INDONESIA A NEWS

Muslim leaders have thrown their weight behind the government's recent crackdown on militants in Poso, Central Sulawesi, suspected of fomenting sectarian conflicts in the region.State Islamic University rector and scholar Komaruddin Hidayat said the government should not hold back against militants who mingled with civilians, using them as human shields. "This is the time enforce our laws against those who hijacked Islam and used it to pursue their own agenda. As a result, the image of Islam has been tarnished," Komaruddin told The Jakarta Post on Sunday. Komaruddin was one of several Islamic figures invited Saturday by Vice President Jusuf Kalla to discuss the conflict in Poso. Also invited was the deputy chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, Rozy Munir, former Muhammadiyah chairman Ahmad Syafii Maarif, Prosperous Justice Party president Tifatul Sembiring, Crescent Star Party chairman and Forestry Minister M.S. Ka'ban, Indonesian Ulema Council chairman Ahmad Midan and the for

A Guernsey court on Monday approved an application by the Indonesian government to freeze tens of millions of dollars allegedly hidden illegally on the island by Hutomo Mandala Putra, the youngest son of the country's former dictator, Suharto.Jakarta's action is an intervention granted by the Channel Island royal court in a case where Garnet Investment, incorporated in the British Virgin islands and owned by Mr Hutomo – known as Tommy Suharto – is suing a branch of BNP Paribas for refusing to release at least €36m ($45.6m, £23.5m) and perhaps as much as €75m from its account.The court also approved Jakarta's bid to become a third party in the case, according to Marty Natalegawa, Indonesia's ambassador to Britain.The action by the bank and the Indonesian government is based on concerns that the money was obtained corruptly, Mr Natalegawa said. Transparency International in 2004 put the former Indonesian dictator at the top of its list of 20th-century kleptocrats, estimat

Devastated and depressed, she went to the house of her oldest brother. She went to him in his mansion, carrying her little child and crying that her husband had divorced her. She didn't want anything from her brother but his help. She thought she could depend on his authority and influence to help her get a job. But her brother refused to interfere and confirmed to her in their conversation that he rejected the idea of her working as a maid. She said her brother was worried about idle gossip and his reputation. He asked her, "What do you think people will say about me?" His words echoed in her mind many times. After some time, he felt sympathy for her and began sending her money every now and then on the condition that she didn't do any work that would reflect unfavorably on his social position This lady's case is not an exceptional one; if it were, it would have been easy to deal with. There are unfortunately hundreds of women in similar situations. Her main desi

Relatives waiting for news about a missing jetliner broke down in tears Tuesday after learning that senior Indonesian officials erroneously reported the Boeing 737's charred wreckage had been found and that a dozen people may have survived. ''Oh, what is happening to us?'' wailed Dorce Sundalangi, whose daughter was on the flight, after hearing the report was based on rumors from villagers that reached the highest levels of government. ''They had given us hope of seeing our beloved relatives ... but it was false hope. ''The Adam Air plane carrying 102 people sent out two distress signals in stormy weather Monday halfway through its two-hour journey from Indonesia's main island of Java to Manado, on the northern tip of Sulawesi, one of the largest islands in the sprawling archipelago.Three of those aboard were American citizens, the U.S. Embassy said. A U.S. National Transportation Safety Board team was to arrive Friday to offer assistance. It was

It was symbolic that 2006 ended with a colonial hanging--- most of it (bar the last moments) shown on state television in occupied Iraq. It has been that sort of year in the Arab world. After a trial so blatantly rigged that even Human Rights Watch---the largest single unit of the US Human Rights industry--- had to condemn it as a total travesty. Judges were changed on Washington's orders; defense lawyers were killed and the whole procedure resembled a well-orchestrated lynch mob. Where Nuremberg was a more dignified application of victor's justice, Saddam's trial has, till now, been the crudest and most grotesque. The Great Thinker President's reference to it 'as a milestone on the road to Iraqi democracy' as clear an indication as any that Washington pressed the trigger. The contemptible leaders of the European Union, supposedly hostile to capital punishment, were silent, as usual. And while some Shia factions celebrated in Baghdad, the figures published by a