No subject

community to focus its attention on the some 3,000 TNI soldiers supported by 
tanks, which had trapped more than 120 Acehnese people and a score of rebels 
for the past four days in Paya Cot Trieng. 

"The deployment of artillery mortars, armored carriers and grenades are against 
international conventions ... Despite the siege, we will never give up. It is 
better and more honorable for us to die in the war. 

"We will win the war and the international community will be ashamed after they 
see what a valiant defense we put up, all alone" he said. 

Sofyan denied that GAM Commander Muzakhir Manaf was with the rebels in the 
hiding place, saying: "There are only me and my deputy Tengku Agam and a number 
of rebels while more than 120 civilians are here with us after they were wanted 
by the military." 

He said the siege would not disrupt the planned dialog between the two 
conflicting sides, "and GAM is ready to go to the negotiating table to sign the 
peace agreement to end the hostility. 

In Banda Aceh, hundreds of Acehnese people were barred by the local police from 
entering the Baiturrachman Grand Mosque to pray for the cessation of the 
hostility in the restive province. The mass prayer was held to celebrate the 
second anniversary of the Acehnese Mass gathering for a self-determination 
referendum. 

M. Nazar, chairman of the Center for Information on Aceh Referendum, condemned 
the security authorities' action, saying no sides have authority to prevent 
Muslim people from praying in the mosque. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Police stop Aceh activists entering mosque for rally
Banda Aceh, Indonesia November 8, 2002 (AFP)

Police in Indonesia's rebellious Aceh province on Friday prevented about 300 
activists from entering a main mosque to mark the anniversary of a mass rally 
for a referendum three years ago.

About 100 police in riot gear guarded entrances to the Baiturrahman grand 
mosque in this provincial capital and stopped the activists from entering. The 
activists later delivered speeches outside the mosque.

Banda Aceh police chief commissioner Ari Rachman said his forces would not 
allow the mosque to be used for political activities.

"They are there not to pray but to engage in political activities. They want to 
agitate the people to hate the police and the military," Rachman said.

Activist Muhammad Nazar criticized the move as oppressive. "They are just like 
the Israeli army," he said.

Nazar was jailed for one year last year for organizing the rally outside the 
Baiturrahman mosque in 1999, in which hundreds of thousands of Acehnese turned 
up to demand a referendum on self-rule.

More than 10,000 people have died in a separatist conflict since 1976 when the 
Free Aceh Movement (GAM) began fighting for an independent state in the energy-
rich province on Sumatra island.

GAM had declared a unilateral ceasefire effective November 4 for the Muslim 
holy month of Ramadan, which began Wednesday morning in the devoutly Muslim 
province and across Indonesia. 

But the military has for the past week besieged a suspected hideout of Rebels 
in an area of North Aceh, using light tanks and armoured personnel carriers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
Latest News
11/8/2002 3:31:30 PM
PGI says Damanik should be released soon 

JAKARTA (JP): Around 15 participants of a workshop of the Communion of 
Protestant Churches in Indonesia (PGI) visited here on Friday afternoon Rev. 
Renaldy Damanik at the National Police Headquarters.

Damanik, one of the Christian leaders who signed the Malino peace agreement to 
end the long-running conflict between Muslim and Christian communities in Poso, 
Central Sulawesi, was arrested by police in early September for alleged 
possession of illegal weapons.

Police investigators said that they found several home-made rifles and bullets 
in Damanik's car, but the Christian leader disavowed ownership of the weapons, 
accusing the police of planting the weapons in his car. 

Rosa, one of the visitors, told Radio El Shinta that only five of the group 
were permitted to meet the Protestant priest.

She expressed hope that Damanik could be released immediately. "If he pleaded 
not guilty, we hope he could be released as soon as possible," she said.

Last month, National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said that legal 
proceedings against Damanik would continue despite increasing doubts over the 
legality of his arrest.

"The legal process will continue against him as we are certain that our 
allegations are true," he said. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
National News
November 09, 2002
Inquiry team collecting data, info on Ambon conflict 
Oktavianus Pinontoan, The Jakarta Post, Ambon

The National Inquiry Team (TPIN) is endeavoring to collect accurate data and 
information on violence in the prolonged sectarian conflict in Maluku that has 
claimed more than 2,000 lives and displaced more than 750,000 people, says team 
chairman.

"TPIN has listed all violence occurring since the conflict initially erupted on 
Jan. 19, 1999 and has interviewed a great number of people who were allegedly 
involved in the violence. We are still looking for additional information and 
evidence before the cases are brought to trial," TPIN chairman I Wayan Karya 
told The Jakarta Post in an interview here on Friday. 

Karya, who was accompanied by Maj. Gen. (ret) Purnawa and Sigit, both members 
of TPIN, gave the interview after questioning 76-year-old Piet Suribory, former 
field commander of the South Maluku Republic (RMS) separatist movement in 
Seram. 

He declined to mention the number of cases that had been listed or the people 
questioned. He said his team, which has been in Maluku for four months, would 
complete its mission in the next four months. 

Karya insisted that his team's main mission in the province was to collect data 
on violence and law violations that occurred during the three-year conflict as 
required by the Malino peace agreement signed by representatives of the two 
conflicting factions in the South Sulawesi town in February 2002. 

"Our inquiry is aimed not at making locals relive their misery of the past but 
to bring the cases to court as part of the conflict resolution as required by 
the peace deal," he said. 

He said his team would also investigate violence allegedly involving members of 
the military and the local police. 

Asked to comment on cases involving the newly disbanded Laskar Jihad, Karya 
said his team would also investigate violence that involved the militant group. 

"We will record all our findings on Laskar Jihad in the field and we will study 
their cases and bring them to court. It will be up to the judges whether to try 
them or not," he said. 

The East Jakarta District Court has suspected the trial of Ja'far Umar Thalib --
 former chairman of Laskar Jihad whose militiamen have been implicated in 
numerous cases of violence -- for health reasons. 

Ja'far has been charged with defaming President Megawati Soekarnoputri and of 
inciting violence during a rally in Ambon in July 2002, only a few days before 
the deadly attack on Soya village during which 12 Christians were killed. 

Alex Manuputy, president of RMS, has been charged with sedition for raising the 
RMS flag to mark the separatist movement's 52 anniversary on April 25, 2002. 
His case will be heard at the South Jakarta District Court. 

The police have also arrested a number of RMS supporters who were involved in 
the flag-raising ceremony, which was banned by the authorities. 

Meanwhile, Piet Suribory, born in 1926 on Haruku island, denied that RMS and 
the Maluku Sovereignty Front (FKM) were behind the prolonged conflict and 
claimed that they were merely scapegoats. 

"As I see it, not only has a certain group in the province connived to 
discredit the two organizations, but so have local authorities," he said. 

He said RMS did have some Muslim supporters, but the organization was a 
political movement that was not based on sectarian interests, while FKM was 
involved in the conflict because it was established in 2001, two years after 
the conflict erupted in 1999. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
National News
November 09, 2002
Dengue fever outbreak hits W. Kalimantan, 18 dead 
Bambang Bider, The Jakarta Post, Pontianak

While the nation is waging a war against terrorism, people in the West 
Kalimantan capital of Pontianak are fighting a dengue fever outbreak that so 
far has claimed 18 lives.

Medical officials expect a prolonged battle against the disease now that the 
rainy season is approaching. 

A total 1,140 dengue fever cases have been discovered in the area over the past 
10 months, with a sharp increase in the first week of November with 82 cases. 

"To anticipate the worst, we are continuing to carry out a fogging program to 
eliminate mosquitoes," a Pontianak health official, Kodasi, said. 

He called on people in the city to keep their environment clean to prevent the 
aedes mosquitoes, which carry dengue fever, from multiplying. 

The city's health office has said that a lack of funds has left it unprepared 
to cope with a dengue fever outbreak of this scale, due in part to an absence 
of financial assistance from the provincial administration. 

The head of Communicable Diseases and Environmental Health at the West 
Kalimantan Provincial Health Office, Budianto, said the provincial 
administration had not yet disbursed Rp 200 million (US$22,200) to help 
Pontianak fight the outbreak. He did not give a reason for the delay. 

"The Pontianak administration must temporarily rely on their own funds and 
facilities," he said. 

But, Budianto said, the provincial health office would continue its fogging 
program across the province. 

"Currently we are fogging Kota Baru in West Pontianak," he said. 

Meanwhile, in Singkawang, Bengkayang regency, West Kalimantan, 69 dengue fever 
sufferers are being treated at the Abdul Aziz Hospital. 

The hospital has provided extra beds to anticipate an increase in the number of 
patients. 

A hospital official, Titien, said the number of dengue fever cases in the area 
had risen sharply recently. 

"An average of five patients are sent to this hospital every day with dengue 
fever," she said. 

Budianto played down the dengue fever outbreak in Singkawang, saying the local 
government was able to deal with the matter on its own. 

But he added that he had yet to receive a complete report on the spread of 
dengue fever in Singkawang. 

In Samarinda, East Kalimantan, the health office suggested people in the 
province remain vigilant for dengue fever during the transition period from the 
dry to the rainy season. 

"Dengue fever can occur in many places in the province, particularly 
Balikpapan, Kutai and Samarinda. But the number of cases will increase during 
the transition period between the seasons," the deputy head of the health 
office, Sugianto, said. 

He called on regency and mayoralty administrations across the province to take 
all necessary steps to eliminate the mosquitoes. 

"The best method is to use mosquito powder on water storage tanks, cover up the 
tanks and clean them twice a week, and bury unnecessary cans and such that can 
hold water," he said. 

According to him, fogging is not the best method for eliminating mosquitoes as 
it only kills mature mosquitoes, not the larvae. 

Last year at least 30 people in the province died of dengue fever, and the 
total number of cases rose sharply to over 1,200 from 700 in 2000. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Age (Melbourne)
November 8, 2002 
Editorial
Indonesia's Curious Response To Terror
-- Regional cooperation and a unity of purpose are required to fight terrorism. 

On Sunday Prime Minister John Howard spoke out in defence of raids carried out 
last week by ASIO and police on people suspected of links with the Islamic 
group Jemaah Islamiah in Australia. "Those raids were carried out in accordance 
with international law and fully consistent with international law," he said.

"They were not targeting Indonesians. We are not targeting Muslims. We are 
dealing here with a small number of raids, fewer than 10, and we have an 
Islamic population in Australia of several hundred thousand." Jemaah Islamiah 
was recently pronounced an outlawed terrorist organisation by the United 
Nations and is allegedly affiliated with another outlawed group, al Qaeda. JI 
is also believed to be responsible for last month's Bali terrorist attacks in 
which 180 people died, about half of them Australian.

While civil libertarians in this country have expressed concern about the 
raids, it is in Indonesia that anger has been most pronounced. On Wednesday the 
acting Indonesian ambassador to Australia warned that growing sentiment in his 
country against the raids might mean that Australian Federal Police agents 
investigating the Bali bombings could be forced to leave Indonesia. Indonesian 
officials also warned that Indonesian cooperation in the investigation may be 
withdrawn if raids against Indonesian suspects continue in Australia.  
Absurdly, they have demanded advanced notification of any future Australian 
raids against Indonesians.

In the immediate aftermath of the Bali bombings, Indonesian President Megawati 
Sukarnoputri was willing to allow the close cooperation of Indonesian and 
Australian investigators. Such an arrangement allows for a sharing of resources 
and recognises that both nations have much to gain by working together to fight 
a common enemy. Last month Indonesian authorities arrested the alleged head of 
JI, the Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, despite passionate protests from scores 
of his supporters. But in the weeks since, Mrs Megawati's resolve has weakened. 
At a time when decisive leadership on her part would go some way to quelling 
anti-Australian feeling in her country, Mrs Megawati has instead criticised 
Australia for issuing travel warnings against Indonesia.

Since the Bali bombings, Australians have done what they can to cooperate with 
the Indonesians. That the Balinese continue to be the economic victims of the 
attack has been a matter of genuine concern for those Australians who enjoyed 
visiting the island. The investigation of individuals suspected of terrorist 
links is not an attack on all Indonesians or all Muslims.  

Australia's vigourous pursuit of suspects should be seen for what it is: an 
attempt to protect its own people. Both Australia and Indonesia have been 
damaged by the Bali bombings. It is in Indonesia's interests to continue to 
cooperate with Australia on security matters.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~