INDONESIA A NEWS

Jakarta's busy international airport introduced an iris scanner system aimed at business travellers willing to pay around $US200 ($A255) per year to avoid long immigration lines.Under the ''Saphire'' program, frequent flyers register with the immigration authorities, pay the annual fee, and submit to scans of their left and right eyes, which authorities say are as individual as prints of the fingers or palm. On arrival, users scan one eye and are cleared for entry, a process expected to take about 10 seconds.The Indonesian-Dutch venture behind the project says the main thrust of the program was one of convenience, although they hoped that speeding through registered users would allow the authorities more time to scrutinise other travellers for possible security threats. Australian and US authorities sounded warnings this week of possible attacks on Western targets in Indonesia over the Christmas and New Year period.The country has been relatively calm lately, with n

'This country," my Indonesian host said to me, "is a gold mine in a mine field. Avoid the mines and you will reap the reward." Just days later, one of those mines exploded down the street ã at the Marriott Hotel in the terrorist attack Tuesday that killed at least 10 people and wounded more than 150. Can the Indonesia government navigate the dangerous terrain ahead and prevail against the Islamic extremists within Indonesian society? Will Indonesia ã and the world ã reap the rewards that would follow if the country with the largest Muslim population succeeds in its bold experiment in democracy? My discussions with political, economic and military leaders shortly before the attack suggest that while many land mines litter the landscape, the gold mine of a peaceful, prosperous Indonesia is closer than many Western observers believe. To be sure, the capital has been on high alert since Islamic terrorists killed more than 200 people in Bali last October. In recent months

The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) protests the dismissal of senior journalist Bambang Wisudo from "Kompas Daily" on 8 December 2006 and the intimidating manner in which it was done. Bambang, who is also secretary of the Kompas Trade Union, has worked for the Jakarta-based newspaper for 15 years.He was purportedly dismissed for refusing to be reassigned to Ambon, in the Maluku Province, 2,300km east of Jakarta.However, AJI said that Wisudo's reassignment was prompted by his efforts to improve the union's reportage standards and address policies instituted by the newspaper's management seen to be disruptive to workforce productivity and the readers. AJI strongly condemns the atmosphere of intimidation created by the "Kompas Daily" management when the company's security personnel forcefully removed Bambang from the office and detained him against his will for several hours in a holding cell. Bambang was only released upon being delivered a

The editor-in-chief of Playboy Indonesia went on trial on Thursday on charges of publishing indecent material.The legal move was cheered by religious groups in the predominantly Muslim country.A prosecutor told the South Jakarta District Court that Erwin Arnada oversaw photo shoots and selected revealing pictures of female models in underwear, some showing partially exposed breasts."The models also had inviting expressions on their faces," said Resni Muchtar, calling for the maximum sentence of 32 months in prison.Indonesia is a secular nation with more Muslims than any other in the world, some 190 million.But most practice a moderate form of the faith, due in part to Hindu, Buddhist and animist beliefs that held sway long before traders brought Islam to its shores in the 14th Century. Fundamentalists, taking cues from the Middle East, have been pushing hard to change that.When the toned-down version of Playboy Indonesia first hit the streets in April amid a blaze of publicit

INDONESIA is grappling with its first real political sex scandal - a widely circulated video of one of its most powerful politicians in a hotel room with a popular singer. Politicians have taken care to keep their lives private in this predominantly Islamic country. Many have playboy reputations but none has been caught on tape. The politician, Yahya Zaini, is parliamentary secretary of the Golkar Party, the biggest in Indonesia, and head of its religious affairs committee, which has responsibility for moral issues.Vice-President and Golkar Party chief Jusuf Kalla said the tape must be verified. "The woman in the video could be his wife, who knows? If that is the case, the one distributing the video must be held responsible, " he said. Mr Zaini, who is married, flew back from a parliamentary study tour in Australia at the weekend, as news of the tape spread. He is in hiding in Jakarta.The singer, Maria Eva, admitted making the tape, but denied distributing it. During a tear