The Agonist - Indonesia

Indonesian earthquake: 'They were sucked deep into the earth'

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 02:10:47 -0700

Kathy Marks | Oct 4

The Independent - Aid workers reach remote areas beyond Padang to find entire villages levelled by last week's disaster

In rural areas of Indonesia, weddings are communal, open-air affairs. Some 400 people attended the nuptials of a couple in Pulau Aiya, a village outside Padang, last Wednesday. Then the ground shook and swallowed everyone up.

"They were sucked 30m deep into the earth," Rustam Pakaya, head of the Indonesian Health Ministry's crisis centre, said yesterday. "Even the mosque's minaret, more than 20m tall, disappeared."

Three days after a 7.6-magnitude earthquake devastated Padang and surrounding areas on the west coast of Sumatra, the full impact of the tragedy is starting to become clear. Whole villages were found obliterated yesterday by rescuers pushing deeper into the disaster zone, where roads remain cut off and survivors – still desperately awaiting aid – are subsisting on coconut milk.

The official death toll from Wednesday's quake stood at 809 last night, but the Indonesian Red Cross believes up to 4,000 people are lying beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings.

Indonesia's Most Wanted Man Killed In Police Raid

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 04:50:38 -0700

Jakarta | 17 Sept

Reuters - Indonesia's most wanted Islamist militant, Noordin Mohammad Top, was killed in a police shoot-out in Central Java, police said on Thursday, lifting a major security threat ahead of a planned visit by U.S. President Barack Obama.

At least 15 killed in Indonesia's 7.0-magnitude quake

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 07:07:43 -0700

Jakarta | Sept 2

AFP - A major 7.0-magnitude quake rocked Indonesia's Java Island on Wednesday, killing at least 15 people and destroying dozens of homes across the country's densely-populated heartland, officials said.

The quake struck less than 200 kilometres (123 miles) south of Jakarta at a depth of 49 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said, sparking widespread panic.

Thousands of people fled homes, shopping centres and office towers across West Java province and in the capital Jakarta, where high-rise buildings swayed violently for at least a minute around 3:00 pm (0800 GMT).

"Fifteen people have been killed. Most of them were trapped under their houses," disaster management agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono told AFP.

Indonesian president wins election

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:00:26 -0700

Jakarta | July 24

AFP - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won this month's election in a landslide and will not need to contest a run-off, the election commission said Friday.

Final official results showed Yudhoyono and his running-mate Boediono with 60.8 percent of the vote, far ahead of ex-president Megawati Sukarnoputri with 26.8 percent and Vice President Jusuf Kalla with 12.4 percent.

The figures, which confirmed quick counts from independent pollsters, were released on the commission's website and will be formally announced on Saturday.

Megawati and her running-mate, ex-general Prabowo Subianto, have complained of irregularities in the elections and threatened to mount a legal challenge to the results.

The street outside the election commission has been blocked for the past two days with razor wire and armoured vehicles, but there have been no signs of unrest.

Explosions rock Jakarta hotels

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:13:35 -0700

July 17

abc.net.au - Police say at least four foreigners have been killed in explosions at two hotels in the Indonesian capital Jakarta.

"There were explosions heard from two separate places, one the JW Marriott, the other in the Ritz Carlton. We are still trying to check because right now we are still helping the victims," South Jakarta Police Chief Firman Santyabudi told Metro TV.

Witnesses told ElShinta radio they could see injured people being evacuated by car from the Ritz Carlton hotel in the upscale Mega Kuningan business district in the centre of the city. An AFP correspondent said police have sealed off the area near the two hotels.

Papua's struggle for independence

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:38:30 -0700

Rachel Harvey | July 12

BBC - The word most often associated with West Papua is remote.

An area of thick jungle and mountains, roughly the size of Spain, Papua is the eastern-most outpost of the Indonesian archipelago, some 3,200km (2,000 miles) from the government in Jakarta.

Culturally it feels even further.

Papua became part of Indonesia in 1969 after a controversial and very limited vote. Ever since there have been calls from some Papuans for independence and for decades a low-level armed resistance has been rumbling on, largely unnoticed by the outside.

International journalists are severely restricted from working in the province. A special permit is required.

But the BBC's Newsnight programme was recently offered rare footage of rebel fighters in their jungle hide-out.

Indonesia's president: a crooner and a general

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 01:10:59 -0700

NINIEK KARMINI | Jakarta | July 9

AP - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, heading for a sweeping re-election victory, is a retired four-star general who rose through the ranks of Indonesia's former dictatorship yet has recorded his own albums of romantic ballads.

Critics call Yudhoyono indecisive, but he has cultivated an image as a tough and dedicated corruption fighter with high moral integrity. He also ushered in an era of financial and political stability, ending a series of secessionist conflicts and restoring economic growth after the devastating Asian financial crisis in 1997-98 wiped out millions of jobs.

Yudhoyono, 59, the nation's first directly elected leader, gained widespread praise for a crackdown on Islamic militants after a series of suicide bombings killed 240 people.

Sometimes called "the thinking general," friends say he is a solitary and well-read man with a sharp intellect.

But some analysts say Yudhoyono is slow to make decisions. "Everyone knows he is an indecisive leader," said Satya Arinanto, a political professor at the University of Indonesia. With a strong mandate from the public, however, "there will be no more excuse for him to hesitate," he said.

During an otherwise dull campaign period before Wednesday's vote, Yudhoyono came out last week as a believer of Javanese mysticism, saying his family had prayed to repel attacks from opponents.

"In this period of campaigning, there are many people out there who use black magic," he was quoted by local media as telling an Islamic prayer session at his home. "Thankfully we got to our destination safely."

Indonesia says to ratify nuclear treaty after US

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:55:16 -0700

Washington | June 9

AFP - Indonesia on Monday offered a boost to President Barack Obama's vision of a nuclear-free world, pledging to ratify a treaty banning nuclear tests if the US Senate does so.

Obama said in April said he would ask the Senate to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), part of his ambitious goal of eliminating nuclear weapons unveiled in a speech in Prague.

Indonesia is one of nine countries including the United States that need to ratify the treaty, which would ban all nuclear explosions everywhere for any purpose, to come into force.

"We share his vision of a world in which nuclear weapons have been eradicated," Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said on a visit to Washington.

"We trust that he will succeed in getting the CTBT ratified - and we promise that when that happens, Indonesia will immediately follow suit," he said at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The Cairo Speech

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 09:53:53 -0700

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON A NEW BEGINNING

Cairo University
Cairo, Egypt

1:10 P.M. (Local)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you very much. Good afternoon. I am honored to be in the timeless city of Cairo, and to be hosted by two remarkable institutions. For over a thousand years, Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning; and for over a century, Cairo University has been a source of Egypt's advancement. And together, you represent the harmony between tradition and progress. I'm grateful for your hospitality, and the hospitality of the people of Egypt. And I'm also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and a greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country: Assalaamu alaykum. (Applause.)

We meet at a time of great tension between the United States and Muslims around the world -- tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate. The relationship between Islam and the West includes centuries of coexistence and cooperation, but also conflict and religious wars. More recently, tension has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in which Muslim-majority countries were too often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations. Moreover, the sweeping change brought by modernity and globalization led many Muslims to view the West as hostile to the traditions of Islam.

Violent extremists have exploited these tensions in a small but potent minority of Muslims. The attacks of September 11, 2001 and the continued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilians has led some in my country to view Islam as inevitably hostile not only to America and Western countries, but also to human rights. All this has bred more fear and more mistrust.

So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, those who promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity. And this cycle of suspicion and discord must end.

I've come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based on mutual interest and mutual respect, and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles -- principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.

US targets Abu Sayyaf figures with reward money

Tue, 26 May 2009 17:54:43 -0700

Washington | May 27

DPA - The United States offered 2.5 million dollars Tuesday in rewards for information leading to the capture or conviction of three Filipinos with alleged ties to the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group.

The US State Department will pay up to 1 million dollars for Radullan Sahiron, an alleged senior leader of the Philippine-based Abu Sayyaf, which has ties to al-Qaeda, and Abdul Basit Usman, a suspected bomb-making expert who is suspected of links to an Indonesia-based regional terrorist group known as Jemaah Islamiyah.

The State Department offered 500,000 dollars in connection with Khair Mundos, accused of providing financial help to Abu Sayyaf by transferring al-Qaeda funding.

Scores killed as Hercules crashes in Indonesia

Wed, 20 May 2009 00:14:17 -0700

Niniek Karmini | May 20

The Independent -
Dozens were injured and more were feared dead, with local television flashing footage of fire engulfing the mangled wreckage. Black smoke billowed in the air, as soldiers carried badly burnt bodies on stretchers to waiting ambulances.

Air force spokesman Bambang Sulistyo said at least 79 people were killed when the C-130 Hercules crashed near a base in East Java province early today. There were 112 passengers and crew on board.

Military spokesman Sagom Tamboen said the aircraft was transporting troops and their families, including at least 10 children, when it tumbled from the sky near an air force base in East Java province.

It was not clear what caused the crash, the latest in a string to hit the air force.

But several witnesses described hearing a large explosion while it was still in the air and then seeing it split apart.

"One of the wings fell off," Agus Yulianto, a villager, was quoted as saying on the Web site of Kompas newspaper. "Then the plane nose-dived into the houses."

Coral Triangle at risk from climate change - WWF

Tue, 12 May 2009 23:01:24 -0700

Sunanda Creagh | Jakarta | May 13

Reuters -
Southeast Asia's biologically diverse coral reefs will disappear by the end of this century, wiping out coastal economies and sparking civil unrest if climate change isn't addressed, conservation group WWF said on Wednesday.

The Coral Triangle, a reef network that spans Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and East Timor, has more than 76 percent of the world's reef-building coral species and 35 percent of its coral reef fish species.

However, a new report commissioned by the WWF warned that much of this reef is doomed unless developed countries cut carbon emissions to 40 percent below the 1990 levels by the year 2020 and developing economies cut emissions by at least 30 percent from their current levels.

The report, based on 300 published studies and released to coincide with the World Ocean Conference in Manado, Sulawesi, warns that a do-nothing scenario will lead to a steady rise in sea temperatures, killing the coral and its dependent wildlife and hurting the livelihoods of around 100 million people.

** Coral climate crunch could displace millions ~ WWF

Indonesia’s Voters Retreat From Radical Islam

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:48:41 -0700

Noritmitsu Onishi | Jakarta | Apr 25

NY Times - From Pakistan to Gaza and Lebanon, militant Islamic movements have gained ground rapidly in recent years, fanning Western fears of a consolidation of radical Muslim governments. But here in the world’s most populous Muslim nation just the opposite is happening, with Islamic parties suffering a steep drop in popular support.

In parliamentary elections this month, voters punished Islamic parties that focused narrowly on religious issues, and even the parties’ best efforts to appeal to the country’s mainstream failed to sway the public.

The largest Islamic party, the Prosperous Justice Party, ran television commercials of young women without head scarves and distributed pamphlets in the colors of the country’s major secular parties. But the party fell far short of its goal of garnering 15 percent of the vote, squeezing out a gain of less than one percentage point over its 7.2 percent showing in 2004.

That was a big letdown for a party and a movement that had grown phenomenally in recent years, even as more radical elements directed terrorist attacks against Western tourists and targets. The party had projected that it would double its share of seats in Parliament even as it stuck to its founding goal of bringing Shariah, or Islamic law, to Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous nation, with 240 million people.

Altogether, the major Islamic parties suffered a drop in support from 38 percent in 2004 to less than 26 percent this year, according to the Indonesian Survey Institute, an independent polling firm whose figures are in keeping with partial official results.

Aceh rebels trade bullets for ballots

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:19:10 -0700

Ahmad Pathoni | Banda Aceh, Indonesia | Apr 6

DPA - Just four years ago, Yahya Muad and his comrades were hiding in the jungle while fighting a guerrilla war against the Indonesian army for an independent Aceh.

Now, sitting in a literally smoke-filled room in the headquarters of the Aceh Party, of which he is secretary general, he talks about democracy and peace under 'a united Indonesia.'

The Aceh Party, the political wing of former rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), is one of six political parties allowed to contest for legislative seats in Aceh province as part of Indonesia's April 9 general elections.

The participation of local political parties in Indonesia's elections is unprecedented, made possible by a 2005 peace agreement between GAM and the Jakarta government, which provides for wider autonomy for Aceh in return for the rebels abandoning their struggle for independence

Indonesia dam burst kills dozens

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 23:26:02 -0700

Jakarta | Mar 27

BBC - A dam has burst south-west of the Indonesian capital Jakarta, killing dozens of people.

Witnesses said a "horrifying" flash flood engulfed hundreds of homes in Cirendeu in the Tangerang district.

Officials say about 50 bodies have been found but the death toll is expected to rise as many more people are missing.

It is not clear what caused the burst but an official said the Situ Gintung lake behind the dam became overloaded after hours of heavy rain.