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Indonesia & East Timor Digest

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June 21, 2002

Reuters - June 21, 2002

Melbourne – Following are key facts about the Timor Gap treaty, oil and gas developments in the Timor Sea and Australia's need for a new gas supply.

Treaty

Jakarta Post - June 21, 2002

Kupang – Former commander of a East Timorese pro-Jakarta militia group (PPI) Joao da Silva Tavares and his almost 35,000 followers are expected to return home to East Timor soon.

June 20, 2002

Jakarta Post - June 20, 2002

Jakarta – As many as 191 legislators received loans worth Rp 40 million each from the off-budget Presidential Aid Fund (Banpres) during the leadership of former president Soeharto but have not repaid the money in full, a legislator said Wednesday.

Kyodo - June 20, 2002

Kupang – The Indonesian military has detained an East Timorese soldier for illegally entering the Indonesian territory of West Timor to seek his family, a local military commander said Thursday.

Jakarta Post - June 20, 2002

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Newly installed Indonesian Military (TNI) Chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto issued a strong warning to secessionist movements on Wednesday, saying that efforts to separate from the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia would be crushed with military operations.

Associated Press - June 20, 2002

Jakarta – A bullet that killed a Supreme Court judge came from one of six guns found at homes owned by former president Suharto's youngest son Tommy, a police colonel said yesterday.

Jakarta Post - June 20, 2002

Kel Dummett – As the independence celebrations begin to subside in East Timor, it certainly is timely for Australia to take a sober look at its foreign policy, especially regarding its immediate neighbors. To this end the Australian Government's planned White Paper on foreign policy is welcome.

Jakarta Post - June 20, 2002

Jupriadi, Makassar – At least three people have been killed, four seriously injured, and more than one hundred houses burned down following a communal clash between residents of Cappasolo and Padang villages in East Malangke subdistrict, North Luwu regency, South Sulawesi, since Monday.

Lusa - June 20, 2002

Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, charging opposition legislators were hobbling action by East Timor's government, warned Thursday he might use his broad Fretilin party majority to rush through urgent legislation.

Straits Times - June 20, 2002

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Investigation into several corruption scandals is proving extremely embarrassing not just for a handful of politicians alleged to have diverted or accepted state funds but even for the media.

Agence France Presse - June 20, 2002

A soldier, four suspected separatist rebels and a village chief have been killed in the latest violence in Indonesia's Aceh province, the military and police said.

An army sergeant and a rebel were killed in a gunfight at Hagu Bara Laut near Lhokseumawe in North Aceh on Wednesday, said Aceh military spokesman Major Zaenal Muttaqin.

Jakarta Post - June 20, 2002

Moch. N. Kurniawan and Yogita Tahilramani, Jakarta – Though hailed as democratic, Indonesia's 1999 elections could hardly be called credible with a dismal record of 2,400 election campaign violations, including bribery, vote-rigging and extortion among its other vices.

Lusa - June 20, 2002

East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao said Thursday that he was opposed to any Timorese receiving compensation or war reparations for violence commited during the Indonesian occupation and 1999 militia rampage, as "sentiments cannot be sold".

Agence France Presse - June 20, 2002

Bhimanto Suwastoyo, Jakarta – Survivors of a bloody 1999 attack on East Timorese independence supporters told Indonesia's human rights court Thursday how they fled or feigned death to escape rampaging pro-Jakarta militiamen.

Agence France Presse - June 20, 2002

Jakarta – Indonesia's military will cooperate with any country, including the United States, in the global war on terror provided such ties do not damage the national interest, the new armed forces chief said yesterday.

Jakarta Post - June 20, 2002

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – Two former top security officers in charge of East Timor testified at the ad hoc East Timor human rights trial on Wednesday, insisting that the task of creating peace and order before, during and after the 1999 independence ballot was simply out of their hands.

Asia Pulse - June 20, 2002

Jakarta – Customs and Excise Director General Permana Agung said that a recommendation by the International Monetary Fund to reappoint a surveyor to handle export and import examination to cope with rampant smuggling was disappointing.

Jakarta Post - June 20, 2002

Indramayu, West Java – Temporary workers at the Balongan, West Java, oil refinery of state oil and gas company Pertamina staged their second day of protest over demands for higher wages on Wednesday.

A Pertamina spokesman said the protests did not disrupt operations at Balongan, which supplies the bulk of Jakarta's fuel.

Radio Australia - June 20, 2002

Some 40 protesters have picketed Indonesia's parliament, calling on the government to launch an independent investigation into the murder of Papuan pro-independence leader, Theys Eluay.

The demonstrators, some of whom wore the province's traditional dress, demanded the government form an international investigation commission.

June 19, 2002

SBS Dateline - June 19, 2002

After the pain of losing East Timor, Indonesia is determined it will never lose Aceh, the resource rich western- most province in the archipelago.

Straits Times - June 19, 2002

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Despite a growing debate over its political role, Indonesia's military has said that it does not want to quit the legislature in 2004.

Radio Australia - June 19, 2002

[The nation of East Timor is barely a month old, yet already the issue of separation of church and state has reared its ugly head – in the person of Bishop Carlos Belo. East Timorese spiritual leader and joint winner of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, Bishop Belo, was in a belligerent mood recently after he read an article that criticised him and the Catholic Church.

Jakarta Post - June 19, 2002

Tiarma Siboro and Oktovianus Pinontoan, Jakarta/Ambon – Pattimura (Maluku) military commander and chief of Security Restoration Operations Maj. Gen. Djoko Santoso has blamed the prolonged conflict in the Maluku city of Ambon on military deserters.

Djoko pledged on Tuesday he would soon arrest the perpetrators in an operation currently under way.

Jakarta Post - June 19, 2002

Jupriadi, Poso – Six months after the signing of the Malino peace deal the situation in the Central Sulawesi town of Poso is returning to normal, despite the recent series of incidents that have claimed dozens of lives.

Radio Australia - June 19, 2002

[The Dutch Government claims it has secured an agreement from Indonesia that it will continue to investigate the murder of a Dutch journalist in East Timor, almost three years ago.

Associated Presse - June 19, 2002

Irwan Firdaus, Jakarta – Sitting silently in a packed courtroom, two current and one former Indonesian official listened Wednesday as prosecutors accused them of allowing a mob to kill refugees hiding in an East Timor church in 1999.

Jakarta Post - June 19, 2002

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – Sea transportation between Bakauheni in Lampung province and Merak in Banten province could be paralyzed soon as the local union of ferry operators has threatened to stop services until the authorities meet their demands to increase ferry fares.

Jakarta Post - June 19, 2002

Tangerang – Some 1500 workers of PT Indorama, a garment producer on Jl. Imam Bonjol in Tangerang, staged a rally at the municipal administration office on Tuesday, demanding an improvement to their welfare.

Jakarta Post - June 19, 2002

Max Lane – The debate about extending Indonesia's relationship with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) between Minister Kwik Kian Gie, in charge of the National Economic Planning Board and the other ministers in President Megawati Soekarnoputri's Cabinet is an important development in Indonesian politics and the debate on development strategy.

Jakarta Post - June 19, 2002

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – The central government has relented a little in its approach toward East Timorese refugees by postponing the planned closure of refugee camps in East Nusa Tenggara province until December this year.

June 18, 2002

New York Times - June 18, 2002

Jane Perlezm Bukit Meranti – On a Friday, just before noon prayers in the simple wooden mosque, soldiers stormed into the village of Bukit Meranti, herded the people together and, according to two residents, marched them towards a neighbouring hamlet, torching houses as they went.

Asia Pulse - June 18, 2002

Dili – Three Indonesian ministers made a three hour visit to East Timor on Saturday, in an effort to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

Jakarta Post - June 18, 2002

Agus Maryono, Purwokerto – The Cilacap plant of the country's third largest cement producer PT Semen Cibinong recently dismissed 600 of its 900 temporary workers in the name of efficiency, an official said here on Monday.

Carol Divjak - June 18, 2002

Despite peace negotiations held in Geneva last month, the Indonesian armed forces (TNI) is continuing its offensive against the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in the north of Sumatra. The current operations are part of a brutal civil war that has raged for 26 years and cost the lives of at least 12,000 people.

Jakarta Post - June 18, 2002

Banda Aceh – At least six people, including two alleged members of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), were killed in separate incidents in the restive province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam over the weekend, reports said.

New York Times - June 18, 2002

Bukit Meranti – In Aceh, the northernmost, natural gas-rich province of Indonesia, the guerrilla war by separatist guerrillas of the Free Aceh Movement has ebbed and flowed since 1976.

In its current phase, the Acehnese are on the defensive, pushed back from the urban centres now thick with patrolling soldiers and police.

Straits Times - June 18, 2002

Shefali Rekhi – Two visiting Indonesian lawmakers dismissed the problem of militancy and terrorism in their country as "not a big deal" yesterday.

Straits Times - June 18, 2002

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri is facing mounting calls from Indonesian legislators to reshuffle her 10-month-old Cabinet, which has been criticised for poor performance and a lack of teamwork.

Sydney Morning Herald - June 18, 2002

Craig Skehan – East Timor has made a claim for all of the $30 billion Greater Sunrise gas field in the Timor Sea as part of a bid to pressure Australia into sensitive negotiations on maritime boundaries.

Australia is offering East Timor an 18 per cent stake in Greater Sunrise.

Jakarta Post - June 18, 2002

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Amid mounting controversy over its political role, the Indonesian Military (TNI) said on Monday that it wanted to remain in the legislature until 2009, until it consolidated itself.

Sydney Morning Herald Editorial - June 18, 2002

There are many sound reasons why the United States – and Australia – should resist wading back into the moral quagmire which military co-operation with the Indonesian armed forces represents.

June 17, 2002

Kyodo News - June 17, 2002 (abridged)

Sydney – Australia and East Timor pledged to continue their close friendship Monday during East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao's first official visit abroad since his country became independent on May 20.

Reuters - June 17, 2002 (abridged)

Canberra – Militiamen responsible for violence when East Timor voted for independence could not expect reconciliation without first facing justice, President Xanana Gusmao said on his first official overseas visit on Monday.

The leader of the world's newest nation said the re-integration of those seeking forgiveness was a major challenge for tiny, impoverished East Timor.

Radio Australia - June 17, 2002

[East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao has made clear for the first time that former militia leaders returning from exile in West Timor will not be granted amnesty for their role in the violence surrounding the independence referendum in 1999.

Jakarta Post - June 17, 2002

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – East Timorese leaders acceded on Friday to demands by former prointegration militia commander Joao da Silva Tavares and thousands of his followers, paving the way for them to return to the newly declared state of East Timor.

Radio Australia - June 17, 2002

[The Timor Sea Agreement between Dili and Canberra, is due to be ratified by the East Timorese parliament soon. However, the looming ratification is causing serious unrest among MPs and other groups in East Timor, mainly over a perceived lack of consultation by Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri in negotiations for the treaty.]

Lusa - June 17, 2002

East Timor considers the creation of the International Criminal Court a priority and will soon sign the UN convention establishing the tribunal, Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta said Monday.

Ramos Horta, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, said Dili had "no doubts" about the importance of setting up an international court and would add its support "without reservations".

Jakarta Post - June 17, 2002

Jakarta – Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) chairwoman Wardah Hafidz said on Saturday that the number of poor people without ID cards in the city could be five times greater than the 100,000 reported earlier by the Jakarta Bureau of Statistics.

"It must be far more than only 100,000. It could be five times higher," she said.

Jakarta Post - June 17, 2002

Jakarta – Local exporting companies are mostly optimistic that their export sales to the Asia-Pacific region and Europe will increase over the next 12 months, but they are somewhat less upbeat about the United States and African markets, according to a survey.

Jakarta Post - June 17, 2002

Nani Farida, Sabang Island Aceh – Amiruddin sits idly on a bench, casting his sight at the open sea in front of Sabang harbor. There was not a single ship docking at the harbor that day.