INDONESIA A NEWS

European legislators warned Monday that Islamic-based laws limiting the rights of women in some part of Indonesia could scare off investors and damage international relations.Indonesia is a secular, democratic state. In recent years, so-called bylaws have been adopted in one province and some districts implementing conservative views. Some fear the change could pressure the central government to follow.German lawmaker Hartmut Nassauer, speaking at the end of a five-day visit by European politicians to southeast Asia, said that while Indonesia is a democracy, the passing of Shariah, or Islamic law, "could burden international relationships. ""If a state introduces religious laws it automatically separates itself from other states where we are free to practice faith, but not obliged to," he said, speaking on behalf of a group of nine lawmakers."Such a development has an impact on relationships with other countries," he said, referring to European economic in

"Of course the police are just as good at torturing as the army. Some of the cruder forms [include] putting a table leg onto the foot of somebody and then somebody heavily dancing on the table, which can be extremely painful. So, I mean torture is routine." Carmel Budiardjo was in Victoria recently to speak about the little known tragedy unfolding in West Papua. In spite of harsh measures by Indonesian authorities to subdue the island's indigenous peoples, they continue to cling to the dream of self-determination. The dense tropical rainforests and towering mountain ranges of West Papua are home to more than 300 distinct tribes, including some uncontacted peoples. Located 250 km north of Australia, and bordered by the independent nation of Papua New Guinea, the island as a whole contains the second largest rainforest in the world outside of the Amazon. Forty-three years ago, West Papua was annexed by Indonesia. Since that time, large-scale military operations, massacres,

US President George W Bush has come and gone for his quickie summit with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, leaving his hosts to pick up the bill and the pieces. Local authorities released an estimate of Rp6 billion (US$660,000) for security costs of the visit, which included a 2-kilometer security cordon around Bogor's Presidential Palace, 8,000 police officers, school and business closures, and the shutdown of mobile-phone networks. That figure doesn't nearly capture the visit's true costs, however. At the famed Bogor Botanical Gardens, world leaders from Belgium's King Leopold to North Korea's Great Leader Kim Il-sung to Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen have enjoyed the flora and planted trees to leave behind something of value from their stay. Bush, on the other hand, leaves behind a pair of helipads that required the relocation of a rare lotus from its pond. Nothing during the two leaders' chat of less than an hour and the news conference

Some 6,000 animals in six animal protection centers across the country are in a state of neglect after the Indonesian Forest Ministry officially terminated its cooperation with the Gibbon Foundation last September, a spokesperson said.Over 3,000 of the 6,000 animals were turtles which had been moved to other animal reservation areas, the foundation`s vice director Hasudungan Pakpahan said here Thursday. The six animal protection centers which are home to around 6,000 animals are located in Yogyakarta, Bali, North Sulawesi, and West Java provinces."The animals which are being kept in the six animal protection centers include those confiscated in raids and those handed voluntarily by their owners," he said.Pakpahan said the Forestry Ministry planned to take over the six animal protection centers last September when its cooperation with the foundation expired.However, the ministry had not implemented the plan until now, he said.The termination of the cooperation has made worker

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said here on Tuesday that he purposefully formed a presidential working team for program, policy and reform management as he was facing highly complex problems. Yudhoyono said in a press conference at the Halim Perdana Kusuma military airbase that it is normal for heads of state or government in other countries to have such a team. The President held the conference upon arrival at the airport at 8 pm from a four-day visit to China. The President as an example mentioned prime minister`s delivery units and presidential delivery units in other countries to provide inputs and analyses on programs their governments must carry out. "Of course, I need such a facility in view of the complex problems I am facing as president," he added. "I ask for assistance to check whether a problem has been solved or not. This is what I need from this team." He did not elaborate on the complex problems facing him. He, however, said he needed the team to

Private labor exporters are unhappy with a new government policy that requires the businesses to have a minimum capital of Rp 3 billion and pay a Rp 500 million deposit to the government. The Indonesian Labor Exporters Association (Apjati) and the Indonesian Manpower Development Association (Idea) say the new ministerial decree is confusing and contains red tape that targets prospective migrant workers. Apjati chairman Husein Alaydrus said that under the decree, only a few major companies would survive because they would still be able to run branch offices in the regions, training centers with qualified instructors and a wide network including foreign partners. "It would require a company to have a lot of money to be as professional as the government requires," Alaydrus said in a recent meeting with Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno. He questioned the Rp 225 billion in bank deposits the government had collected from labor suppliers and asked why the minister

National Police chief Gen. Sutanto said Friday that authorities would continue to pursue 29 Muslim radicals allegedly involved in recent violence in Poso and Palu, Central Sulawesi, despite resistance from hardline groups. Sutanto said he was positive that the groups would eventually help police arrest the suspects. "We are not setting any time frame for the groups to bring them to us," he said. He said he believed the groups knew the whereabouts of the 29 militants and that cooperation with the police was important. On Thursday, the police made public photos of the 29 men, whom they believe are still hiding in the province. The men are thought to be members of the Tanah Runtuh Muslim militant group based in Gebang Rejo village and the Kayamanya group in Kayamana village in Poso. Poso Islamic Struggle Forum chairman Adnan Arsal demanded Thursday that the police clear the names of the suspects or risk the situation in the area worsening. "If the perpetrators of violence i

Social scientists warned Tuesday that Indonesia's social problems will get worse over the next 10 years because the bulk of the 11 million unemployed will be aged between 15 and 24 years old. They said such a situation could spur political instability in line with widespread poverty and other social ills. Payaman Simanjuntak, a professor of labor economics at the Krisnadwipayana University in Jakarta, said that a recent survey conducted by the National Labor Training Board showed that 64 percent, or almost seven million, of the 11 million unemployed in Indonesia were high school graduates or dropouts aged between 15 and 24. "These young and poor people mainly work in the informal sector because they do not have the skills needed for the formal sector. They will mature and get married in the next decade. They will remain poor and be unable to afford to send their children to school," he told the Jakarta Post. The International Labor Organization reported Monday that global

The White House pressed Senator John Kerry Wednesdayto apologize for a comment Republicans say was disrespectful of U.S. fighting forces in Iraq.saying he "put gasoline on the fire" of an already sizzling midterm election campaign. "Sen. Kerry may have botched the line, but what he said was insulting to the troops, and what he ought to say is, 'Look, I botched the line, but I'm sorry for giving offense,' " press secretary Tony Snow said on CBS's "The Early Show." "We're not the one who whipped this up into a big issue. Sen. Kerry did so yesterday," said Snow, appearing the day after President Bush and Kerry traded their harshest accusations since the 2004 presidential race. Bush accused the Massachusetts Democrat of troop-bashing and Kerry called the president's men hacks who are "willing to lie" to gloss over problems with the war policy.The fiery exchange evoked memories of 2004,injecting more adrenaline into w

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Tuesday that "serious negotiations" were under way over the fate of two Israeli soldiers whose July 12 capture by his militant group sparked a month of brutal fighting in Lebanon.In a three-hour taped television interview, Nasrallah said a negotiator appointed by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been meeting with Hezbollah and Israeli officials. by advokatku He would not provide details about the negotiations, but told Hezbollah's TV station, "We have reached a stage of exchanging ideas, proposals or conditions."Officials from the Israeli Defense Ministry and Foreign Ministry were not available for immediate comment.Nasrallah has offered to exchange the two Israeli soldiers for Arab prisoners in Israeli jails, but Israel has repeatedly refused. Although the U.N. resolution that ended the 34-day war called for the soldiers' unconditional release, Israel has exchanged prisoners in the past."They are serious neg