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Indonesia & East Timor Digest

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June 2, 2001

Straits Times - June 2, 2001

Robert Go, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid's latest move to avert dishonour yesterday included the appointment of Mr Baharudin Lopa – a loyalist who legislators said would at once dig up corruption cases against opposition leaders – as Indonesia's new Attorney-General.

Straits Times - June 2, 2001

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid had long distrusted three of the four Cabinet ministers he sacked yesterday, regarding them as potential "traitors" to his government, one of his close family members said.

South China Morning Post - June 2, 2001

Vaudine England, Jakarta – When President Abdurrahman Wahid feels cornered, he will lash out and strike his opponents.

Sydney Morning Herald - June 2, 2001

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Indonesia's political crisis was close to spinning out of control last night after an increasingly isolated President Wahid, desperate to fend off impeachment, sacked four ministers.

Tempo - June 26-July 2, 2001

Wens Manggut and Andari Karina Anom – Where are all the laughter and hand clapping of yesteryear? They have all but disappeared from Golkar's party headquarters in Slipi, West Jakarta. It's as if the former political vehicle of the Suharto regime is black and blue, within and without.

Tempo - June 26-July 2, 2001

Karaniya Dharmasaputra, Adi Prasetya and Wens Manggut – Suddenly the move to force an early session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to impeach President Abdurrahman Wahid is grinding to a halt.

Jakarta Post - June 2, 2001

Bogor – Democratic People's Party (PRD) chairman Budiman Sudjatmiko alleged on Friday that the recent explosions at his parents' home in the Sukaresmi subdistrict of Tanah Sareal was a premeditated act of terror.

Indonesian Observer - June 2, 2001

Jakarta – Students of the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) were involved in clashes yesterday with Police and Military who were tasked to safeguard Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri during her visit to the ITB campus to inaugurate a statue of Soekarno, Indonesias first president which was erected on the campus where he studied technical science and obtained his diploma from.

June 1, 2001

Straits Times - June 1, 2001

Surabaya – Protesters in East Java have admitted that they were paid to hit the streets in support of President Abdurrahman Wahid, local police said.

Jakarta Post - June 1, 2001

Surabaya – As many as 150 people were reported missing in the town of Pasuruan on Thursday as life gradually returned to normal following an interfaith meeting between senior local ulemas and Christian clergymen on Wednesday evening.

UN News - June 1, 2001

The United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) today reported that the grenade attack that killed five people along the East/West Timor border last week was the result of a private dispute between a militia member and a gambling ring organizer.

Straits Times - June 1, 2001

Robert Go, Jakarta – Without clear leadership at the top, Indonesia's bureaucracy could break down over the next two lame-duck months, analysts warned. The predictions came despite assurances from senior officials at various ministries, who claim the government will carry on despite impeachment proceedings against President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Straits Times - June 1, 2001

Susan Sim, Jakarta – Do not say anything, just focus on the G-15 meeting and your new grandson – that is the advice key Cabinet ministers are giving the President the day after impeachment became an inescapable reality.

Associated Press - June 1, 2001 (slightly abridged)

Hongkong – Despite feeling uneasy over the recent political turmoil in Indonesia, the head of the International Monetary Fund yesterday said he was willing to work with any new policymakers chosen by the nation.

Sydney Morning Herald - June 1, 2001

Hamish McDonald – As Megawati Sukarnoputri edges closer to assuming the Indonesian presidency, she has given some signs of a more conciliatory approach to Australia and breakaway East Timor than indicated so far by her huffy nationalist stance in public.

Sydney Morning Herald - June 1, 2001

Hamish McDonald – Warning of a new financial crisis in Indonesia, the Federal Opposition yesterday urged a softer approach by international lenders to the country's huge debt burden left by the collapsed Soeharto regime.

South China Morning Post - June 1, 2001

Reuters in Sydney – With President Wahid fighting for his political survival and his supporters vowing to lay down their lives for him, aid agencies are preparing for a humanitarian crisis.

Jeremy Hobbs, executive director of Oxfam Community Aid Abroad, said the Australian charity already had contingency plans for a humanitarian catastrophe.

Jakarta Post - June 1, 2001 (abridged)

Medan – The Medan District Court, under heavy security, began on Thursday the trial of Ligadinsyah, alias Azis bin Ibrahim Linggo, believed to be the deputy commander of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) for the Central Aceh area.

Jakarta Post - June 1, 2001

Bogor – There was a second explosion at the house of the parents of Budiman Sudjatmiko, chairman of the People's Democratic Party (PRD), in the village of Sukaresmi here on Thursday, following an explosion a day earlier.

Agence France Presse - June 1, 2001

Washington – The United States said it was watching events in Indonesia closely as it faces a test to its democracy, and called on the country's leaders to solve its political crisis through peaceful, constitutional means.

US State Department spokesman Philip Reeker told reporters that Washington was "watching events in Indonesia very closely".

Aidwatch Briefing Notes - June 2001

By Tim Anderson for AID/WATCH

1. World Bank dictating terms of development in East Timor

May 31, 2001

Agence France Presse - May 31, 2001

Banda Aceh – Fifteen people were killed or found dead in two days in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province, as rebels and the military traded accusations over the torching of scores of homes, authorities and residents said Thursday.

Australia Financial Review - May 31, 2001

Brendan Pearson – East Timor's bounty from Timor Gap oil and gas revenues may hit $US1 ($1.95 billion) billion annually this decade, East Timor's interim Foreign Minister, Dr Jose Ramos Horta, said yesterday.

Sydney Morning Herald - May 31, 2001

Mark Dodd, Dili – A dispute over illegal trade on the East Timor border with Indonesian West Timor is thought to have caused a series of grenade attacks on Tuesday that left at least five people dead and about 40 injured, United Nations military sources say.

Australian Financial Review - May 31, 2001

Jakarta – Indonesia's intelligence agency has named a prominent Australian academic as a potential security threat, in the latest sign of the Megawati government's heightened sensitivity to criticism ahead of the July presidential election.

Jakarta Post - May 31, 2001

Jakarta – Some 10,000 supporters of President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid occupied on Wednesday the office of Situbondo local administration in East Java, paralyzing government activities in the coastal town.

May 30, 2001

Jakarta Post - May 30, 2001

Surabaya – Security forces fired warning shots into the air in an attempt to disperse thousands of supporters of President Abdurrahman Wahid who tried to forcibly enter the provincial legislative council building here on Tuesday.

Green Left Weekly - May 30, 2001

Max Lane, Jakarta – If opponents of President Abdurrahman Wahid have their way, when it meets on May 30 the Indonesian parliament will call a special session of the People's Consultative Assembly, the only body which has the power to impeach and oust the president, for as early as late July.

Jakarta Post - May 30, 2001

Jakarta – A day ahead of the much-anticipated plenary session of the House of Representatives (DPR), thousands of President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid supporters staged a protest at Monas (the National Monument) in Central Jakarta on Tuesday.

Green Left Weekly - May 30, 2001

Max Lane, Jakarta – More than 500 people, Acehnese and Indonesians, attended a series of lively debates and cultural events at conference organised by the Acehnese People's Democratic Resistance Front (FPDRA) and the Popular Youth Movement (GPK), a youth organisation in political solidarity with the People's Democratic Party (PRD), held May 18-20.

Agence France Presse - May 30, 2001

London – Human rights abuses emerged in East Timor last year amid delays in rebuilding the territory after the bloody destruction carried out by Indonesian forces, Amnesty International said Wednesday.

International Herald Tribune - May 30, 2001

Mark Dodd, Dili – East Timor In an effort to mend an economy devastated by the violence that accompanied the Indonesian withdrawal in 1999, the United Nations transitional administration in East Timor is trying to get the American dollar widely accepted as the only legal tender.

UN Department of Public Information - May 30, 2001

The death toll in yesterday's attack along the border between East and West Timor has reached five, with up to 40 people injured, the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) confirmed today.

May 29, 2001

Jakarta Post - May 29, 2001

Jakarta – Pro-democracy activists, alarmed of strong signs of a reappearance of the military within politics, warned the Indonesian Military (TNI) on Monday not to enter the political contest, saying that this would be the biggest contribution it could make to democracy.

Suara Timor Lorosae - May 29, 2001

A group of GNR (Guarda Nacional Republicana) [a security arm of Civpol], on Monday, fired warning shots at a group of RDTL supporters and activists at the border of Metinaro and Manatuto. Sixteen people were injured in clashes with the GNR and seven are receiving treatment at the Baucau General Hospital.

May 28, 2001

Straits Times - May 28, 2001

Jakarta – The city's hospitals are struggling to admit new patients and are having a hard time treating existing ones because a collapsed dike has caused a shortage in clean water supplies.

Jakarta Post - May 28, 2001

Surabaya – East Java authorities have stepped up precaution measures in anticipation of possible unrest resulting from the heightened tension between members of political elite in Jakarta.

Governor Imam Utomo called a crisis meeting with Brawijaya Military commander Maj. Gen. Sudi Silalahi, provincial police chief Insp. Gen.

Sydney Morning Herald - May 28, 2001

Mark Dodd, Gleno – Ironically, it is neglect which has produced independent East Timor's first major export crop: world-class organic, forest-grown coffee.

Reuters - May 28, 2001

Jakarta – Hundreds of enraged supporters of beleaguered Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid on Monday attacked buildings linked to rival politicians and burned tyres in the cleric's stronghold of East Java, local Metro TV reported.

Sydney Morning Herald - May 28, 2001

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Abandoned by almost all of Jakarta's political elite, some of whom think he has lost grasp of reality, Abdurrahman Wahid is showing there is little he will not do to remain president.

Agence France Presse - May 28, 2001

Jakarta – A key independence leader in Indonesia's remote Irian Jaya province told a court trying him for alleged subversion Monday that the province was already independent, his lawyer said.

"Theys Eluay told the court that the state of Papua has existed since December 1, 1961," defence lawyer Anum Siregar, using the locally-preferred name for the province, told AFP.

May 24, 2001

Far Eastern Economic Review - May 24, 2001

John McBeth, Jakarta – The Indonesian military is in a sorry state at a bad time. Many of its aircraft can't take to the skies, most of its ships are stuck in port and spare parts and technical assistance are hard to find. Poor logistics and maintenance only add to the catalogue of problems.

Straits Times - May 24, 2001

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Indonesia's six-week-old crackdown on Aceh's separatist rebels is as bad as any experienced during the worst years of the military operation conducted under the rule of former President Suharto, residents say. But the bloodshed has done little to dent the separatist movement or to capture the "hearts and minds" of the Acehnese people.

May 23, 2001

Straits Times - May 23, 2001

Jakarta – Illegal loggers are suspected of moving border posts between Indonesia and Malaysia in the rainforests of Borneo island, causing Indonesia to lose some territory, the government said yesterday.

Tempo - May 23, 2001

Jakarta – Deputy Speaker of House of Representative (DPR) for Political and Security Affairs, Sutardjo Surjoguritno, and House Commission II received representatives of organizations that demand the DPR disband Golkar Party today.

Sydney Morning Herald - May 23, 2001

Mark Dodd, Dili – Only 5 per cent of East Timorese understand the purpose of the United Nations-organised election to be held on August 30, a voter education survey released yesterday found. Most thought they would be choosing a president rather than an assembly.

Green Left Weekly - May 23, 2001

Jon Land – The World Bank has been prominent in East Timor's transition to full independence – so prominent in fact that the country now faces a looming struggle about whether the institution's neo-liberal economic model, so renowned for the hardship it has caused other poor countries, will be imposed on East Timor too.

Detik - May 23, 2001

Hestiana Dharmastuti/HD, Jakarta – On Wednesday, around 200 workers came to the Vice President Palace. They are demanding the disbandment of the Labour and Transmigration Ministry. Besides that, they are demanding to withdraw the Minister of Labour and Transmigration decree, (Kepmennakertrans) Number 78/Men/2001.

Agence France Presse - May 23, 2001

Banda Aceh – Four people, including two rebels and a soldier, were killed in the latest violence in Indonesia's Aceh province as clashes continued between separatist rebels and government troops, a report said here Wednesday.

Straits Times - May 23, 2001

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Indonesia's military chief Admiral Widodo Adisucipto, seeking to defuse tensions that could trigger sporadic violence across the archipelago, called on the country's squabbling political elite to strike a compromise.