesia was announced in July.
Last week Health Minister Siti Fadila Supari warned that Indonesia could be facing an epidemic, remarks which were later played down by other officials.
But the government is evidently worried. The authorities have already instituted tough new "extraordinary" measures, including the power to force people suspected of having bird flu into hospital.
The WHO has urged countries with infected poultry to use widespread mass culling as the best method of stopping the spread of the disease.
But the government has only carried out limited culling, preferring to vaccinate poultry because of the expense of compensating farmers.
The recent outbreak in Jakarta is causing particular concern because of the close proximity between birds and humans.
Most Indonesian households keep chickens for food or caged birds for pets.
Finding the source of an outbreak is therefore extremely difficult, our correspondent says, and the chances of the virus spreading in a teeming city of more than 15 million people are high.
The government says it expects delivery of 40,000 more doses of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu by the end of this week, with a further 40,000 provided by Australia sometime soon.
Taken from BBC News
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Bird flu outbreak may become epidemic
The government warned on Wednesday that the current outbreak of bird flu could become an epidemic as two more children died after showing symptoms of the disease.
"It's not an epidemic yet, but sporadic cases in parts of Jakarta. If things worsen it could become an epidemic," Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari said.
She was speaking to reporters after announcing that an initial local test on a five-year-old girl, who died on Wednesday after suffering from bird flu symptoms, was negative for the virus. She said more local testing needed to be done, while blood samples would also be sent to a laboratory in Hong Kong for confirmation.
In another possible case a two-year-old girl died at Jakarta's Christian PGI Hospital after a high fever and respiratory problems.
Four Indonesians are confirmed to have died since July from the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu. Nine others are now being treated at Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital in Jakarta. The authorities are still waiting for the test results.
Siti said that more victims could emerge as the authorities had not been able to determine the sources of the virus that has infected the victims.
Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture Anton Apriyantono said that the government would launch a mass cull of chickens in "highly infected areas," but acknowledged that as of Wednesday no area had been declared highly infected.
"We will allocate (funds for the mass culling) whatever it takes, if it has become a necessity," he told The Jakarta Post.
The minister fired on Wednesday the ministry's director of animal health control Tri Satya Putri Naipospos for allegedly failing to monitor the spread of the deadly virus.
The current bird flu outbreak in Indonesia has raised international concern over possible further outbreaks of the disease, which has killed 64 people in four Asian countries since late 2003 and has been found in birds in Russia and Europe.
Georg Petersen, the WHO's representative in Jakarta, said many foreign experts were now helping Indonesia, including a high-level delegation from the United States.
"Definitely the whole international community is very much present," Petersen told Reuters.
The WHO is also working with the government to source new stocks of the antiviral drug Tamiflu -- which can help against infection -- from India to bolster local stocks, he said.
"It's not very much, it's rather puny. They definitely need some more," Petersen said, adding that stocks being rushed from India were less than 1,000 doses.
Indonesia only has a supply of 10,000 Tamiflu tablets.
The U.N. World Health Organization last week warned bird flu was moving toward a form that could be passed between humans and the world had no time to waste to prevent a pandemic.
The government on Monday put the bird flu outbreak under extraordinary status to focus attention on the outbreak in the world's fourth most populous nation.
Besides Indonesia, bird flu has killed 44 people in Vietnam, 12 people in Thailand and four in Cambodia.
Taken from The Jakarta Post
"It's not an epidemic yet, but sporadic cases in parts of Jakarta. If things worsen it could become an epidemic," Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari said.
She was speaking to reporters after announcing that an initial local test on a five-year-old girl, who died on Wednesday after suffering from bird flu symptoms, was negative for the virus. She said more local testing needed to be done, while blood samples would also be sent to a laboratory in Hong Kong for confirmation.
In another possible case a two-year-old girl died at Jakarta's Christian PGI Hospital after a high fever and respiratory problems.
Four Indonesians are confirmed to have died since July from the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu. Nine others are now being treated at Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital in Jakarta. The authorities are still waiting for the test results.
Siti said that more victims could emerge as the authorities had not been able to determine the sources of the virus that has infected the victims.
Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture Anton Apriyantono said that the government would launch a mass cull of chickens in "highly infected areas," but acknowledged that as of Wednesday no area had been declared highly infected.
"We will allocate (funds for the mass culling) whatever it takes, if it has become a necessity," he told The Jakarta Post.
The minister fired on Wednesday the ministry's director of animal health control Tri Satya Putri Naipospos for allegedly failing to monitor the spread of the deadly virus.
The current bird flu outbreak in Indonesia has raised international concern over possible further outbreaks of the disease, which has killed 64 people in four Asian countries since late 2003 and has been found in birds in Russia and Europe.
Georg Petersen, the WHO's representative in Jakarta, said many foreign experts were now helping Indonesia, including a high-level delegation from the United States.
"Definitely the whole international community is very much present," Petersen told Reuters.
The WHO is also working with the government to source new stocks of the antiviral drug Tamiflu -- which can help against infection -- from India to bolster local stocks, he said.
"It's not very much, it's rather puny. They definitely need some more," Petersen said, adding that stocks being rushed from India were less than 1,000 doses.
Indonesia only has a supply of 10,000 Tamiflu tablets.
The U.N. World Health Organization last week warned bird flu was moving toward a form that could be passed between humans and the world had no time to waste to prevent a pandemic.
The government on Monday put the bird flu outbreak under extraordinary status to focus attention on the outbreak in the world's fourth most populous nation.
Besides Indonesia, bird flu has killed 44 people in Vietnam, 12 people in Thailand and four in Cambodia.
Taken from The Jakarta Post
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Indonesia's moderate Islamic image under threat
By Dean Yates Tue Sep 20, 8:52 AM ET
JAKARTA, Indonesia (Reuters) - Joining a group of young Indonesian intellectuals who hold liberal Islamic views was once just a ticket to controversy. Now, it could be life-threatening.
Since Indonesia's top Muslim council issued religious edicts in late July that banned liberal interpretations of the faith, death threats against members of the 4-year-old Islamic Liberal Network, known as JIL, have poured in.
The fatwas that JIL says triggered the hate campaign coincide with the closure of numerous unauthorized Christian churches by hardline Muslim groups and the jailing this month of three Christian women for inviting Muslim children to church events.
The developments have hurt Indonesia's image as a moderate Muslim nation and reflect a backlash against liberal opinion as well as a push by Muslim conservatives to reassert themselves after the failure of political Islam to gain traction during last year's elections, experts say.
"The fatwas have had a snowball effect," said Nong Darol Mahmada, a co-founder of the Islamic Liberal Network who has received dozens of death threats via e-mail and text messages.
"People believe that JIL is banned and that it is now legally permitted (under Islamic law) to murder us."
Police guard the Jakarta office that houses JIL after one militant organization threatened to attack the group, which has never shied from controversy since its inception in 2001.
It has been quick to poke holes in the arguments of militant clerics and take the lead in debates about issues from marriage to the role of religion in politics, often using radio to reach a broad audience across the world's most populous Muslim nation.
IN THE CROSSHAIRS
To some analysts, JIL was a key target when the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) issued its non-binding fatwas on July 29.
Apart from attacking liberalism, the council forbade pluralism and inter-religious marriage.
"We are seeing a conservative high tide which is a reaction to several things, but a common view that Muslim liberals have taken things too far," said Greg Fealy, an expert on Indonesian Islam at the Australian National University in Canberra.
Fealy said he did not believe such a backlash meant the end of progressive Islamic thought in Indonesia, where Muslims have embraced democracy and have more freedom to express their views than in just about any country in the Islamic world.
While it was clear Indonesians increasingly identified with Islam, last year's elections showed voters did not care for Islamist parties that support strict Islamic Sharia law.
Those parties won 23 percent of parliamentary seats last year, up from 19 percent in 1999.
"People are more self-consciously Islamic but it doesn't mean anyone is saying ... we should make Indonesia an Islamic state," Fealy said.
Many Indonesian Muslims, especially on the main island of Java, infuse the practice of Islam with local tradition influenced by Hinduism and mysticism.
Indonesia is also officially secular and recognizes Christianity and several other religions in addition to Islam.
That has not stopped Islamic militants in the past two years from closing down some 25 unlicensed churches that operate from homes and shops.
Christians say the growth of such churches underscores the difficulty of getting a permit, which requires approval from local communities where they are usually a minority. Police have said they cannot act because the churches are illegal.
In another religious case, a court in West Java this month jailed three Christian women for three years each for inviting Muslim children to church events without parental consent.
UNFINISHED STORY
JIL was not actually banned in the MUI fatwas, but the message was clear, said Mahmada, 31, an articulate graduate of Islamic studies from Indonesia's most prestigious Islamic university, as she sipped a bottle of iced tea.
"I am pretty pessimistic about Islam in Indonesia," she added.
Down the road at the Al-Muslimun mosque, Imam Pambudi, 41, a local Islamic community leader, said JIL had to leave the area.
"At first we had no problems but after the MUI fatwa, the people here were shocked that something considered haram (forbidden) by the MUI was among us," said Pambudi.
Despite what appears to be a series of blows to Indonesia's Muslim liberals and the country's image in general, analysts like Fealy and Merle Ricklefs, another prominent Australian expert on Islam in Indonesia, remain generally optimistic.
"This is a story without an ending, but there are grounds for thinking that the progressive liberalism of Indonesia has withstood the attack," Ricklefs wrote in the Australian Financial Review on September 2.
"With its reactionary fatwas, MUI may indeed have sidelined itself within a rapidly changing society."
Taken from Yahoo! News
JAKARTA, Indonesia (Reuters) - Joining a group of young Indonesian intellectuals who hold liberal Islamic views was once just a ticket to controversy. Now, it could be life-threatening.
Since Indonesia's top Muslim council issued religious edicts in late July that banned liberal interpretations of the faith, death threats against members of the 4-year-old Islamic Liberal Network, known as JIL, have poured in.
The fatwas that JIL says triggered the hate campaign coincide with the closure of numerous unauthorized Christian churches by hardline Muslim groups and the jailing this month of three Christian women for inviting Muslim children to church events.
The developments have hurt Indonesia's image as a moderate Muslim nation and reflect a backlash against liberal opinion as well as a push by Muslim conservatives to reassert themselves after the failure of political Islam to gain traction during last year's elections, experts say.
"The fatwas have had a snowball effect," said Nong Darol Mahmada, a co-founder of the Islamic Liberal Network who has received dozens of death threats via e-mail and text messages.
"People believe that JIL is banned and that it is now legally permitted (under Islamic law) to murder us."
Police guard the Jakarta office that houses JIL after one militant organization threatened to attack the group, which has never shied from controversy since its inception in 2001.
It has been quick to poke holes in the arguments of militant clerics and take the lead in debates about issues from marriage to the role of religion in politics, often using radio to reach a broad audience across the world's most populous Muslim nation.
IN THE CROSSHAIRS
To some analysts, JIL was a key target when the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) issued its non-binding fatwas on July 29.
Apart from attacking liberalism, the council forbade pluralism and inter-religious marriage.
"We are seeing a conservative high tide which is a reaction to several things, but a common view that Muslim liberals have taken things too far," said Greg Fealy, an expert on Indonesian Islam at the Australian National University in Canberra.
Fealy said he did not believe such a backlash meant the end of progressive Islamic thought in Indonesia, where Muslims have embraced democracy and have more freedom to express their views than in just about any country in the Islamic world.
While it was clear Indonesians increasingly identified with Islam, last year's elections showed voters did not care for Islamist parties that support strict Islamic Sharia law.
Those parties won 23 percent of parliamentary seats last year, up from 19 percent in 1999.
"People are more self-consciously Islamic but it doesn't mean anyone is saying ... we should make Indonesia an Islamic state," Fealy said.
Many Indonesian Muslims, especially on the main island of Java, infuse the practice of Islam with local tradition influenced by Hinduism and mysticism.
Indonesia is also officially secular and recognizes Christianity and several other religions in addition to Islam.
That has not stopped Islamic militants in the past two years from closing down some 25 unlicensed churches that operate from homes and shops.
Christians say the growth of such churches underscores the difficulty of getting a permit, which requires approval from local communities where they are usually a minority. Police have said they cannot act because the churches are illegal.
In another religious case, a court in West Java this month jailed three Christian women for three years each for inviting Muslim children to church events without parental consent.
UNFINISHED STORY
JIL was not actually banned in the MUI fatwas, but the message was clear, said Mahmada, 31, an articulate graduate of Islamic studies from Indonesia's most prestigious Islamic university, as she sipped a bottle of iced tea.
"I am pretty pessimistic about Islam in Indonesia," she added.
Down the road at the Al-Muslimun mosque, Imam Pambudi, 41, a local Islamic community leader, said JIL had to leave the area.
"At first we had no problems but after the MUI fatwa, the people here were shocked that something considered haram (forbidden) by the MUI was among us," said Pambudi.
Despite what appears to be a series of blows to Indonesia's Muslim liberals and the country's image in general, analysts like Fealy and Merle Ricklefs, another prominent Australian expert on Islam in Indonesia, remain generally optimistic.
"This is a story without an ending, but there are grounds for thinking that the progressive liberalism of Indonesia has withstood the attack," Ricklefs wrote in the Australian Financial Review on September 2.
"With its reactionary fatwas, MUI may indeed have sidelined itself within a rapidly changing society."
Taken from Yahoo! News
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Topics of Conversation
The schemas and functions of speech vary between cultures. Indonesia is no exception. Two of the greatest social changes that have occured since the Asian Crisis and the fall of Soeharto is Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press. Indonesians are open in expressing their opinions about many controverssial topics, but as a guest in Indonesia one should avoid controversial topics and criticisms.
Acceptable topics of conversation
§ Weather
§ Family
§ Travel/Tourism
§ Sports
§ Food and praising the local cuisine
§ Future plans of the group or organization
§ The success of the group or organization
§ Anecdotes about your attempts to learn Bahasa Indonesia
§ Current events in general
Topics to Avoid
§ Indonesia's human rights record
§ Bureaucracy
§ Corruption
§ Military influence
§ Criticism of Indonesian ways
§ Commenting on Indonesian customs that you find peculiar
§ Religion
§ Personal success
Prambanan Temple Compound
Prambanan temple is a great building based on Hindu religion familiarly with Bandung Bondowoso story, located in border of Special District of Yogyakarta, and Central Java Province. The temple constructed in 856 A.D., known as monument of Siva the most beautiful and biggest temple in Indonesia, built in the era of Rakai Pikatan in 846-855 A.D.
Mr. C.A. Lons was interested in that temple. In 1733 the condition of the temple was covered by land and plant. Effort of cleaning on the large scale was done in 1855 and in 1919 started to be conserved. In 1953 Siva temple finished to be restored, while Prambanan complex finished in 1993.
The biggest complex of Prambanan temple has three main yards, first yard is 110 x 110 m with three main temples namely Siva temple in central, Brahma in the south, and Vishnu in the North. These three main temples symbolized three gods of Hindu religion in the concept of Trimurti. In front of those three main temples there is three temples called Wahana, God transportation that Eagle for Brahma, Buffalo for Siva, and Swan for Vishnu. Beside Wahana temple there is Kelir temple placed in every gate and two temples and Sudut temple. At the second yard there is Perwara temple; accompanying temple arranged in four rows surrounded the first yard in amount 224 pieces. First row is 68 constructions, second is 60 constructions, third 52 and fourth 44 constructions. From that number only a few number can be reconstructed. The third yard could not be found any building of temple.
The Siva temple had five statues, located in the center chamber is Siva statue, in the north chamber standing Dewi Durga Mahisasuramardhini statue, in the west chamber standing Ganesya statue, and the south chamber standing statue of Agastya. In this temple have found relief Ramayana story in the panel of wall building. Inside of Brahma temple there is Brahma statue, and in the Vishnu temple there is Vishnu statue. In the Vishnu temple is carved the story of Kresnayana, and Brahma temple is continuos story of Ramayana.
Prambanan Temple (also known as Loro Jonggrang) is actually a huge Hindu temple complex about 15km north east of Yogyakarta. It was built in the 9th century and designed as three concentric squares. The inner square contains 16 temples, the most significant being the 47m high central Siva temple flanked to the north by the Brahma temple and to the south by the Vishnu temple. The middle square contains 224 lesser temples arranged in four rows.
Legend has it that the princess Loro Jonggrang had unwillingly consented to marry Bandung Bondowoso (a terrible prince with magical powers) on the condition that he build her a huge temple complex, containing 1000 statues, in a single night. She believed he would never manage this impossible task and so the marriage could be avoided. However, as dawn approached on the night of the task, it looked as though the prince was going to complete the challenge. He was just about to start the final statue when he heard the sound of rice being pounded by the local villagers, the traditional sign for the start of a new day. The prince believed he had failed and never completed the final statue. Only later did he discover that Loro Jonggrang had asked the villagers to begin pounding the rice early, so as to trick the prince and escape the marriage. He was so angry that he turned the princess into a statue of Durga, which can still be seen inside the central Siva temple.
Information taken from Indonesian Culture
Mr. C.A. Lons was interested in that temple. In 1733 the condition of the temple was covered by land and plant. Effort of cleaning on the large scale was done in 1855 and in 1919 started to be conserved. In 1953 Siva temple finished to be restored, while Prambanan complex finished in 1993.
The biggest complex of Prambanan temple has three main yards, first yard is 110 x 110 m with three main temples namely Siva temple in central, Brahma in the south, and Vishnu in the North. These three main temples symbolized three gods of Hindu religion in the concept of Trimurti. In front of those three main temples there is three temples called Wahana, God transportation that Eagle for Brahma, Buffalo for Siva, and Swan for Vishnu. Beside Wahana temple there is Kelir temple placed in every gate and two temples and Sudut temple. At the second yard there is Perwara temple; accompanying temple arranged in four rows surrounded the first yard in amount 224 pieces. First row is 68 constructions, second is 60 constructions, third 52 and fourth 44 constructions. From that number only a few number can be reconstructed. The third yard could not be found any building of temple.
The Siva temple had five statues, located in the center chamber is Siva statue, in the north chamber standing Dewi Durga Mahisasuramardhini statue, in the west chamber standing Ganesya statue, and the south chamber standing statue of Agastya. In this temple have found relief Ramayana story in the panel of wall building. Inside of Brahma temple there is Brahma statue, and in the Vishnu temple there is Vishnu statue. In the Vishnu temple is carved the story of Kresnayana, and Brahma temple is continuos story of Ramayana.
Prambanan Temple (also known as Loro Jonggrang) is actually a huge Hindu temple complex about 15km north east of Yogyakarta. It was built in the 9th century and designed as three concentric squares. The inner square contains 16 temples, the most significant being the 47m high central Siva temple flanked to the north by the Brahma temple and to the south by the Vishnu temple. The middle square contains 224 lesser temples arranged in four rows.
Legend has it that the princess Loro Jonggrang had unwillingly consented to marry Bandung Bondowoso (a terrible prince with magical powers) on the condition that he build her a huge temple complex, containing 1000 statues, in a single night. She believed he would never manage this impossible task and so the marriage could be avoided. However, as dawn approached on the night of the task, it looked as though the prince was going to complete the challenge. He was just about to start the final statue when he heard the sound of rice being pounded by the local villagers, the traditional sign for the start of a new day. The prince believed he had failed and never completed the final statue. Only later did he discover that Loro Jonggrang had asked the villagers to begin pounding the rice early, so as to trick the prince and escape the marriage. He was so angry that he turned the princess into a statue of Durga, which can still be seen inside the central Siva temple.
Information taken from Indonesian Culture
Borobodur Temple
Borobodur is the largest Buddhist temple in Indonesia. It was built in the 7th century during the Dynasty of Syailendra and was made in 10 phases. The first phase was started in 780AD. The temple has the form of a terrace with a stupa on top. Every terrace has a specific meaning as it describes the life and teachings of Buddha. According to Margaret who went to ACICIS some time ago, some of it is blocked off... apparently these are the parts of Buddha's life where he was with the women or something.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
As soon as you arrive at the Ngurah Rai International Airport, a number of staff of the Bali Intercontinental Resort are ready to greet you warmly, take care of your luggage and immigration papers and escort you to a cool, luxury airport lounge while waiting.
Within a minute a Jaguar or luxury couch is waiting for you. If you are in a hurry, a helicopter is ready to transfer you directly from the airport to the resort in the Jimbaran area.
Welcome to Club InterContinental Bali.
"These are our prime services to our privileged guests of Club InterContinental, a hotel within a hotel aimed at affluent clientele who need privacy and who enjoy royal treatment and luxury, said Amadeo Zarzosa, general manager of Bali Intercontinental Resort.
Club InterContinental, the premier accommodation facilities located within the private wing of the Bali Intercontinental Resort, has 425 air-conditioned rooms, including 84 Club InterContinental rooms, 55 two-story loft rooms, 10 executive suites, 10 junior suites and two presidential suites.
"The resort has received a very positive response from the domestic and international market since it opened last year," he said. Currently, the resort's occupancy rates are at between 90 percent and 100 percent.
"Club InterContinental and the airport arrival lounge are our new innovations and we continue creating more innovations to provide our guests with the ultimate experience," he added.
In the club, guests are provided with a 24-hour butler service throughout the duration of their stay to ensure that every possible need is taken care of.
Guests have exclusive access to the stylish Club Lounge for all-day refreshments, sunset cocktails and late night supper. An number of special privileges such as complimentary high speed Internet access, daily international publications and superior room amenities gives a new definition of the term luxury. The resort will open the newest facility on Monday, Sept 19, intended for Young Customers.
"We will open Club J Turtles (Kids' and Teen's Club) with the theme turtles, where children and teenagers can learn all about turtles and turtle preservation in their leisure time," he said. The Club J will allow parents to leave their children fully assisted by the Club J staff and professional child-care staff while they are traveling across Bali.
The hotel industry in Bali almost came to a standstill following the deadly bomb attack which hit the island in October, 2002. The industry has been struggling since then to regain travellers' confidence with various kinds of sales promotion programs. The impact is quite positive, as reflected by the increase in the number of foreign visitors during the past several months.
"Since the last three months, July, August and September, our business has been flourishing. A similar trend is also taking place in other hotels on the island," he said.
If this positive trend continues, by the end of 2006 or early 2007, the hotel industry in Bali would rebound to levels prior to the October 2002 bomb attacks, Zarzosa said.
Maria Sitanggang, the director of sales of Bali Hyatt, shared similar optimism. "Compared to last year, business is much better. We are now heading to occupancy levels similar to the era prior to the bomb attack," she said.
International confidence had also gradually improved. Many European countries such as Germany, France, Belgium, Austria and Italy have lifted their travel advisories that warned against travel to Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia. A similar action has also been taken by the British government.
"Europe has been our major market with around 62 percent, followed by Japan (32 percent) and the rest is made up of Australia, Korea and the domestic market," she said.
At present, Bali Hyatt, located in Sanur area, enjoys more than 90 percent occupancy as compared to only 70 percent in the same period last year.
Similarly, Wiwien Ong, the director of sales and marketing of Bali Padma in Kuta, said that this was the turning point of the hotel industry in Bali. "July, August, September have always been our high season. Our occupancy rate has almost reached 100 percent," Wiwien said.
Even after the tsunami last December, guests still flocked to Bali. Between February and April 2005, the hotel's occupancy rate had already reached 60 percent, not too high but almost double the average of 30 percent recorded in the previous year.
A similar business trend was seen at the Hard Rock Hotel Bali, which caters to Australian and domestic tourists.
Dewi Karmawan, the hotel's marketing and communication manager, said that the Hard Rock hotel, which is located in the heart of Kuta, was fully booked on weekends.
In November, and December during the Idul Fitri and Christmas and New Year holidays, occupancy is also expected to reach 100 percent, she said.
Despite the promising outlook, Bali must be alert over possible disturbances including natural disasters, terrorist activities and the spread of diseases such as avian influenza.
Bali was shaken by a bomb hoax at Kuta Paradiso Hotel on Aug. 31. But, the authorities successfully dealt with the issue and have promised to tighten security.
Entire properties including hotels and resorts and other tourist facilities have also strengthened their security systems. Local hotels and tour operators, however, did not report any cancellations or a sudden exodus of guests following the bomb hoax.
Robert Kelsall, chairman of the Bali Hotel Association, an organization comprising general managers of star-rated hotels in Bali as well as professionals in the industry said the business was on the right track
"Most hotels in Bali are currently enjoying extremely high occupancy rates," he said, adding that the prospect for the remainder of the September is quite positive. "Hopefully, the positive trend will continue," Kelsall said.
By Rita A. Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Jimbaran
ps-i think i want to stay at that hotel if i go to bali...
Within a minute a Jaguar or luxury couch is waiting for you. If you are in a hurry, a helicopter is ready to transfer you directly from the airport to the resort in the Jimbaran area.
Welcome to Club InterContinental Bali.
"These are our prime services to our privileged guests of Club InterContinental, a hotel within a hotel aimed at affluent clientele who need privacy and who enjoy royal treatment and luxury, said Amadeo Zarzosa, general manager of Bali Intercontinental Resort.
Club InterContinental, the premier accommodation facilities located within the private wing of the Bali Intercontinental Resort, has 425 air-conditioned rooms, including 84 Club InterContinental rooms, 55 two-story loft rooms, 10 executive suites, 10 junior suites and two presidential suites.
"The resort has received a very positive response from the domestic and international market since it opened last year," he said. Currently, the resort's occupancy rates are at between 90 percent and 100 percent.
"Club InterContinental and the airport arrival lounge are our new innovations and we continue creating more innovations to provide our guests with the ultimate experience," he added.
In the club, guests are provided with a 24-hour butler service throughout the duration of their stay to ensure that every possible need is taken care of.
Guests have exclusive access to the stylish Club Lounge for all-day refreshments, sunset cocktails and late night supper. An number of special privileges such as complimentary high speed Internet access, daily international publications and superior room amenities gives a new definition of the term luxury. The resort will open the newest facility on Monday, Sept 19, intended for Young Customers.
"We will open Club J Turtles (Kids' and Teen's Club) with the theme turtles, where children and teenagers can learn all about turtles and turtle preservation in their leisure time," he said. The Club J will allow parents to leave their children fully assisted by the Club J staff and professional child-care staff while they are traveling across Bali.
The hotel industry in Bali almost came to a standstill following the deadly bomb attack which hit the island in October, 2002. The industry has been struggling since then to regain travellers' confidence with various kinds of sales promotion programs. The impact is quite positive, as reflected by the increase in the number of foreign visitors during the past several months.
"Since the last three months, July, August and September, our business has been flourishing. A similar trend is also taking place in other hotels on the island," he said.
If this positive trend continues, by the end of 2006 or early 2007, the hotel industry in Bali would rebound to levels prior to the October 2002 bomb attacks, Zarzosa said.
Maria Sitanggang, the director of sales of Bali Hyatt, shared similar optimism. "Compared to last year, business is much better. We are now heading to occupancy levels similar to the era prior to the bomb attack," she said.
International confidence had also gradually improved. Many European countries such as Germany, France, Belgium, Austria and Italy have lifted their travel advisories that warned against travel to Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia. A similar action has also been taken by the British government.
"Europe has been our major market with around 62 percent, followed by Japan (32 percent) and the rest is made up of Australia, Korea and the domestic market," she said.
At present, Bali Hyatt, located in Sanur area, enjoys more than 90 percent occupancy as compared to only 70 percent in the same period last year.
Similarly, Wiwien Ong, the director of sales and marketing of Bali Padma in Kuta, said that this was the turning point of the hotel industry in Bali. "July, August, September have always been our high season. Our occupancy rate has almost reached 100 percent," Wiwien said.
Even after the tsunami last December, guests still flocked to Bali. Between February and April 2005, the hotel's occupancy rate had already reached 60 percent, not too high but almost double the average of 30 percent recorded in the previous year.
A similar business trend was seen at the Hard Rock Hotel Bali, which caters to Australian and domestic tourists.
Dewi Karmawan, the hotel's marketing and communication manager, said that the Hard Rock hotel, which is located in the heart of Kuta, was fully booked on weekends.
In November, and December during the Idul Fitri and Christmas and New Year holidays, occupancy is also expected to reach 100 percent, she said.
Despite the promising outlook, Bali must be alert over possible disturbances including natural disasters, terrorist activities and the spread of diseases such as avian influenza.
Bali was shaken by a bomb hoax at Kuta Paradiso Hotel on Aug. 31. But, the authorities successfully dealt with the issue and have promised to tighten security.
Entire properties including hotels and resorts and other tourist facilities have also strengthened their security systems. Local hotels and tour operators, however, did not report any cancellations or a sudden exodus of guests following the bomb hoax.
Robert Kelsall, chairman of the Bali Hotel Association, an organization comprising general managers of star-rated hotels in Bali as well as professionals in the industry said the business was on the right track
"Most hotels in Bali are currently enjoying extremely high occupancy rates," he said, adding that the prospect for the remainder of the September is quite positive. "Hopefully, the positive trend will continue," Kelsall said.
By Rita A. Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Jimbaran
ps-i think i want to stay at that hotel if i go to bali...
Friday, September 16, 2005
Aussie model may face multiple charges
Friday September 16, 05:58 PM
Bali police have asked prosecutors to lay multiple drug charges against Australian model Michelle Leslie who could be jailed for up to 15 years if convicted for possessing ecstasy.
Bali police spokesman Colonel AS Reniban said police have given prosecutors a file of evidence.
Police recommended multiple charges under section 60 and section 59 of tough Indonesian psychotropic drug laws.
Leslie, 24, was arrested in August during a routine drug sweep before entering the "Vertigo Goes To Bali" dance party in the hills near Kuta.
Police say they found the two ecstasy pills wrapped in tissue paper in her handbag.
The Adelaide-born face of Antz Pantz underwear told police she was carrying the drugs for a friend.
"The recommended charges against her carry a minimum penalty of four years and a maximum of 15 years, but it will depend on the prosecutor," Reniban told AAP.
He said the prosecutor would now assess the brief and decide within the next two weeks whether more information was needed to proceed to trial.
Reniban said Leslie had apparently decided to dump a suggested defence that she was addicted to ecstasy and was receiving medical treatment in Australia.
"There has been no letter from her doctor and we are not waiting for it," he said.
The claim was made in a signed police interview statement, but was later rejected by the family and resulted in the sacking of their Bali lawyer.
A spokesman for the Leslie family said the suggested charges against Leslie came as no surprise to the defence team.
"It is now for the assigned prosecutor to consider the evidence and determine how they will proceed with the prosecution of this case in the court," he said.
Leslie, who has adopted Muslim garb since her arrest, is being held at Denpasar police headquarters.
Bali police have asked prosecutors to lay multiple drug charges against Australian model Michelle Leslie who could be jailed for up to 15 years if convicted for possessing ecstasy.
Bali police spokesman Colonel AS Reniban said police have given prosecutors a file of evidence.
Police recommended multiple charges under section 60 and section 59 of tough Indonesian psychotropic drug laws.
Leslie, 24, was arrested in August during a routine drug sweep before entering the "Vertigo Goes To Bali" dance party in the hills near Kuta.
Police say they found the two ecstasy pills wrapped in tissue paper in her handbag.
The Adelaide-born face of Antz Pantz underwear told police she was carrying the drugs for a friend.
"The recommended charges against her carry a minimum penalty of four years and a maximum of 15 years, but it will depend on the prosecutor," Reniban told AAP.
He said the prosecutor would now assess the brief and decide within the next two weeks whether more information was needed to proceed to trial.
Reniban said Leslie had apparently decided to dump a suggested defence that she was addicted to ecstasy and was receiving medical treatment in Australia.
"There has been no letter from her doctor and we are not waiting for it," he said.
The claim was made in a signed police interview statement, but was later rejected by the family and resulted in the sacking of their Bali lawyer.
A spokesman for the Leslie family said the suggested charges against Leslie came as no surprise to the defence team.
"It is now for the assigned prosecutor to consider the evidence and determine how they will proceed with the prosecution of this case in the court," he said.
Leslie, who has adopted Muslim garb since her arrest, is being held at Denpasar police headquarters.
Indonesia reports bird flu death
An Indonesian woman who died last week had the H5N1 bird flu virus and was the fourth Indonesian to die of the disease, the health ministry has said.
It was not clear how the 37-year-old woman, who lived in south Jakarta, caught the virus, the ministry said.
More than 60 people have died in four Asian countries since late 2003, and millions of birds have been culled to try to stop the virus spreading.
Scientists fear it could combine with human flu to trigger a global pandemic.
A health ministry spokesman said one of the woman's neighbours was also under surveillance for the disease.
Indonesia reported its first bird flu deaths in July, when a father and his two daughters died after coming into contact with infected chicken droppings, the government said.
The virus is believed to be widespread in poultry farms in several Indonesian provinces, and the government has resisted calls for a mass cull.
So far nearly all the human cases have been linked to infected birds.
But the real fear is that the virus might develop into a form which can be transmitted directly from person to person.
Taken from BBC News
It was not clear how the 37-year-old woman, who lived in south Jakarta, caught the virus, the ministry said.
More than 60 people have died in four Asian countries since late 2003, and millions of birds have been culled to try to stop the virus spreading.
Scientists fear it could combine with human flu to trigger a global pandemic.
A health ministry spokesman said one of the woman's neighbours was also under surveillance for the disease.
Indonesia reported its first bird flu deaths in July, when a father and his two daughters died after coming into contact with infected chicken droppings, the government said.
The virus is believed to be widespread in poultry farms in several Indonesian provinces, and the government has resisted calls for a mass cull.
So far nearly all the human cases have been linked to infected birds.
But the real fear is that the virus might develop into a form which can be transmitted directly from person to person.
Taken from BBC News
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Jakarta bomb builder faces death
An Indonesian court has sentenced to death a second man for the 2004 bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta.
Ahmad Hasan was found guilty of helping build the bomb and plotting with the attack's alleged mastermind, Malaysian fugitive Azahari Husin.
The attack, which killed 11 people including a suicide bomber, has been blamed on regional militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI).
Hasan was the fifth person to be convicted so far.
On Tuesday a separate court sentenced Iwan Darmawan, also known as Rois, to death for buying the van used in the attack and recruiting its driver. The others have been sentenced to between 42 months and seven years in jail.
Motorbike getaway
The judge, Sobari, said Hasan had sheltered the men believed to have masterminded the attack - Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top - and helped build the bomb.
The judge also said Hasan surveyed the embassy before the attack and gave Azahari Husin a lift from the scene of the bombing on a motorbike.
"The defendant has shown no remorse at all for his action," Sobari said.
"The defendant has discredited Islam maintaining that his actions were in the name of Islam, despite the fact that most of the victims were Muslims," he said.
Hasan said he did not accept the verdict, which he said was the result of US or Australian pressure.
"I'm not afraid of death because this is jihad," he said, according to the AFP news agency.
Police continue to hunt for Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top.
Both men are believed to belong to the militant Muslim group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), and Azahari Husin has been accused of masterminding the 2003 Bali bombings.
JI, which has often been linked to al-Qaeda, is believed to control a network stretching across Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
Its principal goals are the establishment of Islamic governments across the region, followed by the formation of a unified South East Asian Islamic state.
Ahmad Hasan was found guilty of helping build the bomb and plotting with the attack's alleged mastermind, Malaysian fugitive Azahari Husin.
The attack, which killed 11 people including a suicide bomber, has been blamed on regional militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI).
Hasan was the fifth person to be convicted so far.
On Tuesday a separate court sentenced Iwan Darmawan, also known as Rois, to death for buying the van used in the attack and recruiting its driver. The others have been sentenced to between 42 months and seven years in jail.
Motorbike getaway
The judge, Sobari, said Hasan had sheltered the men believed to have masterminded the attack - Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top - and helped build the bomb.
The judge also said Hasan surveyed the embassy before the attack and gave Azahari Husin a lift from the scene of the bombing on a motorbike.
"The defendant has shown no remorse at all for his action," Sobari said.
"The defendant has discredited Islam maintaining that his actions were in the name of Islam, despite the fact that most of the victims were Muslims," he said.
Hasan said he did not accept the verdict, which he said was the result of US or Australian pressure.
"I'm not afraid of death because this is jihad," he said, according to the AFP news agency.
Police continue to hunt for Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top.
Both men are believed to belong to the militant Muslim group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), and Azahari Husin has been accused of masterminding the 2003 Bali bombings.
JI, which has often been linked to al-Qaeda, is believed to control a network stretching across Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
Its principal goals are the establishment of Islamic governments across the region, followed by the formation of a unified South East Asian Islamic state.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Durians!
I have to admit that I don't have an obsession with durians, as I much prefer rambutans and mangosteens, but my mother does. My parents are going back home for two weeks, so I thought I'd take my reminder about durians and make it useful.
Did you know that there is a World Durian Festival held? This year it was held in Thailand.
Did you also know that there are 27 durian species but only 7 are considered to be edible? All edible durian species can be found in Borneo island (dubbed "the centre of durians"), which is an island where Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak), Brunei and Indonesia (Kalimantan) is.
There are 3 types of rare durians - that are only found in Borneo. They are:
Durio oxleyanus: small green beautiful fruits with very long sharp spines, smooth creamy flesh with an excellent unique durian flavor that includes undertones of banana and grape, delightful
Durio graveolens: small yellowish-rind fruits with sharp spines, flesh ranges from yellow to bright red (!); pudding-like flesh has a very distinctive, different, alien but enjoyable flavor resembling burnt almonds blended with carrot juice!
small fruits with yellow rind and soft flexible small spines, flesh is bright orange, dry and almost chewy, with a complex agreeable flavor like a combination of orange, celery, and basil, with a hint of garlic
Photos & info taken from Rare Durians of Borneo
Cartoons about durians by a famous Malaysian cartoonist called Lat can be found here
Did you know that there is a World Durian Festival held? This year it was held in Thailand.
Did you also know that there are 27 durian species but only 7 are considered to be edible? All edible durian species can be found in Borneo island (dubbed "the centre of durians"), which is an island where Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak), Brunei and Indonesia (Kalimantan) is.
There are 3 types of rare durians - that are only found in Borneo. They are:
Durio oxleyanus: small green beautiful fruits with very long sharp spines, smooth creamy flesh with an excellent unique durian flavor that includes undertones of banana and grape, delightful
Durio graveolens: small yellowish-rind fruits with sharp spines, flesh ranges from yellow to bright red (!); pudding-like flesh has a very distinctive, different, alien but enjoyable flavor resembling burnt almonds blended with carrot juice!
small fruits with yellow rind and soft flexible small spines, flesh is bright orange, dry and almost chewy, with a complex agreeable flavor like a combination of orange, celery, and basil, with a hint of garlic
Photos & info taken from Rare Durians of Borneo
Cartoons about durians by a famous Malaysian cartoonist called Lat can be found here
Jakarta bomber sentenced to death
An Indonesian court has sentenced to death a key suspect in the 2004 bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta.
Iwan Darmawan, also known as Rois, was found guilty of buying the van and other materials used in the attack, as well as recruiting its driver.
Rois, who denied the charges, called the judgement "stupid".
The attack, which killed 11 people including a suicide bomber, has been blamed on regional militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI).
JI is alleged to have links to al-Qaeda, which the prosecution said had supplied funds for the attack.
Rois stood and waved his fist after the verdict was announced.
"I am thankful for being sentenced to death. I am happy because I will die a martyr," he told reporters.
'Revenge attack'
The chief judge, Rocky Panjaitan, said Rois had been found "legally and convincingly guilty" of terrorism and hiding the perpetrators of terrorism.
The judge said Rois had visited the Australian embassy three times before the bombing.
The judge quoted police statements that the funding for the attack came from Osama bin Laden and was carried out to "avenge the slaughter of Muslims by America and its allies in Iraq".
Rois said he would appeal against the verdict, the first death penalty to be handed down in connection with the case.
Three other men have so far been jailed for their roles in the embassy bombing, for terms of between seven years and 42 months.
Two men suspected of masterminding the attack - Malaysians Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohammed Top - remain at large.
Taken from BBC News
Indonesia fuel payout for poorest
Indonesia is to give cash to millions of its poorest people to help them cope with imminent fuel price rises.
Some 60 million Indonesians, living in 15.5 million households, will receive a 300,000 rupiah ($30; £16) subsidy over three months, the government said.
The payment comes as Indonesia prepares to cut fuel subsidies in response to the soaring cost of oil.
Ministers are keen to cushion the blow for the poor, after previous cuts helped topple the government in 1998.
"Before oil prices are raised, we want to make sure the most vulnerable groups in society will be protected," said Indonesia's information minister Sofyan Djalil.
He added that the government had not set a date for a fuel price increase, although previous comments from ministers suggested that rises could be in place by early October.
Politically sensitive
Fuel subsidies currently account for a quarter of Indonesia's budget, and many of the country's poorest people use kerosene for cooking.
However, the country has been forced to sell its rupiah currency to buy dollars in order to pay for increasingly expensive oil imports - raising fears that the budget deficit might spiral out of control.
Mr Djalil said the direct cash payments would be made through state postal company Pos Indonesia and state-owned bank Rakyat Indonesia.
"The first payment will likely go to the cities, towns on Java and Sumatra islands," he said. "Big cities are easier because the postal and banking systems are better. If this can be achieved by the end of the month, that will be great."
Many of the families targeted by the government's 300,000 rupiah payout scheme are estimated to have an income of less than 175,000 rupiah a month.
While Indonesians enjoy some of the cheapest fuel costs in Asia, tampering with the price is a politically sensitive move for any government.
Price hikes introduced by President Suharto in 1998, combined with soaring inflation and food shortages, eventually led to riots in the capital Jakarta and the toppling of his long-standing government.
Taken from BBC News
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Investigators hunt for jet crash clues
15:32 AEST Tue Sep 6 2005
Investigators hunted for clues Tuesday as to why an Indonesian jetliner crashed seconds after takeoff, sifting through body parts and bits of flesh as they worked, as weeping families looked for loved ones among dozens of charred bodies laying outside a morgue.
At least 147 people were killed when the Boeing 737-200 crashed Monday in Indonesia's third largest city of Medan, 47 of them on the ground. But 16 passengers survived, including an 18-month-old boy who was shielded in his mother's arms.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was due to tour the crash site and visit survivors and relatives of victims later Tuesday.
Transport Minister Hatta Rajasa said it would be several weeks before the cause of the crash was known, but that investigators would be looking at why the Mandala Airlines plane failed to take off properly. The flight data recorder has been found, officials said.
Survivors said the jetliner started shaking violently when it reached an altitude of about 100 metres, veering sharply to the left and smashing onto a busy road. But some described a loud bang while the plane was still in flight, followed by a ball of fire.
Soon after dawn Tuesday, transportation experts arrived at the scene and began sifting through the charred wreckage, which was sprawled across the ash-covered street and a row of houses.
"We found the leg of a child and lots of burnt flesh," said air force Lt. Andri, who goes by a single name.
Rajasa asked families of the victims to come to the morgue to help identify the dead, saying forensic experts were having trouble because the bodies were so badly burnt.
"The families know what to look for," he told el-Shinta radio.
Outside the Adam Malik Hospital morgue, around 90 blackened bodies were laid out on yellow sheets under a tent. Sobbing relatives went from corpse to corpse looking for parents, sons and daughters. Others enlisted the help of people who claimed to have paranormal powers.
"I found my son-in-law because I remembered the trousers he was wearing," said Asiyah, 50. "But I cannot find my daughter. I will stay here until I do."
One the victims was a 3-year-old Japanese girl, family members said. The girl, Miyo Watanabe, lived in Jakarta with her Indonesian father and Japanese mother.
Thousands of people gathered to watch Monday, some standing on rooftops and buses, as firefighters struggled in a light drizzle to put out the blaze, which sent thick black smoke high into the air. Several houses and dozens of cars and motorcycles also were engulfed in flames.
"It happened very fast," survivor Rohadi Kamsah Sitepu, 35, told The Associated Press from his hospital bed. "There was an explosion outside the plane followed by huge flames inside the cabin. Then we crashed."
"I struggled to take off my seat belt and then ran through a hole in the fuselage, jumping over charred bodies scattered all over the road," said Sitepu, who escaped with minor bruises to his legs. "It's a miracle I survived. I can't believe it."
The plane was carrying 116 passengers and crew, airline officials said.
Sixteen survived, including an 18-month-old boy and his 32-year-old mother, Fritina, said Mandala spokeswoman Nining, who only goes by one name.
She's not talking much," said Fritina's father, Haji Muhammad Ersani, 62, after visiting the pair in hospital late Monday. "She's in shock. She only remembers that when the plane went down and split apart, she immediately got out and watched as her eldest son was on fire." The boy later died.
From Ninemsn News
Investigators hunted for clues Tuesday as to why an Indonesian jetliner crashed seconds after takeoff, sifting through body parts and bits of flesh as they worked, as weeping families looked for loved ones among dozens of charred bodies laying outside a morgue.
At least 147 people were killed when the Boeing 737-200 crashed Monday in Indonesia's third largest city of Medan, 47 of them on the ground. But 16 passengers survived, including an 18-month-old boy who was shielded in his mother's arms.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was due to tour the crash site and visit survivors and relatives of victims later Tuesday.
Transport Minister Hatta Rajasa said it would be several weeks before the cause of the crash was known, but that investigators would be looking at why the Mandala Airlines plane failed to take off properly. The flight data recorder has been found, officials said.
Survivors said the jetliner started shaking violently when it reached an altitude of about 100 metres, veering sharply to the left and smashing onto a busy road. But some described a loud bang while the plane was still in flight, followed by a ball of fire.
Soon after dawn Tuesday, transportation experts arrived at the scene and began sifting through the charred wreckage, which was sprawled across the ash-covered street and a row of houses.
"We found the leg of a child and lots of burnt flesh," said air force Lt. Andri, who goes by a single name.
Rajasa asked families of the victims to come to the morgue to help identify the dead, saying forensic experts were having trouble because the bodies were so badly burnt.
"The families know what to look for," he told el-Shinta radio.
Outside the Adam Malik Hospital morgue, around 90 blackened bodies were laid out on yellow sheets under a tent. Sobbing relatives went from corpse to corpse looking for parents, sons and daughters. Others enlisted the help of people who claimed to have paranormal powers.
"I found my son-in-law because I remembered the trousers he was wearing," said Asiyah, 50. "But I cannot find my daughter. I will stay here until I do."
One the victims was a 3-year-old Japanese girl, family members said. The girl, Miyo Watanabe, lived in Jakarta with her Indonesian father and Japanese mother.
Thousands of people gathered to watch Monday, some standing on rooftops and buses, as firefighters struggled in a light drizzle to put out the blaze, which sent thick black smoke high into the air. Several houses and dozens of cars and motorcycles also were engulfed in flames.
"It happened very fast," survivor Rohadi Kamsah Sitepu, 35, told The Associated Press from his hospital bed. "There was an explosion outside the plane followed by huge flames inside the cabin. Then we crashed."
"I struggled to take off my seat belt and then ran through a hole in the fuselage, jumping over charred bodies scattered all over the road," said Sitepu, who escaped with minor bruises to his legs. "It's a miracle I survived. I can't believe it."
The plane was carrying 116 passengers and crew, airline officials said.
Sixteen survived, including an 18-month-old boy and his 32-year-old mother, Fritina, said Mandala spokeswoman Nining, who only goes by one name.
She's not talking much," said Fritina's father, Haji Muhammad Ersani, 62, after visiting the pair in hospital late Monday. "She's in shock. She only remembers that when the plane went down and split apart, she immediately got out and watched as her eldest son was on fire." The boy later died.
From Ninemsn News
Monday, September 05, 2005
Indonesia jet crashes on take-off
An Indonesian passenger plane has crashed into a residential area shortly after take-off from the northern city of Medan on Sumatra island.
The aircraft, operated by the low-cost airline Mandala, is said to have been carrying at least 109 passengers.
Witnesses say the plane burst into flames after crashing.
A doctor at the scene who was overseeing the removal of bodies said at least 60 had died. Firefighters are trying to put out the fire.
The Boeing 737 was heading to the Indonesian capital Jakarta when it crashed.
"We're having a hard time getting to the bodies because of the heat," the doctor, Syahrial Anas, told AP.
The exact number of passengers has been put at 109 by Transport Minister Hatta Rajasa, while Metro TV said around 190 were on the jet.
Television images showed firefighters trying to extinguish the fire, and several destroyed vehicles and houses could be seen.
Taken from BBC News
Pretty saddening... lots of plane crashes this yr. More than usual!!! >.<
The aircraft, operated by the low-cost airline Mandala, is said to have been carrying at least 109 passengers.
Witnesses say the plane burst into flames after crashing.
A doctor at the scene who was overseeing the removal of bodies said at least 60 had died. Firefighters are trying to put out the fire.
The Boeing 737 was heading to the Indonesian capital Jakarta when it crashed.
"We're having a hard time getting to the bodies because of the heat," the doctor, Syahrial Anas, told AP.
The exact number of passengers has been put at 109 by Transport Minister Hatta Rajasa, while Metro TV said around 190 were on the jet.
Television images showed firefighters trying to extinguish the fire, and several destroyed vehicles and houses could be seen.
Taken from BBC News
Pretty saddening... lots of plane crashes this yr. More than usual!!! >.<
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Yudhoyono warns of terror attacks
August 29, 2005
Indonesia's president warned that terrorists could launch an attack in the mostly Muslim nation in the next two months, and ordered security forces to step up surveillance.
"We know the terrorists cells are still active, they are still hiding, recruiting, networking, trying to find new funding and even planning ... for another strike," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at a seminar in Jakarta.
Indonesia has been hit by three deadly bombings in the last three years, the former general noted, and has been "fortunate so far not to experience a major terrorist attack" in 2005.
But he warned of possible attacks in September or October, calling them "special months for terrorism."
Yudhoyono did not elaborate, but the al-Qaeda linked Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiah has been blamed for the 2002 bombings on Bali island, the 2003 J W Marriott hotel attack and the 2004 Australian embassy blast that together killed 225.
All occurred between August and October.
While police have arrested scores of militants suspected in the bombings, several alleged leaders - including Malaysians Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top - remain at large, Yudhoyono said.
"We are still actively looking for dangerous bomb-makers," the president said, adding that he had instructed the security minister, the head of the intelligence agency and the police chief to step up anti-terror activities.
Despite the threat, Yudhoyono sought to allay concerns that Indonesia, a traditionally moderate Islamic nation with a secular government, was becoming more hardline.
In recent weeks, the country's highest Muslim body has issued a series of religious edicts banning mixed marriages, religious pluralism, and interfaith prayers - unless a Muslim is leading the service.
The fatwa, and a series of attacks on Christian churches, has raised concern about rising fundamentalism.
"You may read from time to time the voice of small radical groups," Yudhoyono said.
"But this voice will not change the fact that mainstream Indonesia will continue to be moderate, tolerant and democratic."
Yudhoyono was elected president of the nation of 220 million last year after vowing to crackdown on terrorism.
Taken from The Sydney Morning Herald
Indonesia's president warned that terrorists could launch an attack in the mostly Muslim nation in the next two months, and ordered security forces to step up surveillance.
"We know the terrorists cells are still active, they are still hiding, recruiting, networking, trying to find new funding and even planning ... for another strike," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at a seminar in Jakarta.
Indonesia has been hit by three deadly bombings in the last three years, the former general noted, and has been "fortunate so far not to experience a major terrorist attack" in 2005.
But he warned of possible attacks in September or October, calling them "special months for terrorism."
Yudhoyono did not elaborate, but the al-Qaeda linked Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiah has been blamed for the 2002 bombings on Bali island, the 2003 J W Marriott hotel attack and the 2004 Australian embassy blast that together killed 225.
All occurred between August and October.
While police have arrested scores of militants suspected in the bombings, several alleged leaders - including Malaysians Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top - remain at large, Yudhoyono said.
"We are still actively looking for dangerous bomb-makers," the president said, adding that he had instructed the security minister, the head of the intelligence agency and the police chief to step up anti-terror activities.
Despite the threat, Yudhoyono sought to allay concerns that Indonesia, a traditionally moderate Islamic nation with a secular government, was becoming more hardline.
In recent weeks, the country's highest Muslim body has issued a series of religious edicts banning mixed marriages, religious pluralism, and interfaith prayers - unless a Muslim is leading the service.
The fatwa, and a series of attacks on Christian churches, has raised concern about rising fundamentalism.
"You may read from time to time the voice of small radical groups," Yudhoyono said.
"But this voice will not change the fact that mainstream Indonesia will continue to be moderate, tolerant and democratic."
Yudhoyono was elected president of the nation of 220 million last year after vowing to crackdown on terrorism.
Taken from The Sydney Morning Herald
Although the environmental opinion by Robert Kelly isn't big news, I totally agree with planting more greenery - particularly trees - into all cities. I think big cities usually skip planting lots of trees in favour of spending money elsewhere. This is a real shame! More money should be spent on greening up cities.
Not only does it look good and breaks up the colour in a Concrete Jungle, it's better for not only our environment but for our own health!
Not only does it look good and breaks up the colour in a Concrete Jungle, it's better for not only our environment but for our own health!
Clash threatens Aceh peace
By Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
The first confirmed cross-fire involving Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) guerrillas broke out on Sunday, putting a peace deal in the province to a serious test.
No injuries or casualties were reported during the brief gunfight, which occurred in hills near a village in Indrapuri district, Aceh Besar.
The incident come a few days before hundreds of GAM prisoners are set to return home after receiving an amnesty from prosecution.
Later on Sunday, a team comprising representatives from the military, the police and the Initial Monitoring Presence -- a precursor to the international Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) which is to begin operating on Sept. 15 -- went to the site of the incident to investigate.
The team reportedly found a number of bullet shells and three huts up in the hill. It has yet to file a report on the matter.
Both sides immediately accused each other of violating the peace accord signed on Aug. 15 in Helsinki.
Iskandar Muda Military Commander overseeing Aceh Maj. Gen. Supiadin alleged GAM members had breached the peace agreement by carrying weapons in public and firing at government soldiers.
Supiadin said the incident happened when a group of 16 soldiers from the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) were ambushed by the guerrillas while patrolling near Muereu village at around 8:30 a.m.
A military source said the rebels started to open fire from their hideout on the hill.
"We had no option but to retaliate. It took about 10 minutes for our soldiers to regain control. The rebels stopped shooting at us and moved away," the commander of the military's strike force overseeing Aceh Besar, Lt. Col. Irlan Suryadi, said.
Meureu is located about 25 kilometers from the provincial capital of Banda Aceh and is known as a GAM stronghold.
GAM spokesman overseeing Aceh Besar, Tgk. Muchsalmina, confirmed the incident had occurred. However, he accused the TNI of ambushing the soldiers and violating an item in the peace deal that bans patrols beyond a radius of 750 meters from a military post.
Under the peace pact, guerrillas are banned from traveling outside their bases carrying weapons, while troops are to patrol no further than 750 meters from their posts.
"They (the soldiers) violated the clause. They ambushed us and we had no choice but to open fire at them," Muchsalmina said.
He called on the AMM to investigate the case fairly.
AMM chairman Pieter Feith urged TNI and GAM leaders to order their troops to comply with the peace agreement and said commanders from both sides must take the necessary measures to prevent their troops from attacking the other.
The Acehnese Civil Society Task Force (ACSTF) said both parties should also refrain from making statements that could hamper the peace process.
"The peace agreement between the Indonesian government and the GAM is still in its infancy and it requires all of our efforts to hold to it," said Imam Suja, a House of Representatives lawmaker.
"We should learn a lesson from the previous Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) that collapsed within months after both parties committed violations in the field."
That peace agreement signed in December 2002 lasted only five months before the government imposed martial law in Aceh.
Under the Helsinki peace pact, GAM has agreed to surrender 840 firearms between Sept. 15 and the end of the year, while during the same period the military is required to pull out troops in proportion to the surrendered weapons.
Taken from The Jakarta Post
The first confirmed cross-fire involving Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) guerrillas broke out on Sunday, putting a peace deal in the province to a serious test.
No injuries or casualties were reported during the brief gunfight, which occurred in hills near a village in Indrapuri district, Aceh Besar.
The incident come a few days before hundreds of GAM prisoners are set to return home after receiving an amnesty from prosecution.
Later on Sunday, a team comprising representatives from the military, the police and the Initial Monitoring Presence -- a precursor to the international Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) which is to begin operating on Sept. 15 -- went to the site of the incident to investigate.
The team reportedly found a number of bullet shells and three huts up in the hill. It has yet to file a report on the matter.
Both sides immediately accused each other of violating the peace accord signed on Aug. 15 in Helsinki.
Iskandar Muda Military Commander overseeing Aceh Maj. Gen. Supiadin alleged GAM members had breached the peace agreement by carrying weapons in public and firing at government soldiers.
Supiadin said the incident happened when a group of 16 soldiers from the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) were ambushed by the guerrillas while patrolling near Muereu village at around 8:30 a.m.
A military source said the rebels started to open fire from their hideout on the hill.
"We had no option but to retaliate. It took about 10 minutes for our soldiers to regain control. The rebels stopped shooting at us and moved away," the commander of the military's strike force overseeing Aceh Besar, Lt. Col. Irlan Suryadi, said.
Meureu is located about 25 kilometers from the provincial capital of Banda Aceh and is known as a GAM stronghold.
GAM spokesman overseeing Aceh Besar, Tgk. Muchsalmina, confirmed the incident had occurred. However, he accused the TNI of ambushing the soldiers and violating an item in the peace deal that bans patrols beyond a radius of 750 meters from a military post.
Under the peace pact, guerrillas are banned from traveling outside their bases carrying weapons, while troops are to patrol no further than 750 meters from their posts.
"They (the soldiers) violated the clause. They ambushed us and we had no choice but to open fire at them," Muchsalmina said.
He called on the AMM to investigate the case fairly.
AMM chairman Pieter Feith urged TNI and GAM leaders to order their troops to comply with the peace agreement and said commanders from both sides must take the necessary measures to prevent their troops from attacking the other.
The Acehnese Civil Society Task Force (ACSTF) said both parties should also refrain from making statements that could hamper the peace process.
"The peace agreement between the Indonesian government and the GAM is still in its infancy and it requires all of our efforts to hold to it," said Imam Suja, a House of Representatives lawmaker.
"We should learn a lesson from the previous Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) that collapsed within months after both parties committed violations in the field."
That peace agreement signed in December 2002 lasted only five months before the government imposed martial law in Aceh.
Under the Helsinki peace pact, GAM has agreed to surrender 840 firearms between Sept. 15 and the end of the year, while during the same period the military is required to pull out troops in proportion to the surrendered weapons.
Taken from The Jakarta Post
Regreening the city desert
Believe it or not, Jakarta used to be a green city. Surrounded by lush jungle during its early colonial history, even as late as the 1950s large swathes of the suburbs consisted of farmland.
No longer, of course. Since independence, the twin forces of economic development and population growth have literally bulldozed their way through the city's greenery. For every area that has managed to retain some of its old charm -- Pasar Rebo, Cilincing or Kuningan, for example -- there are far more that have become urban deserts.
And that is becoming a serious problem. Trees are natural air purifiers: A healthy tree can filter out as many as seven thousand dust and smoke particles per liter of air, ridding the atmosphere of substances directly linked to respiratory disease. Trees can reduce storm-water flows by intercepting rainfall and absorbing moisture from the ground.
And, as Seoul discovered when it planted 15 million trees in the run-up to the 2002 World Cup, trees can noticeably cool the urban environment, by providing shade and by evaporating water from leaves. Suitably situated trees can lower a building's air conditioning requirements by up to 70 percent each year -- of clear value to a government currently grappling with an energy crisis.
In short, trees simultaneously address three of Jakarta's principal problems: Air pollution, flooding and energy consumption. So why are they fast becoming an endangered species in the capital?
Government initiatives to stem the tide have proved largely ineffective. It's difficult to see how Jakarta's "cleanliness, beauty and coolness" have improved since the Regional Development Planning Board chose to highlight them in 1981. President Soeharto's "Year Of The Environment" in 1993 and President Megawati Soekarnoputri's "Green Jakarta" program ten years later do not appear to have had long-lasting effects. Green areas now account for barely 10 percent of Jakarta's surface area: compare that with the 38 percent coverage boasted by Beijing, a city not unfamiliar with rapid development.
By some measures, Jakarta is now the third most polluted city in the world, after Bangkok and Mexico City. The city is constantly bathed in a visible haze of harmful pollutants: Sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone and smoke. According to the City Environmental Management Agency (BPLDH), Jakarta experienced just 26 days of "good" air quality in 2003.
Flooding is also worsening, exacerbated by the city's natural "sponges" -- swamps, woodland, lakes -- being progressively built over by impermeable concrete. In a city where just 3 percent of the population is directly connected to a sewer system, overflowing rivers and roadside trenches represent a real public health hazard.
Addressing Jakarta's environmental problems is clearly a major task, requiring the coordinated efforts of national and provincial government. The pressures are daunting. Jakarta can expect continued population growth in the years to come, and vehicle emissions, responsible for three-quarters of the city's air pollution, are growing by 5 percent each year.
But there are positive signs. Lapangan Merdeka and Senayan sports complex represent notable oases in Jakarta's urban desert. Further out, Ancol recreation area, Ragunan Zoo, Cibubur camping area and Taman Mini all provide valuable opportunities for Jakarta's residents to relax in green surroundings.
And solutions do exist to Jakarta's environmental problems. For example, the Clean Air Program, part of the city's Five Year Regional Development Plan, envisages more stringent vehicle emission controls. Pilot studies have shown that proper testing of buses and taxis can reduce their emissions by up to 90 percent.
But the most effective environmental tool at the government's disposal may also be one of the most straightforward to implement: Simply plant more trees.
Beijing, facing many of the same problems as Jakarta, has turned to a massive tree-planting program to help clean up its environment in time for the 2008 Olympics. All large roads and boulevards in Beijing have now been planted with rows of at least two tree species, and seven vast areas of vegetation -- with a combined area of 175 square kilometers -- are being established between the city center and the suburbs. The intention is to dedicate 43 percent of the city's total land area to trees and vegetation by 2008: That's more than Washington, DC, which has long prided itself on being one of America's greenest cities.
Jakarta would have much to gain by following Beijing's example. By launching a concerted program of tree-planting along roadsides, river banks and in other public spaces, and by offering subsidized trees to firms and private households for planting in office complexes and gardens, Jakarta could return to its historical roots and, once again, become a truly green city.
By Robert Kelly, Jakarta. Taken from The Jakarta Post.
No longer, of course. Since independence, the twin forces of economic development and population growth have literally bulldozed their way through the city's greenery. For every area that has managed to retain some of its old charm -- Pasar Rebo, Cilincing or Kuningan, for example -- there are far more that have become urban deserts.
And that is becoming a serious problem. Trees are natural air purifiers: A healthy tree can filter out as many as seven thousand dust and smoke particles per liter of air, ridding the atmosphere of substances directly linked to respiratory disease. Trees can reduce storm-water flows by intercepting rainfall and absorbing moisture from the ground.
And, as Seoul discovered when it planted 15 million trees in the run-up to the 2002 World Cup, trees can noticeably cool the urban environment, by providing shade and by evaporating water from leaves. Suitably situated trees can lower a building's air conditioning requirements by up to 70 percent each year -- of clear value to a government currently grappling with an energy crisis.
In short, trees simultaneously address three of Jakarta's principal problems: Air pollution, flooding and energy consumption. So why are they fast becoming an endangered species in the capital?
Government initiatives to stem the tide have proved largely ineffective. It's difficult to see how Jakarta's "cleanliness, beauty and coolness" have improved since the Regional Development Planning Board chose to highlight them in 1981. President Soeharto's "Year Of The Environment" in 1993 and President Megawati Soekarnoputri's "Green Jakarta" program ten years later do not appear to have had long-lasting effects. Green areas now account for barely 10 percent of Jakarta's surface area: compare that with the 38 percent coverage boasted by Beijing, a city not unfamiliar with rapid development.
By some measures, Jakarta is now the third most polluted city in the world, after Bangkok and Mexico City. The city is constantly bathed in a visible haze of harmful pollutants: Sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone and smoke. According to the City Environmental Management Agency (BPLDH), Jakarta experienced just 26 days of "good" air quality in 2003.
Flooding is also worsening, exacerbated by the city's natural "sponges" -- swamps, woodland, lakes -- being progressively built over by impermeable concrete. In a city where just 3 percent of the population is directly connected to a sewer system, overflowing rivers and roadside trenches represent a real public health hazard.
Addressing Jakarta's environmental problems is clearly a major task, requiring the coordinated efforts of national and provincial government. The pressures are daunting. Jakarta can expect continued population growth in the years to come, and vehicle emissions, responsible for three-quarters of the city's air pollution, are growing by 5 percent each year.
But there are positive signs. Lapangan Merdeka and Senayan sports complex represent notable oases in Jakarta's urban desert. Further out, Ancol recreation area, Ragunan Zoo, Cibubur camping area and Taman Mini all provide valuable opportunities for Jakarta's residents to relax in green surroundings.
And solutions do exist to Jakarta's environmental problems. For example, the Clean Air Program, part of the city's Five Year Regional Development Plan, envisages more stringent vehicle emission controls. Pilot studies have shown that proper testing of buses and taxis can reduce their emissions by up to 90 percent.
But the most effective environmental tool at the government's disposal may also be one of the most straightforward to implement: Simply plant more trees.
Beijing, facing many of the same problems as Jakarta, has turned to a massive tree-planting program to help clean up its environment in time for the 2008 Olympics. All large roads and boulevards in Beijing have now been planted with rows of at least two tree species, and seven vast areas of vegetation -- with a combined area of 175 square kilometers -- are being established between the city center and the suburbs. The intention is to dedicate 43 percent of the city's total land area to trees and vegetation by 2008: That's more than Washington, DC, which has long prided itself on being one of America's greenest cities.
Jakarta would have much to gain by following Beijing's example. By launching a concerted program of tree-planting along roadsides, river banks and in other public spaces, and by offering subsidized trees to firms and private households for planting in office complexes and gardens, Jakarta could return to its historical roots and, once again, become a truly green city.
By Robert Kelly, Jakarta. Taken from The Jakarta Post.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
[I think last semester I posted up an article about a few people being infected by Polio in Indonesia, which hasn't been in the country for years. This is the follow up of what Indonesia is doing to prevent Polio.]
Indonesia begins huge polio drive
Article by Ania Lichtarowicz
Indonesia is launching its largest ever immunisation campaign against polio, which is expected to reach 24 million children under the age of five.
The country was free of the disease for 10 years - but in March 2005 the virus paralysed a 20-month-old boy in Java.
Since then 225 Indonesian children have been paralysed by polio which was imported from Sudan.
The World Health Organization warns the virus could spread to countries like Malaysia, China and the Philippines.
Setback
More than 750,000 health care workers and volunteers are involved in the initiative stretching across 6,000 islands in Indonesia.
If the virus was to spread to other countries, this would be another setback for the global polio eradication initiative.
Since 2003, 18 previously polio-free countries have been re-infected with the virus.
Two more vaccination campaigns are planned in September and November, by which point the world will know if the target of stopping transmission by the end of this year will be met.
Taken from BBC News
Indonesia begins huge polio drive
Article by Ania Lichtarowicz
Indonesia is launching its largest ever immunisation campaign against polio, which is expected to reach 24 million children under the age of five.
The country was free of the disease for 10 years - but in March 2005 the virus paralysed a 20-month-old boy in Java.
Since then 225 Indonesian children have been paralysed by polio which was imported from Sudan.
The World Health Organization warns the virus could spread to countries like Malaysia, China and the Philippines.
Setback
More than 750,000 health care workers and volunteers are involved in the initiative stretching across 6,000 islands in Indonesia.
If the virus was to spread to other countries, this would be another setback for the global polio eradication initiative.
Since 2003, 18 previously polio-free countries have been re-infected with the virus.
Two more vaccination campaigns are planned in September and November, by which point the world will know if the target of stopping transmission by the end of this year will be met.
Taken from BBC News
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Aussies flout law: Bali drug pushers target tourists
AUSTRALIAN tourists continue to flout Indonesia's harsh and unforgiving drug laws, despite the risk of a 15-year jail term.
An investigation by The Sunday Times found Australian tourists were ignoring the fate of Schapelle Corby, the Bali Nine and now model Michelle Leslie, and remain the "best customers" for drugs, according to Bali's street dealers.
The investigation revealed the trade was flourishing, with tourists buying ecstasy pills and marijuana from roadside dealers and in nightclubs.
Many young Australians still believe that minor transgressions – buying an ecstasy pill or smoking marijuana – will be leniently dealt with or even ignored by Balinese authorities.
Some believe they can bribe their way out of trouble if they are caught.
Within hours of arriving in Bali, Australians are targeted by street dealers who openly tout for business, despite a police anti-drug campaign.
One drug supplier told The Sunday Times that business was booming with young backpackers.
"For now, we are busy because many tourists now come," he said through an interpreter.
He said he sold marijuana, ecstasy and shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine) to dealers who distributed it on the streets or at bars and nightclubs to tourists, mainly Australians.
"They are almost always Australians. Ecstasy is the most popular," he said.
The Sunday Times was approached in broad daylight on five occasions in six minutes to buy drugs. The offers continued later in the evening.
A 21-year-old Perth man said he and his mate bought two ecstasy pills on Wednesday night from a taxi driver in Kuta.
"I thought if I get caught I'd just pay the cops off," he said.
"We're probably going to get some more tomorrow."
He said he was aware of the arrest of Miss Leslie, though he thought she had been caught on the plane over.
"I was a bit worried, but it was four in the morning, we were drunk and we made sure there were no cops following us. Then as soon as we got them we munched them straight away," he said.
On Kuta's streets, an ecstasy pill costs about 125,000 Indonesia rupiah (about $A16), a small bag of marijuana 300 rupiah and shabu-shabu 300,000 rupiah ($A38).
The drug supplier named a bar and a nightclub in Kuta, frequented by Australians, where ecstasy and marijuana were openly sold by street dealers and even staff.
He said the pushers knew who to target.
"They ask them, `Do you want something?' and then they take you outside and get the deal."
But he said dealers had been forced to be more careful because of increasing police stings. He said on most occasions when tourists were nabbed they could bribe their way out. But Bali police were occasionally looking for a "trophy prize", such as this week's arrest of Miss Leslie.
Adolescent psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg said that when young people travelled to countries like Bali they entered a kind of suspended reality, which made them "incredibly susceptible" to drug pushers.
"I think they genuinely believe that nothing will ever happen to them," Dr Carr-Gregg said.
"This is an age of immense naivety and their capacity to weigh up risks and to make an intelligent assessment is not yet fully formed."
Sydney couple Matt Dyke, 25, and Sam Kerr, 20, were overwhelmed by offers of drugs.
"They come up to us at least every day," Mr Dyke said.
"It's mostly the people on the street. They go, `Transport, transport' and then, `Marijuana, magic mushrooms. Good price'. "
It was the couple's first overseas trip and their families had drummed into them the need to be careful.
"Considering the laws here and the death penalty, it's pretty frequently offered. It's out of control," he said.
Taken from The Sunday Times (28 August 2005)
An investigation by The Sunday Times found Australian tourists were ignoring the fate of Schapelle Corby, the Bali Nine and now model Michelle Leslie, and remain the "best customers" for drugs, according to Bali's street dealers.
The investigation revealed the trade was flourishing, with tourists buying ecstasy pills and marijuana from roadside dealers and in nightclubs.
Many young Australians still believe that minor transgressions – buying an ecstasy pill or smoking marijuana – will be leniently dealt with or even ignored by Balinese authorities.
Some believe they can bribe their way out of trouble if they are caught.
Within hours of arriving in Bali, Australians are targeted by street dealers who openly tout for business, despite a police anti-drug campaign.
One drug supplier told The Sunday Times that business was booming with young backpackers.
"For now, we are busy because many tourists now come," he said through an interpreter.
He said he sold marijuana, ecstasy and shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine) to dealers who distributed it on the streets or at bars and nightclubs to tourists, mainly Australians.
"They are almost always Australians. Ecstasy is the most popular," he said.
The Sunday Times was approached in broad daylight on five occasions in six minutes to buy drugs. The offers continued later in the evening.
A 21-year-old Perth man said he and his mate bought two ecstasy pills on Wednesday night from a taxi driver in Kuta.
"I thought if I get caught I'd just pay the cops off," he said.
"We're probably going to get some more tomorrow."
He said he was aware of the arrest of Miss Leslie, though he thought she had been caught on the plane over.
"I was a bit worried, but it was four in the morning, we were drunk and we made sure there were no cops following us. Then as soon as we got them we munched them straight away," he said.
On Kuta's streets, an ecstasy pill costs about 125,000 Indonesia rupiah (about $A16), a small bag of marijuana 300 rupiah and shabu-shabu 300,000 rupiah ($A38).
The drug supplier named a bar and a nightclub in Kuta, frequented by Australians, where ecstasy and marijuana were openly sold by street dealers and even staff.
He said the pushers knew who to target.
"They ask them, `Do you want something?' and then they take you outside and get the deal."
But he said dealers had been forced to be more careful because of increasing police stings. He said on most occasions when tourists were nabbed they could bribe their way out. But Bali police were occasionally looking for a "trophy prize", such as this week's arrest of Miss Leslie.
Adolescent psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg said that when young people travelled to countries like Bali they entered a kind of suspended reality, which made them "incredibly susceptible" to drug pushers.
"I think they genuinely believe that nothing will ever happen to them," Dr Carr-Gregg said.
"This is an age of immense naivety and their capacity to weigh up risks and to make an intelligent assessment is not yet fully formed."
Sydney couple Matt Dyke, 25, and Sam Kerr, 20, were overwhelmed by offers of drugs.
"They come up to us at least every day," Mr Dyke said.
"It's mostly the people on the street. They go, `Transport, transport' and then, `Marijuana, magic mushrooms. Good price'. "
It was the couple's first overseas trip and their families had drummed into them the need to be careful.
"Considering the laws here and the death penalty, it's pretty frequently offered. It's out of control," he said.
Taken from The Sunday Times (28 August 2005)
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