President orders ban on Sidney Jones lifted

By Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Less than a week after the country refused entry to American researcher Sidney Jones, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered the lifting of the ban on Tuesday, blaming the incident on the government of his predecessor Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said that Susilo had only learned about the expulsion from media reports, and immediately sought an explanation from Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo Adi Sucipto and Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin.

"The ban was issued based on a decision made by the previous government. The President asked (the ministers) whether the ban was relevant to the current situation. It turned out that the reasons were irrelevant," Andi told reporters.

Hamid, however, said on Monday that Jones had been barred from entering Indonesia after the relevant authorities had decided she was a threat to domestic security.

Jones, director of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG), was denied entry to the country upon arrival at Soekarno-Hatta Airport after a short visit to Taiwan on Thursday of last week.

Responding to a request from the intelligence authorities, the government of President Megawati refused to extend Jones' stay permit and work visa in May 2004.

The intelligence authorities claimed her work was harmful to Indonesia and that many of the ICG reports on the country's poor human rights record and communal conflicts were untrue.

The government of Susilo did not extend the ban, which expired last May. It even granted her a stay permit and work visa in July.

At a function here in late August, Susilo personally welcomed Jones on her return.

Jones, who is mostly known for her in-depth reports on the al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah terror group, said on Tuesday that an Indonesian official had called her to inform her she could return.

"Isn't it great? ... I'm absolutely delighted.

"They asked me to wait a couple of days to make sure that all the messages get through to immigration ... This is the shortest expulsion on record," she told Agence France Presse news agency from Singapore.

She said she planned to return to Jakarta later this week.

Analysts had roundly condemned the government's decision to refuse entry to Jones, saying that it was a major setback for human rights and democracy

Overcrowded, historical Senen to get face-lift

By Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post

Forty-five years since its last renovation, the area around Senen market, with its heavy traffic, street vendors and thugs, is scheduled to undergo a complete makeover into a modern, integrated commercial center.

City market operator PD Pasar Jaya will begin the Rp 3 trillion project early next year.

"The raising of the concrete piles will mark the beginning of a three-year renovation of the old market, one of three oldest and largest traditional markets in the capital," PD Pasar Jaya president director Prabowo Soenirman said.

Senen market, known as Vincke Passer during the Dutch colonial era, was built in 1735 by Justinus Cornellis Vincke, who also developed Tanah Abang market in Central Jakarta.

This will be the second refurbishment for the market in the modern era, with the first renovation ordered by the country's founding president Sukarno in 1961.

"We are now in the process of finalizing the urban design guidelines for the project," Prabowo said.

The project will revitalize the market that in the past was a center of trade in the capital, he said.

However, critics have accused the administration of failing to invite the public to play a greater role in the planning and implementation of the project.

The administration has insisted on using its own design for the refurbished Senen, even though an architectural design competition organized by the Central Jakarta municipality last year came up with a winning design. That design, titled "Life in Tomorrow's Senen", was the work of a team of architects led by Maryanti Kusuma Asmara.

Prabowo said the design from Maryanti and team was not being used for two reasons: the shareholders in Senen market were not involved in the competition and the winning design was not "business friendly".

PD Pasar Jaya is the majority owner and operator of Senen market, while six blocks in the market are owned by city developers Pembangunan Jaya and Jaya Realty.

The three companies have formed a joint venture company, PT Jaya City Development, to operate the refurbished Senen market.

Pasar Jaya holds a 35 percent share of the new company, while Pembangunan Jaya has a 35 percent share and Jaya Realty a 30 percent share.

Governor Sutiyoso said on Monday the new Senen market would be integrated with other facilities, including 30-story apartment towers with about 2,500 total units, office buildings, sports facilities, a bus terminal and a railway station.

The operations director at PD Pasar Jaya, Joko Setiyanto, said the modern market would provide space for over 10,000 kiosks for Senen market traders, who over the years have made Senen the place to find a vast range of products, from jewelry, watches and pharmaceuticals, to traditional foods, spices and cookies.

"We want this market to become a 24-hour trade center," he said.

During the first stage of renovation work on blocks one to three, traders will be moved temporarily to the second floors of blocks four, five and six.
"After we complete the first stage of renovation, then we will go ahead and renovate blocks four to six," Prabowo said.

In addition to the revitalization of the area around Senen market, the administration has floated ideas for reviving other large traditional markets like Tanah Abang and Jatinegara in East Jakarta.

Time line of Senen area:

• 1730 Vincke builds a market near Weltevreden palace (now Gatot Subroto Army Hospital), near the Tanah Abang market. The new market is called Vincke Passer. But because the market is only open on Mondays, people begin calling it Senen, which means Monday.
• 1735 Vincke orders the construction of Jl. Prapatan, linking the Senen and Tanah Abang markets.
• 1960-1970 Jakarta governor Ali Sadikin orders the renovation of the area around Senen market, which now includes a parking area, bus terminal and the Senen sports complex.
• Jan. 15, 1974 The market is burned during violent student demonstrations in the capital against a visit by Japanese prime minister Tanaka.
• 1987-1992 Jakarta governor Wiyogo Atmodarminto orders the development of a modern block for the market, known as Atrium Senen.
• Nov. 23, 1996 A large fire destroys 750 shops and stalls in the market.
• Jan. 26, 2003 A fire destroys more than 100 kiosks in the market.

New Suspect in Indonesia Christian Beheadings Found

The Christian Post; By Eunice Or, eunice@christianpost.com

A new suspect in the beheadings of three teenage Indonesian Christian girls was found after three-week-long investigation. Families of victims, meanwhile, expressed forgiveness to the murders.

The 23-year-old suspect, Irfan Masuro, was arrested in Poso in Central Sulawesi province on Nov. 13, an Indonesian police spokesman Sunarko Danu Ardanto told Agence France Presse (AFP) Saturday.

Ardanto added that the police found blood stains on a bayonet of Masuro's that matched samples from one of the slain girls. The three Indonesian Christian high school girls, aged 15-19, were beheaded by a group of five unidentified men riding on motorcycles, in the town of Poso in the province of Central Sulawesi, on Oct. 29. A fourth girl was able to escape but was seriously wounded, according to reports.

Fearing that the violence would spread in the religiously divided Poso, the Indonesian President had immediately prompted the police to probe into the case to identify the perpetrators.

By Nov. 9, five men were detained for investigation on suspicion of their involvement in the beheadings. Three days later, they were released because police have not been able to find evidence to link them to the killings, Rudi Suhfariadi, police chief in the town of Poso, told Japan Today.

However, according to AsiaNews, the Major General Arief Budi Sampurno, regional commander of Sulawesi, announced that three out of the five suspects had been rearrested on Nov. 15.

Ardanto therefore told AFP, the new suspect Masuro was the fourth suspect so far detained for the killings.

According to the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), the three families who suffered the loss of their young daughters in the brutal murders are still "in shock and grief."

Nevertheless, they have all granted forgiveness to the murderers of their daughters. They believe that "it is God who will judge them."

Markus Sambuwe, the father of one of the girls - 15-year-old Yusriani Sambuwe – told CBN, "I am really angry, but the Holy Spirit touched my heart and changed me. I forgive them just as Jesus has forgiven my sins."
Pastors of churches in Poso, meanwhile, said that the deaths of the three slain girls "were not in vain."

"Because of the three girls who were martyred, we are challenged, and our faith is put to a test like gold. But we become strong because of their example," Pastor Mastin, who knew the three victims, told CBN. "We hope peace will come to Poso."

Mastin added that the three slain girls – 15-year-old Yusriani, 16-year-old Theresia Morangke, and 19-year-old Alvita Polio – were very active Christian leaders in school prayer meetings and church.

Nursalem Mawela, the father of the survivor in the attack, suggested a possible reason behind the attack.

"They (the three girls) must have offended the Muslim extremists because in this season of Ramadan, there should be no school, but the Christian school is open," he said, according to CBN.

A warning note stating that "another 100 Christian teenagers would be killed" was attached to the plastic bags that contained the heads of the three slain girls, the U.K.-based human rights watchdog Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reported. The bags were found near a police station and a church two hours after the beheadings.

Sources say Poso had been stricken by three years of Muslim-Christian conflicts until the peace deal in late 2001. Around 2,000 people were killed in the riots. As fears of a new wave of violence mounted, two other Indonesian girls were shot in Poso on Nov. 8. One of them died the next day. No report has confirmed whether the shootings were related to the beheadings.

Man in the Bentley who cried poor and keeps on coming back

By Mark Forbes Herald Correspondent

Controversy follows Aburizal Bakrie, but he has proven himself Indonesia's ultimate survivor.

He flourished under the corrupt dictator Soeharto but left hundreds of millions in debts unrepaid after the Asian economic crisis, only to regain his status as a successful businessman and emerge as the country's Economics Minister.

This month speculation that he would be dumped in a cabinet reshuffle has heightened, prompting his spokesman to blame "character assassination" by political enemies for reports his son was linked to the ecstasy-possession arrest of the Australian model Michelle Leslie in Bali.

In Jakarta, the smart money is on Mr Bakrie brushing aside any hint of scandal, complaints of economic mishandling and allegations his business interests should exclude him from an administration driving to rid Indonesia of endemic cronyism and corruption.

Imagine the Australian Treasurer, Peter Costello, owning a large slice of Optus, Channel Seven, several big mining companies - all highly sensitive to his economic and industry policy decisions - and other firms that consistently won multi-million dollar government contracts.

Mr Bakrie's defence is that he has handed over management to family members, but he retains his stake in the Bakrie and Brothers conglomerate that has tentacles throughout Indonesia.

Last month one of his sons, Anindya, formalised a partnership with Rupert Murdoch's Star Asia TV, which took a 20 per cent stake in the Bakries' Indonesian network, ANTV.

Subsidiaries also won two contracts to supply natural gas and build an inter-island pipeline. Both deals are worth more than $100 million.
In response to allegations of special treatment, Mr Bakrie said all of the projects had been "competitively tendered."

Company officials admit Bakrie and Brothers did well through deals completed with the Soeharto family. But they said that now the companies were run without political favours. Mr Bakrie was the most controversial ministerial choice of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Some still bristle at him arriving at creditors meetings in a Bentley after the economic crisis, then crying poor.

But the new President, without any significant political base in parliament, needed the support of the old Soeharto party, Golkar, and one of the conditions was Mr Bakrie's appointment.

He does not lack political ambition, using his substantial financial resources to make an unsuccessful tilt at winning Golkar's nomination for the presidency. Despite a faltering economy, and a budget sideswiped by escalating oil prices, many begrudgingly admit he has performed competently, engaging in a showdown with Dr Yudhoyono to force a doubling in fuel prices but cutting crippling subsidies.

Earlier this month Mr Bakrie professed to be relaxed about his rumoured axing by Dr Yudhoyono. "With facts of achievements already displayed, is it appropriate for me to be replaced? If he says he wants to have a different way, well, I would go back to business."

Indonesia Steps Up Hunt for Fugitive

By NINIEK KARMINI, Herald News Daily

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A police raid on a house used by the purported ringleader of an al-Qaida-linked Southeast Asia terrorist network turned up a bomb-making and recruitment video, police said Friday.

Thousands of security forces were going door-to-door, checking cars and combing rail and bus stations in central Indonesia.

Authorities identified Top and Azahari as key leaders of the al-Qaida-linked group Jemaah Islamiyah, coordinating a series of bombings in Indonesia in recent years, including the 2002 and 2005 attacks on the resort island of Bali.

"In the rush, he left behind his personal belongings, including the video" that taught bomb-making techniques and how to recruit terrorists, Sutanto said. The video included images of the three men who carried out triple suicide bombings on Indonesia‘s Bali island last month.

Despite Azahari‘s death, police warn that Jemaah Islamiyah may be plotting more attacks.

Metro TV station, citing the discovery of a map by forensic experts, said attacks may have been planned for this month in at least four cities, including Jakarta.

"It‘s only a matter of time before we catch him," Mbai said.

But in addition to Top, at least two of the group‘s leaders remain at large. They are believed to be in the Philippines.

National police spokesman Brig. Gen. Sunarko Artanto said Azahari had three bullet wounds to the chest — at least one in the heart — and died wearing a suicide vest and holding a handgun.

Selamat Lebaran!

Selamat Hari Raya Idul Fitri!! Mohon maaf lahir dan batin. Moga2 Indonesia bisa lebih membaik dan damai pada tahun yg baru.

It can't get any worse, let's hope so... merenung balik dan belajar dari kegagalan bisa membantu meluruskan jalan tahun yang baru.

Setengah tahun terakhir ini boleh dibilang waktu yang amat "sial" buat rakyat kebanyakan yg hidup pas2an dan "cuek" (gimana peduli, memberi makan untuk keluarga saja sudah menyita waktu dan pikiran). Indonesia jadi sorotan international karena berita2 negatif yang tidak kunjung padam.

Dari 241,973,879 jumlah penduduk, segelintir dari mereka membuat ulah dan image yang buruk. Pihak berwenang sepertinya tidak berdaya dan lebih parah lagi tidak mempunyai solusi dan rencana penyelesaian yang jelas.

Diskriminasi agama dari pelarangan ibadah, penyegelan gereja sampe wanita2 yang mengajar sekolah minggu dipenjarakan. Bom Bali yang membunuh kebanyakan orang lokal sampai tindakan biadab dengan pemenggalan kepala 3 siswi Kristen di Poso.

Dari busung lapar ke penyakit polio. Anak2 yang tidak beruntung berguguran oleh penyakit yang obat pencegahannya sudah ditemukan puluhan tahun lalu. Belum lagi Avian Flu dan demam berdarah. Lagi2 tindakan lamban dari departemen kesehatan tidak membuat keadaan lebih baik.

Keadaan ekonomi dipersusah dengan kenaikan bahan bakar, suku bunga yang tinggi dan inflasi. Wakil rakyat yang tidak sensitif malah meminta gaji naik Rp.10 juta per bulan tidak membuat keadaan membaik. Korupsi tetap jalan terus, jiwa aji mumpung dimana2 termasuk Mahkamah Agung (lembaga hukum tertinggi) dengan kasus Probosutedjo.

Should I say more? Kasian banget Indonesia, maksudku rakyat jelata yang dihempit dari atas (penguasa/pedagang) dan dari bawah (radikal biadab). Sekali lagi, moga2 keadaan akan membaik pada tahun yang baru. May God bless Indonesia. Selamat Idul Fitri!

Foto-foto sekitar Lebaran:

Indonesia's President orders crack down on racist text messages

Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered police to crack down on mobile phone users sending racist text messages.

The text messages, which have been widely reported in the local media without divulging their exact wording, blame minority ethnic Chinese for Indonesia's current economic woes and calls for attacks on them.

A presidential spokesman say such slanderous, hate-filled SMS messages cannot be tolerated. The Chinese community has had a troubled history in Indonesia and been the target of bouts of violence.