[Kabar-indonesia] Indo News - 11/22/05

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- The government's business
- Videos move moderate clerics to combat terror
- Fears Top will stage attack in Indonesia
- ETAN Condemns 
 Permitting Weapons Sales to Indonesia
- Cavalry called in, brawl erupts
- Poso attacks carried out by organized group: Police
- Maluku Islands on high terrorism alert
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The Jakarta Post.com
Editorial
November 22, 2005
The government's business

The business of government is too important to be left to government
alone. True.

But neither should government be used as a vehicle for business to make
profits.

We welcome President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's plans to issue clearer
guidelines that would avoid the abuse of government privileges for
personal business interests.

Nepotism is as improper and wrong as embezzlement and other acts of
corruption. It is part of the cancer that afflicts Indonesia's body
politic and creates an inequitable government geared toward self-interest
rather than public service.

As we are now learning, this system of patronage has also stifled business
creativity by producing cronies who reap success from favoritism rather
than entrepreneurship. Consequently, at a time when we desperately need a
class of ingenious plutocrats to help the economy back on its feet, we
find that many of our major entrepreneurs do not have the business acumen
of true industrialists.

Apart from a code of ethics, internal and external oversight, along with a
strict system of punishment, a strong internal mechanism should be adopted
to avoid the pitfalls of cronyism.

No matter how honest a man, the temptations of power can sometimes be too
great, even with a clear system of checks.

Unscrupulous individuals and businesses have for too long been left
unchecked to pursue these unholy relationships. Susilo's desire to impose
more stringent rules on such abuses of authority is extremely overdue.

But the President does not have to 'reinvent the wheel' in formulating a
system to help curb these abuses. Several examples can be found in other
democratic nations that Indonesia can adopt to its own needs.

For example, in the United States, a Blind Trust is used to diminish
potential conflicts of interest by appointed high ranking Cabinet
officials and elected representatives.

The system essentially places the assets of the official, while in office,
in a trust in which a fiduciary third party has complete management
discretion.

There are, of course, no perfect systems. Even in the United States the
unscrupulous find ways around them. The latest allegedly involves a U.S.
Senate Majority leader who allegedly used inside information to sell
stocks supposedly held in a Blind Trust.


Nevertheless, there is a system in place that presents clear guidelines to
deter misconduct. The key will be, and has always been, a belief in
upholding the system. As the case in the United States shows, while
misconduct can occur, oversight allows for a vigorous investigation that
can be conducted when suspicions of abuse arise.

It is much better than the passive rumor-mongering that goes on here today.

If we want the military to refrain from abusing its authority to conduct
business, then civilian politicians should also be held accountable to the
same rules.

While we support this new initiative, we are, however, suspect as to the
motives and timing of the President's remarks.

If Susilo is truly concerned about officials misusing their positions and
wants to impose a new code of ethics, then the whole nation is undoubtedly
behind him.

But suspected cases of nepotism have persisted in all administrations, not
just Susilo's; from the upper echelons of government down to the
lowest-ranking officials.

So why is the President speaking now? Did this problem just occur to him?

If he is honestly committed to ending graft -- as he often claims in his
anti-corruption rhetoric -- then these ideas should have been part of an
initiative at the beginning of his term.

What is even more confusing is why the President chose so many
businesspeople for his Cabinet. Susilo should have imposed these
guidelines in November 2004, not be contemplating them in November 2005.

Furthermore, if he does find such evidence of abuses of authority, the
President should dismiss the individuals concerned immediately.

No system will be effective if the top executive dallies over taking
disciplinary action.

We are fearful that these important and virtuous notions are simply being
aired for political ends in the midst of talk of a Cabinet reshuffle. Once
the behind-the-scenes objective has been reached, the debate will wilt
meaninglessly away like so many other worthy ideas.

May we remind the President that he was ushered into office with an
overwhelming mandate. He should act if he deems it necessary without
trying to get the public politically involved in a principle that it
already believes in.

Pak Susilo, it is time to take responsibility for your choices.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Age (Melbourne)
Videos move moderate clerics to combat terror
By Mark Forbes, Jakarta
November 23, 2005

A Counter-terrorism taskforce of prominent Indonesian clerics has been
established to combat terrorist recruitment and the prospect of a new wave
of bombing attacks.

The move was initiated by the Indonesian Government and comes amid claims
that a Middle Eastern diplomat has been funding terrorist organisations in
Indonesia and the discovery of further bombing plans and an internet site
providing instructions of how to attack foreigners in Jakarta.

Experts have welcomed the decision by mainstream Muslim organisations to
help combat terror after leading clerics were shown videos seized during
raids on Jemaah Islamiah hide-outs. The videos praised suicide bombing in
the name of religious jihad, called for attacks on Australia and provided
instructions on bomb making.

The team includes leaders of the two mainstream Islamic groups in
Indonesia, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, that have a combined
membership of 70 million. The groups have previously been reluctant to
speak out against hardline groups.

Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin said it was wrong to link "inhuman"
terrorist attacks to Islam and jihad. "Those terrorist actions have
besmirched Muslims," he said.

The head of the team, Ma'ruf Amin, said clerics would examine the teaching
of Islamic boarding schools — known as pesantrens — that have been linked
to radical groups and taught many of those involved in terrorist attacks.
"We will clarify these ideas with pesantrens, especially those alleged to
have indications of influences from radical terror views," Mr Amin said. A
Government spokesman said books that promoted radicalism could be banned.

Sidney Jones, Indonesian director of the International Crisis Group,
praised the decision of Vice-President Jusuf Kalla to show the videos
featuring the suicide bombers who carried out October's bombings in Bali.
"That's a real new step and we haven't had this level of government
involvement before," Ms Jones said.

"It's taken this long for some of the (Muslim) organisations to realise
the extent of the problem in Indonesia and to realise it's got a kind of
staying power."

Meanwhile, an official at the Government's State Intelligence Institute,
Wawan Purwanto, has supported allegations that a foreign diplomat was
involved in financing terrorism in Indonesia.

A member of Parliament's security commission, Effendi Simbolon, has
claimed the Middle Eastern diplomat was delivering cash from al-Qaeda to
terrorists under the guise of diplomatic immunity.

Mr Simbolon said police were already investigating the case, but police
chief General Sutanto denied there was any evidence diplomats were
involved in funding terrorist activities in Indonesia.

Although a terror suspect had admitted receiving money from Saudi Arabia,
General Sutanto said police had been successful in blocking most terrorist
funding. Terrorist groups were resorting to other activities such as
selling mobile phone vouchers to raise cash, he said.

Police are increasingly concerned that a video made by Jemaah Islamiah
bomb maker Azahari Husin before he was killed might already have been
widely distributed.
-- With Agencies
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The Age (Melbourne)
Fears Top will stage attack in Indonesia
November 22, 2005 - 5:54PM

Amid fears that Indonesia's most wanted terrorist will strike again, some
police have a new theory: Noordin Top is using hypnotism to elude capture
and recruit more suicide bombers.

The senior Jemaah Islamiah operative - blamed for both Bali bombings and a
series of other attacks - has time and again escaped the clutches of the
law during the past three years.

Just two weeks ago he slipped through a massive dragnet again, even though
counter-terror officers did shoot dead Azahari Husin, Noordin's bombmaker
partner.

Among the few things left behind by Noordin was a graphic video in which
he specifically warned Australia that his band of Islamic extremists would
strike again.

In Azahari's hideout police found plans for a "Bom Pesta" - or bomb party
- this coming Christmas with several churches and shopping malls earmarked
for attack.

As fears rise, reports say some police in notoriously superstitious
Indonesia believe Noordin may have the ability to hypnotise people, using
his mental powers to escape his pursuers and recruit more bombers.

"A village chief fell unconscious after kissing the hand of a man
resembling Noordin," one policeman told the latest edition of Tempo news
magazine.

The magazine said the chief's mind went blank "like he was hypnotised"
after meeting a "tabib", or traditional healer, who looked like Noordin.

One officer said police believed even a skilled religious preacher would
have difficulty finding so many followers willing to kill themselves for a
cause.

Belief in the supernatural is widespread in Indonesia. Crime is sometimes
blamed on tricksters with magical powers and people regularly take their
problems to fortune-tellers and witchdoctors, known as dukun.

Against this social background, one policeman told Tempo that JI used
"unconventional recruitment techniques" to boost its ranks.

Investigators believe Noordin is an expert at disguise, perhaps using many
different ID documents.

Noordin is JI's chief recruiter, Islamic ideologue and strategist, and
there are now fears that he and at least 14 recruits are preparing to
unleash a new wave of bombings.

Security near and around international style hotels and shopping malls
have been boosted after a website last week laid out explicit details on
how to shoot and launch grenade attacks against foreigners.

There has been some progress, though.

Australian Federal Police chief Commissioner Mick Keelty said this month's
raids had provided "a better understanding of Jemaah Islamiah than what we
ever had".

While Keelty did not give details, Indonesian police said the plans
uncovered in Azahari's house called for bombings on towns around Batu and
Malang in east Java.

Included on the target list were the 109-year-old Jesus Sacred Heart
Catholic church in Malang and the 71-year-old Cathedral Mount Carmel,
Singapore's Straits Times newspaper said.

Police in Malang said they had since increased surveillance of the churches.

In Jakarta, security was also being boosted in at least two major shopping
malls favoured by Westerners and singled out in the terrorist website.

The website, set up on Noordin's orders by one of the Bali suicide bombing
suspects, recommended attacks be launched on overhead walkways and traffic
snarls, where Westerners would be trapped in their vehicles.

Security guards at the upmarket Plaza Senayen and the Ambassador Mall,
popular for electronic goods and pirated DVDs, said they had increased
searches.

"We have been told by managers to search everyone with extra care," a
guard named Idris told AAP, adding that foreign shoppers had stayed away
over the weekend.

National police spokesman Sunarko Danu Ardanto described the website,
which has since been shut down following fresh travel warnings by
Australia, Britain and the US, as a "threat to national security".

National Police chief General Sutanto said the terrorists were being
forced to fund their operations by selling prepaid mobile phone vouchers
after backing from Saudi Arabian supporters was shut down.

"They are facing financial difficulties now. Their way out is by selling
vouchers, for which they get a daily profit of up to five million rupiah
(A$677)," he said.

Indonesia has promised to tighten surveillance of prepaid mobile phone
vouchers, which can presently be purchased anonymously.
-- © 2005 AAP
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ETAN Condemns Administration Waiver Permitting Weapons Sales to Indonesia

For Immediate Release
Contact: John M. Miller (718) 596-7668; (917) 690-4391 (cell)
Karen Orenstein (202) 544-6911

November 22, 2005 - The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN)
strongly condemned the State Department's waiver of newly legislated
restrictions on U.S. military assistance to Indonesia. The Department
announced today that "it is in the national security interests of the
United States to waive conditionality pertaining to Foreign Military
Financing (FMF) and defense exports to Indonesia." The restriction was
contained in the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related
Programs Appropriations Act, 2006, which became public law only last week.

In response, ETAN has issued the following statement:

ETAN condemns in the strongest terms possible the State Department's
issuance of a national security wavier that removes all congressional
restrictions on military assistance for Indonesia. U.S. support for an
unreformed military which remains above the law is not in the interest of
the United States or Indonesia. This is a profoundly disappointing and sad
day for human rights protections everywhere but especially in Indonesia,
Timor-Leste, and the U.S.

Not even two weeks ago, Congress sent a clear message to the Indonesian
government and security forces that it expected real improvements in
military reform, human rights protections, and accountability for crimes
against humanity and other serious crimes before FMF could be provided and
lethal equipment exported to Indonesia. Secretary Rice has completely
undermined that message and undermined congressional intent by doing so.

The State Department's action is simply a transparent abuse of discretion
granted to the executive by Congress.

The State Department's statement said today, "The U.S. remains committed
to pressing for accountability for past human rights violations, and U.S.
assistance will continue to be guided by Indonesia's progress on
democratic reform and accountability" could not ring more hollow.  With
what leverage will the State Department press for accountability?  The
Bush administration just gave all remaining leverage away.

With the stroke of a pen, Secretary Rice and President Bush betrayed the
untold tens of thousands of victims of the Indonesian military's brutality
in Indonesia and Timor-Leste and undermined efforts at democratic reform.

For more background see http://etan.org/issues/miltie.htm.

ETAN advocates for democracy, justice and human rights for East Timor and
Indonesia. ETAN calls for an international tribunal to prosecute crimes
against humanity committed in East Timor from 1975 to 1999 and for
continued restrictions on U.S. military assistance to Indonesia until
there is genuine reform of its security forces.
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The Jakarta Post.com
Islands in Focus
November 22, 2005
Cavalry called in, brawl erupts

Ambon, Maluku: Army soldiers and police officers were fought a pitched
battle at dawn on Monday in Ambon city, leaving three civilians injured.

The brawl broke out as a wedding reception was winding down into the wee
hours in Nusaniwe district of the city.

According to witnesses, the melee began after the groom, Lukman Nawi, a
police officer, told an Army soldier to stop smoking while dancing in the
crowded wedding area. The Army man reportedly became enraged and began
punching police officers. As the officers retaliated, the soldiers three
colleagues joined the fray and the fight was on.

A group of civilian residents, along with the officers, eventually managed
to overwhelm the soldier and his three cohorts, prompting them to flee the
dance floor and split the scene.

However, in a shocking turn of events, a larger group of military
personnel from a nearby cavalry unit in the city returned to the wedding
and attacked the revelers, both civilians and police, in attendance.

In addition to the three injured civilians, at least six houses and eight
cars were wrecked after the cavalry was called in.

No arrests or suspensions have been made, but the incidents are being
investigated by police and military authorities in the formerly riot-torn
city.
-- JP
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The Jakarta Post.com
Headline News
November 22, 2005
Poso attacks carried out by organized group: Police
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The recent terror attacks in Poso, Central Sulawesi, were committed by an
"organized group" to trigger fresh sectarian conflict in the area,
National Police chief Gen. Sutanto says.

Speaking at a working meeting on Monday with the House of Representatives
Commission III on legal affairs at the National Police Headquarters,
Sutanto said the group had begun to move its terror attacks to the
provincial capital of Palu after authorities beefed up security in Poso.

He did not elaborate on the identity of the group.

On Oct. 29, three Christian schoolgirls were beheaded by six
machete-wielding men on motorbikes as they were walking to school in Poso,
a religiously-divided town, which saw more than 1,000 people killed during
a Christian-Muslim conflict in 2000 and 2001. That conflict ended after a
government-sponsored truce.

The attack was apparently aimed at reigniting the conflict, officials have
said.

Just over a week after the attack, two female students were victims of a
drive-by shooting while sitting in front of a house in Poso.

Since the Oct. 29 attack, police have boosted security in Poso by
deploying reinforcements to the area in a bid to prevent renewed clashes
and hunt down the perpetrators.

The police so far have named one suspect in the beheading case and three
suspects in the shooting incident.

However, last Saturday, a Christian couple were shot in Palu by
unidentified attackers while on their way home from a church.

The shooting took place only a day after three teenage girls were attacked
by more unidentified assailants in the city. One of them was killed during
the attack.

Separately, the National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of
Violence (Kontras) said on Monday the violent attacks in Poso were carried
out by an organized group with the code name "Flower Team." However,
commission spokesmen Haris Azhar and Erwin Partogi stopped short of
revealing the identity of the group and their reasons for the attacks.

Haris and Erwin said the attacks in Poso and Palu had many similar
characteristics and were generally carried out around religious or public
holidays and local elections.

The pair urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to provide political
support for the police to resolve the case and arrest the people behind
the "Flower Team."

"The conflict in Poso is similar to mysterious murders in Banyuwangi, East
Java during 1998-1999 and in Ciamis, West Java, in 1997-1998," Haris said
as quoted by newsportal detik.com.
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AsiaNews
22 November, 2005
Indonesia
Maluku Islands on high terrorism alert
-- As Christmas approaches, security checks to prevent possible attacks
against churches get tighter. The terrorist threat aside, the population
faces turf clashes between police and army like the one that occurred
yesterday in Waihaong, Ambon.

Ambon (AsiaNews) – In Ambon and Ternate, Maluku Islands, security forces
are in a higher state of alert in the run-up to Christmas and New Year
celebrations.

Both drivers and pedestrians will have to put up with tighter controls as
police check identities.

Ternate Police Chief Edy Purwatmo said such measures are designed to stop
infiltrations into the northern Malukus by followers of the late terrorist
Azahari bin Husain. The region is an ideal hiding place for its close
proximity to the southern Philippines.

Security checks will also be carried out after dark and particular
vigilance will be exercised in Ambon’s Pattimura Airport

Some local Christians have also started patrolling their own churches in
towns and villages around Ambon till after the New Year.

According to The Jakarta Post daily, the police will again interrogate
Muhammad Attamimi, who chairs the Stain Muslim Academy in Ambon.

Mr Attamimi will have to provide answers as to why weapons and explosives
were found near his institute last May 19.

He has already been interrogate as a witness; now he must answer charges
that he is linked to terrorist groups active in the Malukus.

But people on the Malukus don’t have only terrorism to content with.
Heightened police-army rivalry has escalated into clashes like the one
that took place yesterday at dawn in Waihaong, Ambon.

Local residents were woken by the sound of gun fire and saw policemen and
soldiers throw stones each other. The incident damaged eight cars and six
houses, wounding six civilians.

Small squabbles are degenerating into open fights. Yesterday’s clash began
when a policeman berated a soldier at a wedding.

Residents are especially worried by this kind of thing, because security
forces have shown to be unreliable and unprofessional, incapable of
ensuring security and distracted by infantile rivalries.