No subject

humanitarian missions to Maluku. They treated civil war casualties and the sick 
when no other medical facilities were available, as they were either closed or 
destroyed. The mission members went to Ternate and Ambon, where most of the 
injured were. They ran the outpatient clinic and performed operations at Klinik 
Salahuddin, MERCY Malaysia’s first sustainable project. In addition, they 
provided medical aid at a few camps for internally displaced people (IDP). 

Moved by news of the plight of civil war casualties in Maluku, MERCY Malaysia 
sent its first medical relief mission there, led by its president Dr. Jemilah 
Mahmood in March 2001. 

Upon their arrival, mission members contacted Pos Keadilan Peduli Umat (PKPU), 
a local humanitarian organisation that helped identify a suitable place to set 
up the clinic. The island of Ternate was chosen as a base point. It was deemed 
safe as there weren’t any signs of conflict. An abandoned bungalow was 
converted into an operational outpatient clinic. 

A few weeks later when the second mission team came, work on the bungalow was 
still underway but the medical volunteers began providing treatment. 

Every two to three weeks, doctors treated a seemingly unending flow of men, 
women, and sometimes children, who came in by boat. Thankfully, their load was 
lightened by the assistance of local medical volunteers, who comprised fresh 
medical graduates. 

People from the surrounding islands, who were too poor to pay for medical aid, 
also came to the clinic. Fortunately, MERCY Malaysia was able to cope as it had 
brought in ample medical supplies. 

One of the most unforgettable events at the clinic, as related by one of the 
doctors, was the amputation of the leg of a neighbouring island’s resident. His 
poverty had prevented him from getting medical treatment to save his leg. 

Aside from treating patients, MERCY Malaysia volunteers also travelled to 
nearby islands by boat to provide medical aid to the residents. They tended to 
IDPs who had set up temporary shelters around the islands. These people were in 
a terrible state as they had fled with literally only the clothes on their 
back. Some lived in an old abandoned factory where thousands were cramped 
together. Food and clean water were scarce. To help ease their burden, some of 
the money donated for the Maluku relief mission was used to buy them food. 

At present, the clinic is independently manned by six individuals, which 
include two doctors and a midwife. MERCY Malaysia plans to organise follow-up 
missions to help out at the clinic in future. 
-- http://www.mercy.org.my/cgi-bin/pitstop.pl?req=articles&id=383
© 2001 MERCY Malaysia. All Rights Reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Asia Times Online
January 15, 2003
Asia-Pacific still discouraging Indonesia trips

Jakarta - Three months after the October 12 bomb blasts in Bali, a number of 
Asia-Pacific countries and Australia continue to ban or discourage their 
citizens from visiting Indonesia, a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman said. 

"Some countries, such as Germany and Italy, have revoked their travel bans. But 
many other countries, including Japan and Australia, are still telling their 
people not to visit Indonesia," said Marty Natalegawa. 

Britain, in an announcement by Foreign Affairs Secretary Jack Straw, has 
replaced a travel ban with a travel advisory, he added. 

In view of the continuing reluctance of many countries to allow their citizens 
to come to Indonesia, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry is keeping up its 
diplomatic efforts to help promote Indonesia abroad through its 
embassies. "With these efforts, we hope those countries that are still banning 
travel to Indonesia will soon revoke those bans so that foreign tourists will 
again flock to Indonesia," he said. 

Meanwhile, Pontjo Sutowo, chairman of the Indonesian Tourism Society (MPI), 
said that after the October 12 bombings and the issuance of travel advisories, 
travel warnings and travel bans by many countries, the number of foreign 
tourist arrivals in Indonesia in 2002 dropped to a mere 1 million. 

"Assuming that every foreign tourist usually spends US$1,000 during her or his 
stay in Indonesia, the country suffered a total loss of $1 billion or Rp10 
trillion in the tourism sector," he said. 

Speaking about tourism in Bali, Pntjo said that before the October 12 blasts, 
the island attracted 5,000 foreign tourists each day. "But after the blast, the 
number of foreign tourists visiting Bali fell drastically to 1,000 per day." 

Almost 200 people, mostly foreign tourists, were killed and 300 others injured 
in the Bali bombings. Police have arrested a number of suspects and are 
completing their dossiers for submission to the public prosecutor's office. 
-- (Asia Pulse/Antara)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ABC Radio Australia News 
15/01/2003 15:17:39
Police say Bali bomb suspects have JI links 

The head of the Bali bombings investigation, General I Made Mangku Pastika, 
says he believes two suspects arrested recently are linked with the militant 
Islamic group Jemaah Islamiah.

One of the men, Ali Imron, is the younger brother of Amrozi, the first suspect 
arrested.

He is thought to have parked the mini-van packed with explosives outside the 
Sari Club.

The other suspect, Mubarok, is believed to have been involved in robberies - 
one of the sources of funding for the bombing operation.

General Pastika says he thinks both men are members of Jemaah Islamiah - the 
group linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ABC Radio Australia News 
16/01/2003 03:17:01
Man arrested for assisting Bali bomb suspect 

Indonesian police say they have arrested a man suspected of helping to hide a 
main suspect in the Bali bomb attacks. 

Ashari Dipo Utomo, 34, a physics teacher, was arrested at his home in East Java 
recently. 

He was arrested on suspicion of having hidden Ali Imron, who is alleged to have 
parked the car that blew up in front of the Sari Club in Bali on October 12.

Imron was arrested on Monday on a small island in East Kalimantan province.

During the arrest of Ashari police seized 12 revolvers, more than 2,400 pieces 
of ammunition and 150 kilograms of potassium chlorate - an oxidising agent used 
in the manufacture of explosives.

A book relating to the Jemaah Islamiah regional terror network - which is 
blamed for carrying out the Bali attacks - was also confiscated from Ashari. 

Police have so far arrested 17 suspects in their investigation into the Bali 
bombings. 

Nine other people, including two Malaysians, are still on the run.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bali Blast Probe Leads to Arms Cache
The Associated Press
Bali, Indonesia Jan. 15

Police seized a cache of guns and explosives from the home of a Muslim cleric 
in central Indonesia after interrogating a key suspect in the Oct. 12 bombings 
on the resort island of Bali, a spokesman said Wednesday.

The seizure in Java province late Tuesday was based on information received 
from alleged bomber Ali Imron, who was arrested the day before with another 
suspect as they tried to flee Indonesia.

Police say Imron has confessed to driving a minivan used in the Bali blasts, 
which killed 192 people, mostly foreign tourists.

Spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis said officers raided the house of Muslim 
cleric Ashari Dipokusumo in Lamongan district and found eight rifles, four 
pistols and ammunition.

They also seized 330 pounds of potassium chlorate a fertilizer that can be used 
to manufacture bombs and a small pipe bomb, he said.

Police also found a book about Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asia-based Islamic 
group which has been linked to the al-Qaida terror network and blamed by 
foreign governments and some Indonesian officials for the bombing on Bali, 
Lubis said.

Officers arrested Dipokusumo and another man over the seizure, but the two men 
are not believed to be directly connected to the Bali blasts, he said.

Police have so far arrested 17 people over the incident, which was the 
bloodiest terrorist attack since the Sept. 11 strikes in the United States.

Two of them are Imron's older brothers.

Imron was arrested with another suspect identified as Mubarak, alias Hutomo 
Pamungkas, who police say played a role in the financing of the blasts. They 
were nabbed on a remote island off East Kalimantan province, officers said.

Several other suspects are still believed to be on the run.

The first trials of those accused are expected to start in February in Bali, 
police say. The defendants will likely face possible death sentences under an 
anti-terrorism decree approved last year by President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Age (Melbourne)
New raids as bomb suspect tries to save himself
January 16 2003
By Philip Cornford, Bali

Police believe newly captured Bali bomb suspect Ali Imron is lying about his 
role in the attack and has informed on two alleged accomplices in a bid to 
weaken the case against him.

They say Ali Imron, 30 - arrested on an island off the east coast of Borneo on 
Monday after a three-month hunt - has denied parking a van loaded with 
explosives outside the Sari Club, where it exploded on October 12, killing 
nearly 200 people, including 88 Australians.

He claims he drove the van to within 800 metres of the Sari Club and another 
man, named "Jimmy", then drove the van to the club. 

But General I Made Mangku Pastika, head of the bombing investigation, said 
yesterday: "We believe he is lying." 

Police say Ali Imron informed on two friends, both teachers in an Islamic 
school, during his interrogation this week.

As a result police raided the home of physics teacher Azhari Dipo Kusumo in Ali 
Imron's village of Tenggulun in the Lamongan district of East Java.

Investigators found eight nine-millimetre pistols, four revolvers, 2450 rounds 
of ammunition and six 25-kilogram sacks of potassium chloride and a plastic 
pipe, which they said were intended for a bomb. 

In the nearby home of a man named only as Amin, they found an FN military 
pistol which Ali Imron said belonged to him.

Police said they were seeking another three weapons that Ali Imron claimed were 
hidden in the village. 

Ali Imron's brothers Amrozi and Mukhlas, a senior member of the outlawed 
Islamic extremist group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), are in detention in Bali and will 
be among the first suspects to face trial.

Amrozi is alleged to have procured chemicals used in the attack and Mukhlas is 
suspected of being the mastermind. Their trial could start as early as next 
month. 

In Canberra, the Australian Federal Police said there was no evidence of a link 
between the Bali bombings and JI's spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir.

Bashir is believed to have split with the JI in the months leading up to the 
Bali bombing, after arguing against carrying out such an operation amid the 
tougher security environment that followed the September 11 terrorist attacks 
in 2001. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Age (Melbourne)
Refugees find a home on another island
January 16 2003
By Matthew Moore
Indonesia Correspondent, Jakarta

Some of the 28,000 East Timorese who remain in West Timor after fleeing the 
carnage that followed East Timor's 1999 vote for independence will soon be 
leaving the island altogether. 

In the next few months, the first of 300 East Timorese families will be moved 
to the nearby Indonesian island of Sumba in an experiment by the United Nations 
High Commissioner for Refugees and the Indonesian Government intended to 
permanently resolve the Timorese refugee issue.

Announcing the plan yesterday, UNHCR officials said it would be quite different 
to the transmigration policies of the Suharto government, where millions of 
farmers were relocated from densely populated parts of Indonesia to remote 
areas such as Papua and Kalimantan.

UNHCR's assistant regional representative, Fernando Protti-Alvarado, said the 
first group of 70 refugee farming families would soon move to the village of 
Denduka in western Sumba. In negotiations with villagers in Denduka last month, 
agreement was reached for refugees to farm common land and to have access to 
water and other necessities.

Asked why villagers wanted the settlers, Mr Protti-Alvarado said: "They want to 
show solidarity with the refugees and to get access to the community 
development fund."

Money from Jakarta and the UNHCR will fund new houses in the village not just 
for refugees but also for locals, with the likelihood of more money for schools 
and other government services.

Villagers on Sumba, a mainly Christian island, have made it clear they do not 
want to be outnumbered by the refugees and they are only willing to accept 
other Christians.

The UNHCR said the refugees would move only when they and the host villagers 
agreed to the plan and the Timorese had had a chance to inspect their new homes 
and meet their new neighbours.

The UNHCR's regional representative, Robert Ashe, said the plan to relocate 
refugees would appeal to some, but most refugees still in West Timor would stay 
there permanently. Nearly 90 per cent of the 250,000 refugees who flooded into 
West Timor have returned home, but most of those remaining have roots in 
Indonesian Timor.

Mr Ashe said that of 9000 East Timorese families still in West Timor, 5600 have 
a family member employed in the Indonesian civil service, the army or the 
police and have opted to stay.

People who had fled to West Timor lost their right to official refugee status 
and United Nations protection on December 31 last year when the UN decided they 
no longer qualified as refugees. 

The UNHCR has also drawn up a two-year plan to resolve 819 cases of East 
Timorese children still separated from their families.

About 350 of these children are in West Timor and others are scattered around 
Indonesia. In some cases, their guardians refuse to allow the UNHCR to have 
contact with the children or to allow contact with their families, Mr Ashe said.

"We have a number of difficult cases where the caretaker is unwilling to 
release the child or allow them to establish some contact... through letters or 
photographs," he said.