[Kabar-indonesia] Indo News - 10/18/05

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- Yudhoyono Makes the Grade
- Toying with Indonesian corruption
- The mystification of the unitary state of Indonesia
- Govt aims to speed up revision of religious decree
- Amended terror law to compromise human rights
- No tyranny in laws: Jakarta
- Prophet Talk: Blind Indo Prez Shatters Elite?
- Ex-Indonesian president links police, military to 2002 Bali bombings
- Don't execute Bali bombers, Jakarta warned
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Inter Press Service
Indonesia:
Yudhoyono Makes the Grade
Fabio Scarpello

Jakarta, Oct 14 (IPS) - A year after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
(SBY) and Vice President Jusuf Kalla (JK) took power, Indonesia seems to
be in just about the same dire situation as it was before. Yet, analysts
say it is not all bad.

The SBY-JK government was sworn in on October 20, 2004. A month earlier,
the two had won an impressive mandate in Indonesia's first ever direct
presidential election. The largely successful democratic process gave rise
to unrestricted optimism and expectations on the new leadership were as
huge as the task facing them.

Spread over 17 thousand islands, with a population of some 230 million,
consisting of over 360 ethnic groups speaking hundreds of languages and
following every major world religion, the archipelago has many chronic
problems. Some of these were covered during the 33-year long Suharto's
dictatorship but have surfaced since the regime collapsed in 1998.

At first glance, the SBY-JK government has solved none of the problems.
The country is still riddled by corruption, threatened by terrorism,
tarnished by religious tension, mined by ethnic conflict, and struggling
with the economy. To top it all, the Indonesian military is still only
partly accountable.

Yet, analysts, who have judged on signs rather then than results, said
they are pleased with what they have seen.

''The SBY-JK government has inherited a heavy burden from the past and has
been very unlucky. Considering it all, they have done a good job and
signals are good,'' Salim Said, a political analyst at Indonesia Institute
of Science, told IPS.

Last December's tsunami, a series of infectious disease outbreaks and the
skyrocketing price of petrol are only part of the troubles the new
government has had to contend with since taking office.

On the bright side, under Yudhoyono-Kalla, Indonesia's democracy has been
cemented. The duo has shown authority but no authoritarian tendency. The
press acts freely, civil society is thriving, the parliament is
functioning and people have been given the right to protest without ''too
big a threat'' of being shot at.

The presidential duo has lit a glimmer of hope in the fight against
corruption.

Corruption, collusion and nepotism, or KKN as it is called in Indonesia,
form a gangrene eating Indonesia from the inside. In its latest
corruption-perception index, Transparency International ranked Indonesia
133rd out of 145 countries. Previous presidents paid lip-service to the
problem but Yudhoyono has setup a 51-man, strong team to go after the big
fish.

''The President has shown sincerity in the fight against corruption and
that is in itself an achievement in Indonesia,'' said Prof. Said.

Although the war has just started, the tally so far shows Abdullah Puteh,
former 'untouchable' and governor of Aceh, already sentenced, and 59
high-ranking officials currently under investigation.

The anti-corruption team is also poking its nose into the country's
election commission, the Haj pilgrimage fund and the banking system. Eddie
Neloe, former chief executive of Bank Mandiri, Indonesia's largest lender,
faces life in prison in a corruption trial started recently.

When it comes to the economy, experts give SBY-JK the benefit of the
doubt. The duo has been criticized for being slow in reacting to last
month's crisis that hit the local currency hard. But they were praised for
taking decisive measures in cutting the fuel subsidy, which threatened to
reach 14 billion dollars this year, or a third of central government
expenditure.

The slash increased the price of gasoline by 87.5%, more than doubled the
price of diesel and almost tripled the cost of kerosene, the staple fuel
of most of Indonesia's poor.

Past governments' attempts to cut the subsidy were met by riots, but this
time protests were contained: Partly because SBY is still popular, partly
because he did a good job in selling the policy, but mostly because the
government compensated the country's poorest 16 million households, and
because the sharp rise was followed by the second Bali bombing.

Anyhow, the cut was due and allowed the President to put his house in
order and move forward.

''The budget is now ok. If the government manages to keep inflation under
control, the money saved could be used to improve education and health,''
Bill Guerin, a Jakarta-based economist, told IPS.

But not everyone is pleased with the new administration. Human rights and
environmental activists, for example, say that nothing has moved in the
way of reforms and that the Indonesian Military (TNI) is still out of
control.

''With regard to human rights and the rule of law, the situation is
stagnant. There is a good law dealing with reform of the military, but
little has been done,'' Agung Yudhawiranata from the Institute for Policy
Research and Advocacy (ELSAM) said.

Yudhoyono and Kalla can take credit for having ended the 30-year-long Aceh
conflict, but internal problems are still grave in Papua where the TNI is
accused of large scale human rights abuse.

During the last year, military personnel have also maintained their aura
of impunity in regards to past crimes. As reported recently by Human
Rights Watch, no senior Indonesian officer has been held to account for
war crimes and crimes against humanity in East Timor in 1999 or other
serious violations elsewhere in the archipelago.

In July, an appeals court overturned all convictions in the first
test-case of accountability for Suharto-era crimes; the 1984 Tanjung Priok
massacre, which left at least 33 civilians dead.

Chalid Muhammad, executive director of the Indonesian Forum for the
Environment, has drawn the attention to the lack of progress in protecting
the country's forests.

''Nothing much has happened. Illegal logging is still rampant, while the
Buyat case remains unaddressed,'' he told the Jakarta Post. The Buyat case
refers to the alleged pollution of North Sulawesi's Buyat Bay by the local
arm of the US mining firm PT Newmont.

Yudhoyono seems to have also turned a blind eye to the growing threat of
religious intolerance in the country. Indonesia, with its 196 million
Muslims, has the world largest Islamic population. Most of them are
moderate, but a radical fringe is steadily gaining ground.

As many as 23 unlicensed Christian churches in West Java have been forced
to close. Islamic groups deemed heretical, such as the Ahmadiyah sect, or
too liberal, such as the Islamic Liberal Network, have been attacked and
threatened by radicals who have acted unchecked.

''Problems exist, but the government cannot tackle them all at once. We
have to give it some time,'' Said concluded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Asia Times Online
October 18, 2005
Toying with Indonesian corruption
By Bill Guerin

Jakarta - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono came to power a
year ago after a landslide victory with promises to fight rampant
corruption. His unprecedented campaign has rooted out small-time
corruption as well as major graft involving top government officials,
legislators and officials in state-owned companies and banks. His
51-member Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has already snared
several high-profile offenders.

Yet, as if emphasizing the never-ending variations of corruption and the
extent of the problem in the country, Indonesia's chief justice last week
faced calls for his resignation after a half-brother of former president
Suharto claimed he was "blackmailed" by the "judicial mafia" in the
country's highest legal institution.

Probosutedjo, whose appeal is being heard by a panel of three Supreme
Court judges led by Chief Justice Bagir Manan, made the allegation after
the KPK questioned him over the scandal. He claimed he had set aside a
huge bribe that his lawyer, a former high court judge had urged, in order
to win his appeal against a jail sentence handed down by the lower courts.

He was convicted of abusing reforestation funds and sentenced to four
years in jail by the Central Jakarta District Court in 2003. The Jakarta
High Court later reduced the term to two years. Probosutedjo was
implicated in the bribery case after the KPK arrested his lawyer, Harini
Wiyoso, and five Supreme Court officials for alleged involvement in the
scam.

Probosutedjo said so far he has paid Rp16 billion (US$1.5 million) to
three courts dealing with his corruption case: Rp10 billion to the Central
Jakarta District Court and Jakarta High Court as well as Rp6 billion to
the Supreme Court, of which Rp5 billion was to go to Manan and the
remaining Rp1 billion was to be divided among other Supreme Court
officials, he said. Manan denies the allegations, describing them as a
desperate move by someone who could face a severe sentence if convicted.
Probosutedjo has neither been detained, nor declared a suspect.

Munarman, a director of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (LBHI), said
corruption in the country's judiciary system is rampant, affecting about
60% to 70% of court officials. He said corruption kicks in "when someone
reports a case to the police who then submit it to the prosecutors until
the case reaches the court and there is the wait for a verdict", he
explained.

Meanwhile, the Judicial Commission, set up to supervise judges and put a
stop to rampant corruption in the courts, has demanded that Manan step
down. Its chairman, Busyro Muqqodas, said Manan must do the honorable
thing and resign because he had been linked to the Supreme Court's
"judicial mafia".

The KPK works in tandem with a special anti-corruption court established
to fast-track sensitive cases. The two have been busy.

The court in April sentenced the governor of Aceh, Abdullah Puteh, to 10
years in prison in a graft case involving the purchase of a Russian-made
helicopter. KPK investigators caught his lawyer red-handed allegedly
trying to bribe two court clerks of the Jakarta High Court to get the
sentence reduced.

Also, the chairman of the Elections Commission (KPU) and its treasurer are
on trial for receiving kickbacks from companies that won tenders to supply
election materials. And the former minister for religious affairs is on
trial for a scandal involving state funds for the hajj, the pilgrimage to
Mecca, and could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.

The commission is also investigating serious graft cases in state-owned
enterprises including the oil and gas giant, Pertamina; the electricity
utility, PLN; the insurance company, PT Jamsostek; the cement firm, PT
Pupuk Kaltim; the State Secretariat; the Ministry of Defense; and the
Ministry of Health. A crude oil smuggling ring involving Pertamina
officials allegedly siphoned off massive quantities of oil costing the
state Rp8.8 trillion ($850 million) in losses a year.

Illegal logging, allegedly involving some elements of the police and
military, caused estimated losses of Rp15 trillion a month - Rp180
trillion a year alone in the province of Sumatra.

An internal audit at the Agriculture Ministry has found suspected
corruption in the provision of vaccines to fight the bird flu outbreak,
which has killed at least 14 people in the country. Losses from graft
relating to vaccines were put at almost Rp57 billion after four companies
assigned to produce bird flu vaccines allegedly, with the complicity of
senior government officials, produced doses of inferior quality to inflate
profits.

Since assuming power Yudhyono has approved investigations into alleged
corruption cases involving almost 40 regents. On Monday he suspended the
Banten governor indefinitely to facilitate his prosecution in a corruption
case.

Also on Monday, the former CEO and two other ex-directors of the giant
state-controlled, Bank Mandiri - Indonesia's biggest bank - went on trial
on corruption charges in a case that forms a central plank of Yudhoyono's
campaign against graft. They have been detained since May amid ongoing
investigations into dodgy loans from the bank to several local companies.

Despite this, KPK Chairman Taufiqurrahman Ruki said: "The commission is
very disappointed with the government's efforts to prevent corruption. Its
efforts and its determination have yet to show progress."

One problem is the apparent lack of coordination among the various law
enforcement and legal institutions tasked with combating corruption. Anwar
Nasution, chairman of the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), said the apparent
slow progress in the fight against corruption and the fact many corruption
suspects managed to flee the country were mainly due to weak coordination
among law officers and a shortage of professional investigators.

Institutions, including the National Police, the Attorney General's Office
(AGO), the KPK and the BPK should cease what he described as "civil war
among themselves" if the efforts to curb corruption were to bear fruit, he
said.

Nasution made his comments last week at the opening of a week-long
government workshop to devise strategies to curb corruption. Attorney
General Abdurrahman Saleh helped prove his point by failing to show up at
the workshop.

Watchdog groups such as German-based Transparency International have
consistently rated Indonesia as among the most corrupt nations in the
world.

Yudhyono's closest confidante, Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi, said the
president acknowledged the anti-corruption drive was still far from
achieving its goal and promised to speed up efforts.

Yudhoyono remains a popular president, with 63% of Indonesians satisfied
with his performance in running the country, a new survey by the
Indonesian Research Institute (LSI) reports. However, the survey was
completed in late September, before the latest fuel-price hikes and the
most recent Bali bombs.

Most of the 1,137 people from 33 provinces interviewed in the survey said
the administration had done a good job in eradicating corruption (65.1%),
combating crime (76.8%), settling problems with the Free Aceh Movement or
GAM (75.9%), health programs (70%) and education (74.7%).

Nonetheless there is clearly a long way to go for this determined
president to shake off the Suharto legacy and bring Indonesia's justice
system back into line.
-- Bill Guerin, a Jakarta correspondent for Asia Times Online since 2000,
has worked in Indonesia for 20 years as a journalist. He has been
published by the BBC on East Timor and specializes in business/economic
and political analysis in Indonesia.
-- Copyright 2005 Asia Times Online Ltd.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
Opinion
October 14, 2005
The mystification of the unitary state of Indonesia
Riwanto Tirtosudarmo, Jakarta

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono attended the commemoration of
"Pancasila Sanctity" Day on Oct. 1, a practice that was scrapped by former
president Abdurrahman Wahid. The purpose of the celebration, however, has
changed to not only remember the (non-communist) victims of the alleged
coup attempt by the now defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), but to
reaffirm the country's commitment to the concept of the Unitary State of
Indonesia, known by its Indonesian acronym "NKRI".

NKRI until now is still regarded as having a sacred and mystical status
that stands above and beyond all other interests.

Indonesia, in contrast with the neighboring state of Malaysia, was born as
a nation with a strong sentiment of civic nationalism. The Javanese,
although demographically the dominant ethnic group, accepted non-ethnic
based nationalism.

On Oct. 28, 1928, leaders of various youth organizations gathered in
Batavia (now Jakarta) and declared the Youth Pledge -- One Nation, One
Nationality, and One Language.

"Indonesia", an obscure Greek word first coined by G.W. Earl and J.R.
Logan in their articles written in 1850, was subsequently used by a
progressive student organization in the Netherlands and became an
important symbol of nationalism and a rallying slogan for nationalist
leaders in the struggle for independence.

When our founding fathers declared the nation's independence on Aug. 17,
1945, secular ideologies (nationalism, communism and socialism) apart from
Islam became the basis for party politics after independence.

Political life in the fifties and early sixties shows the continuation of
trans-ethnic based parties and the importance of civil society in
Indonesia. After the Sept. 30 tragedy, and the ouster of the country's
first president Sukarno, only the military and the weak nationalist and
Islamic parties still existed in the Indonesian political landscape.

The military under Gen. Soeharto, who became Indonesia's second president
in 1968, slowly transformed itself into a powerful organization that
comprehensively infiltrated national politics and civilian government. The
Indonesian political terrain was depoliticized under the new quasi
ideology of developmentalism. The government, supported by the U.S. and
the West generally, focused national development strategy on economic
growth.

Furthermore, under Soeharto political parties were marginalized and the
regions become peripheralized. In this period, decentralization was
conducted within the contexts of over-centralization and the deepening
process of mystification of Indonesia as a conclusive and final unitary
state.

In the New Order's period a narrow version of Indonesian nationalism was
entrenched and became a source of intimidation and persecution for the
government's critics and any groups that were perceived as a threat to
national integration and the political stability of the ruling elites.

With the fall of Soeharto from power in 1998 political parties flourished
again. The 1945 Constitution was amended, and general elections were far
more democratic. The over-centralization was loosening up.

It is within this changing climate of decentralizing politics that
ethnicity emerged as a strong mobilizing cultural movement in the
post-Soeharto political landscape. The emergence of ethnic politics in the
current decentralizing era could have detrimental impacts on Indonesia's
nation-building process.

The strengthening of ethnocentrism -- mostly reflected by non Javanese --
that developed in conjunction with the implementation of new
decentralization policies could be seen as a process of disintegration
from within. From the perspective of ethnic relations in Indonesia it also
interesting to see whether the current emergence of ethnic politics also
reflects the long suppressed anti-Javanese sentiment.

Relations between the centre and regions have always been an important
political agenda item and are constantly being negotiated throughout the
life of the republic.

However, the mystification of NKRI under Soeharto is regaining momentum
again now. The military's strong perception of the nation as essentially
constituting a spatial entity with a clear geographic boundaries that
should be jealously guarded from external threats has become the
underlying factor in mystifying NKRI as a sacred cow with all its taboos.

>From this narrow nationalistic view point the possible implementation
local autonomy in Aceh and Papua, or federalism as a logical political
alternative for a future Indonesia, has always been resisted by the ruling
elites.

Yet, on the contrary, Indonesia has been experiencing a process of
disintegration from within under the sacredness of NKRI. A celebration of
national symbols is indeed crucial in strengthen people's feeling of
nationhood, however it should not obliterate it.

The writer is a researcher at the Research Center for Society and Culture,
Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
National News
October 18, 2005
Govt aims to speed up revision of religious decree
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Minister of Home Affairs M. Ma'aruf said that the government would try to
speed up the revision of the controversial 1969 decree on the
establishment of houses of worship.

He said on Monday that officials from his ministry and the Ministry of
Religious Affairs had set a deadline to complete the revision before the
end of this year.

"We'll try to finish it sooner. The sooner, the better," he told reporters
following a meeting between Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono and
several Muslim clerics here.

Ma'aruf explained that there were a number of remaining items that had to
be thoroughly discussed in revising the decree, and those included the
operational concept of the decree in accordance with local traditions.

The minister's statement came in the wake of a fresh attack against a
Christian house of worship late on Sunday in South Sulawesi.

Witnesses said that at least 150 people vandalized a house in Patalassang
district, Takalar regency, about 45 km south of Makassar.

There were no reported injuries as it was empty when the group arrived,
but earlier in the day it was used as a place of worship for local
Christians.

For the past six months, the Takalar Muslim community forum had protested
about the use of the house by Christians. The Muslim group claimed that
the worshipers did not have the necessary permission to use the building
for religious activities.

Head of the Takalar police department, Yayat Jatmika, said that the use of
the house as a place of worship was against the law, but he added that the
attack on the house was unfortunate.

"The Muslim forum had previously filed a protest with the police and the
local legislative council, which had been trying to settle the case
amicably. But unfortunately, they were not patient enough to wait," Yayat
explained.

The central government has been under pressure to revise the 1969 decree
issued by the ministry of home affairs and ministry of religious affairs
following dozens of similar forced closures by Muslims extremists over the
past year, mostly in Bandung and neighboring districts in West Java.

The decree obliges those wishing to build a religious place of worship to
obtain permission from local authorities and local residents. In some
areas it is next to impossible to secure such permission, and minority
Christians have had to turn houses and shops into temporary places of
worship without a permit.

Moderate Muslims have criticized the hard-liners for taking the law into
their own hands.

Ma'aruf said that the revision of the controversial decree was part of
efforts to help curb interfaith violence in the nation with the world's
largest population of Muslims.

He said that the decree would be revised so it would be consistent with
Law No. 32/2004 on regional administration.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
Headline News
October 18, 2005
Amended terror law to compromise human rights
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government is drafting amendments to the existing antiterrorism law
that will compromise individual human rights so as to ensure the safety of
the public at large, an official says.

Ansja'ad Mbai, who heads the antiterror desk at the Office of the
Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, said the
amendments, if passed, would permit preemptive measures even against
people suspected of promoting radicalism.

"The existing law provides only a legal basis for measures in response to
acts of terrorism. It's reactive in nature," Ansja'ad told The Jakarta
Post.

He said the latest attacks on Bali, which killed 20 people in addition to
three suspected suicide bombers, revealed the inadequacy of the existing
legal framework for addressing the root causes of terrorism in the
country.

Under the amended legislation, he said, the police would be allowed to
detain a person without charge for more than seven days -- the maximum
period under the prevailing legislation. Intelligence units would also be
given greater roles in preventing acts of terrorism.

"The targets of the preemptive measures will range from teachings that
promote radicalism to acts of provocation, hatred and hostility. We have
no legal basis for the taking of such measures at the moment," he said.

He admitted that the tough measures would spark fears of the return of
authoritarianism, as under the New Order regime when the use of violence
was widely resorted to for the purpose of silencing government critics.

"The existing law gives limited room for the state authorities to work,
partly because of our concerns about human rights. But there must be a
common understanding that we cannot protect the human rights of
individuals to such an extent as to sacrifice the rights of the public at
large," Ansja'ad said.

When asked if the amendments to the antiterrorism legislation were
inspired by the internal security legislation of a number of neighboring
countries, Ansja'ad said: "We are not necessarily imitating these Acts.
Indonesia has been the most comprehensive laboratory of radicalism in the
world for decades, so we know exactly what we have to do."

Indonesia passed the current Antiterrorism Law following the bomb attack
on Bali in October 2002, which left 202 people dead. Ineffective
intelligence work has been blamed for recurring acts of terror in the
following years, including those targeting the Marriott Hotel and the
Australian Embassy, both in Jakarta.

Australia has offered legal assistance to help Indonesia provide a more
effective legal framework for eradicating terrorism.

Ansja'ad said the government was open to foreign assistance, underlining
the importance of global cooperation in the war on terror.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Australian
No tyranny in laws: Jakarta
Sian Powell, Jakarta correspondent
October 17, 2005

Indonesia has moved to quell fears that plans to strengthen anti-terror
laws and re-engage the armed forces in the battle against terrorism
presage a return to the days of military rule under former dictator
Suharto.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Government was planning to boost the
fight against terrorism by bolstering security laws, spokesman Dino Patti
Djalal told The Australian yesterday.

But he said any changes were unlikely to include regulations allowing the
indefinite detention of suspected terrorists without trial, such as those
in Malaysia's notorious Internal Security Act.

"I don't think we're thinking in the way Malaysia has, but we do need to
strengthen the laws to make it less easy, more firm," Dr Djalal said.

"Before the Bali bombings, the President held a number of cabinet meetings
designed to strengthen our counter-terrorism measures. The President
always feared another attack at this time of year."

Following the second Bali bombings, which killed 23 people, including four
Australians, on October 1, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer visited
Indonesia and urged Jakarta to consider strengthening counter-terrorism
laws by outlawing such actions as "consorting" with terrorists. In Jakarta
last week, Mr Downer said he would send expert teams of Australian
officials to Indonesia to advise on ways of strengthening the legal and
institutional counter-terrorism framework.

Dr Djalal said the impetus to strengthen the laws was in place long before
Mr Downer's visit. "And since the second Bali bombings these efforts have
been stepped up," he said.

Dr Djalal said it was unlikely the counter-terrorism laws enacted in
Indonesia after the 2002 Bali bombings would be changed.

"That law, it's good enough, there's no movement on that," the spokesman
said. "It's more strengthening a set of other laws that relate to security
and so on."

It was important to strengthen intelligence gathering and sharing between
various agencies, he said, adding that re-engaging the military in the
counter-terrorism battle made sense in the current climate.

"If we use the intelligence of the military, so long as we use it for
public security, and to fight terrorism, and not for political purposes,
that's fine. In the past it was misused."

During his visit, Mr Downer sought to convince Dr Yudhoyono to ban the
group Jemaah Islamiah -- responsible for the two Bali bombings -- and
review a remissions policy that seemed likely to lop another month off the
30-month conspiracy sentence JI spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir received
over the first Bali bombings.

Indonesia remains reluctant to outlaw JI, but a review of the remissions
policy is slated to begin today, although it remains unclear whether it
will block Bashir's 30-day remission, due to be granted on November 4.

It was also unclear whether the Australian teams of experts would play a
central role in Indonesia's moves to strengthen its counter-terrorism
capabilities, especially since the contentious Australian legislation has
yet to be enacted.

"Mr Downer said, 'Look, we have a counter-terror law and we want you to
know about it and that's why we're sending teams to Indonesia'," Dr Djalal
said. "But we haven't seen the teams, so it's hard to assess what we can
learn from them."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Free Market News Network
Prophet Talk: Blind Indo Prez Shatters Elite?
By Anthony Wile
Monday, October 17, 2005

An extraordinary documentary produced by Australian public television,
"Inside Indonesia's War on Terrorism," will be rebroadcast again on
Monday, October 17 at 1PM.

In the program which first aired on October 12, the blind, former
President of Indonesia - reportedly more trusted than any other official
in the country - told SBS-TV Date-Line, Australia's state-run public TV,
that the horrendous Bali bombing killing over 200 in Indonesia was planned
and carried out by Indonesian police or military personnel at the behest
of Western powers.

The transcript has already reportedly been removed from the archives of
the SBS, Australia's Special Broadcasting Services, but certain
alternative Internet sites, apparently anticipating this, claim to have
downloaded the transcript and have reproduced it in its entirety. One of
them is GlobalResearch.ca, and the excerpt that follows is taking from its
site. It features Abdurrahman Wahid, the former Indonesian President who
has achieved an almost iconic status in that ordinarily peaceful but
impoverished country.

----------------------------
Begin transcript cite
----------------------------

Today is the third anniversary of the first Bali attack that saw 202
people killed, including 88 Australians. Abdurrahman Wahid now has
questions about that attack as well. While some regard him as an
eccentric, he is the former president and is often described as the
conscience of the nation, revered by tens of millions of moderate Muslims.
As such, he's one of only a few people publicly prepared to canvass the
unthinkable - that Indonesian authorities may have had a hand in the Bali
atrocity. He believes that the plan for the second, massive at the Sari
Club, which caused the majority of casualties, was hatched way above the
head of uneducated villagers like Amrozi.

ABDURRAHMAN WAHID: Amrozi was involved in the lighter bomb. That's a
problem always. Even though I agree that he should be given a stiff
punishment, but it doesn't mean that he is involved. No, no, no.

REPORTER: So you believe that the Bali bombers had no idea that there was
a second bomb?

ABDURRAHMAN WAHID: Yeah, precisely.

REPORTER: And who would you suggest planted the second bomb?

ABDURRAHMAN WAHID: Well, it looks like the police.

REPORTER: The police?

ABDURRAHMAN WAHID: Or the armed forces, I don't know.

Wahid's speculation is chilling and again there's no evidence to support
it. But there's no doubt that he's a barometer of how many Indonesians
view the whole terror campaign.

----------------------------
End transcript cite
----------------------------

The news about the program's upcoming second broadcast was carried early
Sunday morning eastern standard time by Rense.com, the powerful,
alternative Internet news site denounced by the State Dept., along with
some others, as unreliable and symptomatic of 'Net disinformation.

But the State Dept. will have to work hard to explain what may become the
most momentous J'accuse in history since France's Dreyfus Affair.

Rense.Com described the program as follows, "In this documentary, which is
described as the world's most explosive expose of International
Intelligence Agencies ops and cover-ups, the former President of Indonesia
(who Australians describe as the only honest high-level Indonesian
politician), disclosed that the Indonesian police or military are behind
the Bali bombings. Also in this program, Indonesian journalists and
researchers state, unequivocally, that 'Moslem terrorists organizations'
DO NOT EXIST as portrayed by the government - that they are created and
coordinated to act by military-connected provocateurs. 
 They further
claim that the Indonesian military is totally corrupt and that Generals
and politicians are pocketing vast hordes of money they receive to 'fight
terrorism' - 'terrorism' which, in fact, they are creating themselves.
..."

The Australian (Australian,news.com) carried an analysis of the program
from which the following is excerpted:

"The program 
 claims a key figure behind the formation of terror group
Jemaah Islamiah was an Indonesian spy. Former terrorist Umar Abduh, who is
now a researcher and writer, told Dateline Indonesian authorities had a
hand in many terror groups. 'There is not a single Islamic group either in
the movement or the political groups that is not controlled by
(Indonesian) intelligence,' he said. Abduh has written a book on Teungku
Fauzi Hasbi, a key figure in Jemaah Islamiah (JI) who had close contact
with JI operations chief Hambali and lived next door to Muslim cleric Abu
Bakar Bashir. He says Hasbi was a secret agent for Indonesia's military
intelligence while at the same time a key player in creating JI. Security
analyst John Mempi told SBS that Hasbi, who was also known as Abu Jihad,
had played a key role in JI in its early years. 
 Another terrorism
expert, George Aditjondro, said a bombing in May this year that killed 23
people in the Christian village of Tentena, in central Sulawesi, had been
organised by senior military and police officers. 'This is a strategy of
depopulating an area and when an area has been depopulated both becoming
refugees or becoming paramilitary fighters then that is the time when they
can invest their money in major resource exploitation there,' he said."

Rense.Com also republished a letter from David Leibovitz in Sydney,
Australia written after the program's airing and entitled 'There Are no
Muslim Terrorists." It listed the documentary's strongest points as
follows:

The former Indonesian President is the most honest personality in
Indonesian politics, and has no reason to lie.

The Indonesian public are scared for their lives and are very afraid to
speak up. Watching the response of the poor Indonesian citizens last
night, reminded me as a Jew the terrible times we Jews had in Nazi
Germany.

All Indonesian researchers and journalist agree last night, that 'Moslems
terrorists' DO NOT EXIST, they were all created by Indonesian Military
Intelligence.

The Indonesian Generals are corrupt, they boasted on TV that they got 50
million dollars from the Americans, in order to 'fight terrorism'. In
reality, they created 'terrorism' and pocketed the money.

ALL 'coordinated bombings' in Indonesia against Moslems, Christians and
tourists are done by the Indonesian military. It was stated flatly that NO
terrorist organization could have possibly created such 'coordinated
bombings'.

The former Indonesian president repeated, WORD FOR WORD, the allegations
by the late Australian journalist Joe Vialls, and many other Indonesians.
He said that the first small Bali bomb was planted by Ambrosi (who got the
death penalty). BUT! - the former president insisted - (as Vialls
insisted), that the second big coordinated, blast which destroyed Bali
business center and Bali's economy, was done by the Indonesian Police or
military. Over 200 tourists and locals lost their lives in this blast!

Indonesian Generals lied on TV.

Indonesian generals have been extremely successful in fooling western
governments, creating 'terrorism' and pocketing the money.

Jeff concludes his letter as follows, "Here in Australia we still have a
VERY small group of honest Australian journalists who dare to bring the
truth to the Australian people, and who are not corrupted by American
pressure and money! 
 Australians now know the truth. NEVER AGAIN will we
be fooled... "

Another letter on Rense.Com site, "Moslem Terrorism' Is Fabricated By
Intel Agencies" from Tim Beasley of Canberra, Australia, reads, in part,
"Thanks for posting the articles about the corrupt Indonesian
military-fabricated Bali bombing, alleged to be financed by Western
Intelligence Agencies. Australians were devastatingly overwhelmed last
week to find out that probably 88 Australians were massacred in Bali (as
Joe Vialls suggested), just to create anti-Moslem hysteria among the
Australian public in order to support sending Australian troops to Bush's
Iraq war. This SBS-TV documentary's indisputable evidence was the
interview with the former Indonesian President who stated with absolute
confidence that Indonesian military and/or police executed the Bali
bombing operation! That interview with this most and only honest
Indonesian politician was the straw that broke the camel's back of every
single Australian I have talked to since. 
 Thanks to your website and
other similar sites, we now know that most international events are staged
today by Western Intelligence Agencies.

And Beasley concludes: "A million thanks to the brave and honest
journalists at SBS-TV-Australia, who produced this once in a lifetime
documentary which is turning our history upside down, and puts to shame
all American 'journalism'!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AFX News Limited
Ex-Indonesian president links police, military to 2002 Bali bombings
10.12.2005, 07:40 AM

Sydney (AFX) - Indonesia's former president Abdurrahman Wahid has said his
nation's police or military officers may have been involved in the 2002
Bali bombings which killed 202 people.

As Australia marked the third anniversary of the nightclub attacks in
which 88 Australians died, Wahid told SBS television's Dateline that he
fears there are links between Indonesian authorities and terror groups.

On the program, which is due to air later today, he said that while
terrorists were responsible for the first bomb which went off on Oct 12,
2002, the second blast may have been organised by the authorities.

Asked who had planted the second bomb, he said: 'Maybe the police... or
the armed forces.'

He added: 'The orders to do this or that came from within our armed forces
not from the fundamentalist people.'

The 2002 bombings on the Indonesian resort island have been blamed on the
Islamic group, Jemaah Islamiyah.

Jemaah Islamiyah has also been fingered as being behind the latest Bali
bombings which killed 20 people, plus three suicide bombers, on Oct 1.

Wahid was sacked as president by the national assembly in July 2001 for
unproven allegations of corruption and incompetence.

He was replaced by his vice president, Megawati Sukarnoputri who has since
been replaced by former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The 64-year-old Wahid is practically blind, diabetic and has suffered
strokes.
-- mfc/ben/dk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sydney Morning Herald
Don't execute Bali bombers, Jakarta warned
By Mark Forbes Herald Correspondent in Denpasar
October 19, 2005

Jakarta came under pressure last night to spare the lives of terrorists
after the head of the original Bali bombing investigation warned of a
backlash if the bombers are executed.

In a warning aimed at Australia as much as Indonesia, Bali police chief I
Made Mangku Pastika said: "Are we capable of coping with the backlash? Are
we ready to have the execution in Bali or outside Bali?"

The call from the general, who rose to prominence during the hunt for the
2002 bombers, came as police claimed to have uncovered a significant lead
in the investigation into the latest attack.

General Pastika said he understood the anger in Bali after the second
attacks and "why some people stage demonstrations to expedite the
execution of Amrozi". But he said he hoped authorities would consider
several factors before responding.

"You may be upset, but you have to remain rational. You have to calculate
each step. We should not be controlled by anger and vengeance."

The comments from General Pastika, a renowned straight shooter who won the
respect of Australian police for his handling of the initial
investigation, reflect alarm at the rising anger in Bali. He clearly
believes executions could harm the broader counter-terrorism campaign. It
is also a message to Australians who are demanding a tougher
anti-terrorism stand from Indonesia.

Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Mukhlas have welcomed their sentences, with
Amrozi stating he would become a martyr.

Other terrorists sentenced to death over their part in the bombing of the
Australian embassy in Jakarta last year have claimed their deaths would be
avenged.

A spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer, said
"sentencing and the carrying out of sentences is entirely a matter for the
Indonesians".

Earlier, General Pastika attempted to calm rowdy demonstrations demanding
the execution of Amrozi and the two other bombers on death row. The anger
erupted after the latest October 1 attacks.

He claimed terrorists might be behind text messages urging Balinese to
take revenge for the latest bombings on Muslims from other parts of
Indonesia.

The warning came as police refused to comment on reports that Indonesian
terrorist networks had recruited another 35 suicide bombers. However,
intelligence sources suggested the reports were correct.

Authorities are concerned that further bombings could be imminent, senior
sources confirmed.

Protesters have stormed Bali's jail demanding Amrozi and fellow bombers
Imam Samudra and Mukhlas be executed immediately to deter future terrorist
attacks. The trio were moved to Java, but authorities in Bali have pledged
to expedite the executions in the face of public outrage.

General Pastika also expressed concerns about the text messages
circulating on the island warning Balinese would soon take revenge on
non-Balinese.

"I hope Balinese people will not buy such a rumour. It is possible it is
spread by the terrorist group who wishes to create unrest in Bali."

Police are defending claims the investigation into the latest bombings has
stalled. "We have found a lead, but, sorry, we cannot as yet disclose it
to the public or the press," said the national police chief, General
Sutanto.

He appealed to Islamic teachers in Java to help fight terrorists by
informing police of any suspicious behaviour from their students. "We must
be alert against possible exploitation of the students by the terrorists
and the possibility of Islamic boarding schools being used as a hiding
place."

He confirmed that one suspect with several identity cards was being
questioned in Sulawesi. Three men questioned in Denpasar had been
released.