•  Gus Dur's boosts 'axis force's' chances
•  KPU agrees to restart selection of groups

•  Religious clash kills 18 in Ambon
•  Priest says troops killed 24 in church

•  Heat is on Jakarta to talk peace in Aceh
•  The heartache of Aceh
•  The enemy within
•  Military chief hints at dialogue over Aceh
•  Aceh farmers fear abduction by military
•  Aceh rebels deny executions
•  Unrest kills 20 in Aceh
•  Famine haunts Aceh as farmers flee
•  Irianese living in fear, says commission

•  Suharto back in hospital
•  Indonesia Confucians protest

•  Indonesia blamed for forest fires
•  Ten hot spots found in South Kalimantan
•  Civilians roped in to fight fires on Riau

•  IMF extremely concerned over scandal
•  Bank regulators help businessmen

Australia sees Timor security improving

Canberra -- Australia said on Friday it appeared the Indonesian military was becoming less involved with East Timor's pro-Jakarta militias, accused by the United States of intimidation ahead of an August independence ballot.

"There's certainly some growing evidence that the Indonesian military, TNI, are taking a less engaged approach with the militias," said John Dauth, deputy secretary of Australia's foreign affairs department.

"If that is the case, then I think that is obviously a source of satisfaction that TNI is playing its proper role as the arbiter of security in East Timor," Dauth told a parliamentary inquiry into East Timor.

The UN-monitored vote on whether East Timor should break away from Indonesia has been twice delayed because of concerns about violence involving the militias, persistent unrest and logistical problems.

On Thursday, the United States said unidentified Indonesian officials and anti-independence militia leaders had engaged in intimidation by suggesting a vote for independence would result in extensive violence or even civil war.

US State Department spokesman James Rubin urged Jakarta to provide a secure environment for the campaign begining this weekend and make sure the August 30 vote was fair.

Anti-independence militias in East Timor have been accused by human rights groups and independence leaders of a campaign of terror in which dozens of people have been killed in recent months.

But Australia said on Friday the security situation in the troubled province was improving slightly and it expected the vote to go ahead as planned.

"The situation has been very serious, continues to be serious, continues to be far from perfect," said Dauth, adding "it's, in our view, showed some recent signs of slight improvement but is far from perfect." Dauth said the voter registration process, during which more than 430,000 East Timorese signed up, was encouraging. "The registration proceeded far more smoothly than I, for one, had judged was likely. It was a singular success."

US denies East Timor troops report

Canberra -- The United States denied a newspaper report Tuesday that it told Australian defense strategists in June it would consider deploying up to 15,000 troops to East Timor if bloodshed escalated there.

The Melbourne Age newspaper quoted a top-level diplomatic source as saying US plans for East Timor included a massive deployment of US troops, including marines, for peace-enforcement in the Jakarta-ruled territory. "Media reports that the United States has plans to send US troops to East Timor to maintain order in that territory are incorrect," the United States Information Service said in a statement released here.

"The United States has no plans to send US forces to East Timor, independently of the UN, to act as peacekeepers or peace enforcers." The Age report said US military officials were factoring Darwin, in Australia's north, into their plans and they had sought an agreement to attach Australian military liaison officers to a possible peace enforcement mission. But the US statement said any decision to send additional US personnel to East Timor would be made by the UN Security Council in consultation with interested parties, including the Indonesian government.

"The United States is not considering acting independently of these processes, nor has it invited Australia to take action in East Timor outside the UN context," the USIS said.

East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, will vote on August 30 to become independent or opt for special autonomy within Indonesia, which invaded the province in 1975 and annexed it a year later.

Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer has denied similar newspaper reports of US troop involvement in East Timor and has also consistently denied any conflict between Australia and the US on what action should be taken there.

But Downer confirmed late Monday night that US military officials had informally raised peace-enforcement in East Timor and the possibility of Australia participating in such a force.

"This was not a formal United States government request nor did it reflect United States government policy," Downer told parliament. "I've been advised this was never subsequently raised with the Australian government nor as far as I know with the United States government itself."

Predicting Timor poll result is folly: Indonesia

Manila -- Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas on Monday called "a myth" statements by East Timor's resistance leaders that the territory would vote overwhelmingly for independence if this month's ballot on self-rule was free.

Alatas, in Manila to receive diplomatic honours from Philippine President Joseph Estrada, also voiced hopes that armed groups supporting independence or autonomy for the Jakarta-ruled territory would be disarmed before the August 30 vote.

Alatas said "the ballot can go both ways," adding: "It's not so clear who will win or who will lose."

"There has been a myth going on for a long time as if it is for sure that 90 percent of the people in East Timor, if given a chance, would choose independence and only five percent would choose autonomy," he added. "This is a myth, of course. Everybody knows that that is not the situation."

East Timorese independence leader Jose Ramos-Horta had told reporters on a visit to Manila late last month he believed 90 percent of East Timorese would vote to break away from Indonesia if they were given a chance to freely express their wishes. Alatas said he did not wish to speculate on the outcome.

Police 'take time' as students die

Mark Dodd, Dili -- Two students were killed after an attack by pro-Indonesian militia on Wednesday which has raised serious questions about the impartiality of local police in the lead-up to the ballot on East Timor's future.

"There was an incident yesterday [Wednesday] in Viqueque which left two confirmed dead and one injured," Mr David Wimhurst, the spokesman for the United Nations Mission in East Timor, told reporters.

The incident appeared to have been a clash between local militia and students, he said. UN staff were not involved and the situation in Viqueque yesterday morning was described as calm.

Viqueque, some 200 kilometres south-east of Dili, is a known militia troublespot and was the scene of a tense stand-off between militia supporters and the UN last month.

Local human rights officials told the Herald that this week's violence began on Tuesday evening when militia members attacked a student office, located 300 metres from a police station. It was set up to conduct pro-independence campaigning.

They said local police did not intervene in the violence that night which led to the abduction of two students and furniture and equipment being smashed. Furthur violence erupted on Wednesday between students and militia in which two students were killed and one injured.

Mr Wimhurst acknowledged that Indonesian police, responsible for maintaining security in East Timor during the balloting period, were late in arriving to restore law and order.

"I understand from the information we have that the students were in the first instance attacked by militia and during the course of this event, which stretched over several hours, two people were killed.

"The [Indonesian] police were not involved in the incident. They did come to the scene and eventually were able to restore order, but it did take time," he told reporters in Dili.

One aid official quoting local staff in Viqueque said the 59/75 Junior Militia group had virtually taken over the town on Wednesday, firing their guns without any attempt at intervention by local police.

Mr Dino Djalal, the Indonesian government spokesman in Dili, defended the role of the police, saying there were some 8,000 currently deployed across East Timor who had shown they were able to work professionally and deal with security issues. Campaigning begins tomorrow for the UN-supervised referendum.

On Wednesday, the Atlanta-based Carter Centre, an independent electoral watchdog body, accused the Indonesian military and police of deliberately failing to maintain security in East Timor and of frequently participating in militia violence.

"The Indonesian military (TNI) and Government are actively supporting and directing armed pro-integration militias who are creating a climate of fear and intimidation," the report said.

The two students abducted on Tuesday evening have been identified as Mr Josefina Baptista, 25, from East Timor University, and Mr Emiliano da Silva Guterres, 24, a student from the sub-district of Dilor, near Viqueque. The two dead were Carlos Sarmento and Mario Gusmao.

Student spokesman Mr Januario da Silva Belo said some 15 to 20 militia armed with pistols first arrived in two trucks outside the office on Tuesday evening and opened fire on the students.

In Jakarta, Indonesian, Portuguese and UN officials began a two-day meeting yesterday to discuss the province's future after the August 30 ballot.

The Indonesian Foreign Minister, Mr Ali Alatas, told reporters that the detained East Timor resistance leader Mr Xanana Gusmao would be permitted to use media broadcasts for campaigning but would not be allowed to go to the territory. His comments came as the army's chief, General Wiranto, told a seminar that Indonesia expected to maintain security in the territory for up to three months if the vote was for independence.

Special council to be set up after vote

Jakarta -- The United Nations has endorsed the setting up of a special council to oversee the disputed region of East Timor after it holds an August 30 ballot on independence, a top UN official said on Friday.

There are widespread fears that the post-ballot period could be violent and that pro-Jakarta forces may reject a vote for independence, which is the widely expected result. The council is expected to come into effect the day after the ballot.

The plan had been agreed to by pro-Jakarta and pro- independence leaders who met earlier this week under a UN- organised talks in Jakarta, Jamsheed Marker told a news conference. "They have come out with an understanding which included the formation of an East Timorese consultative body aimed at facilitating East Timorese cooperation and reconciliation in the aftermath of the popular consultation," Marker said. "This body will be made up of 25 representatives," Marker added.

Pro-independence Falintil guerrillas have said they will not accept a vote for special autonomy within Indonesia, as they do not believe such a result is possible in a free ballot.

Details remain unclear but Portugal's special envoy to Indonesia told reporters that the committee would consist of 10 officials each from pro-Jakarta and pro-independence groups.

"Another five come from a neutral body, such as the church," Ana Gomes said, adding that UN Secretary General Kofi Annan would endorse the officials' appointments. She said the committee would come into effect on August 31, a day after the ballot.

Marker was in Jakarta to attend a senior officials meeting between Indonesia, Portugal and the UN aimed at discussing the situation in East Timor after the historic ballot.

Marker described the meeting as both "positive and constructive" and said that they had very productive discussions on issues related to the situation after the ballot. The next senior officials' meeting is scheduled to be held on August 26 in Lisbon.

Army chief in surprise recall

Mark Dodd, Dili -- East Timor's military commander has been recalled on the eve of the political campaign leading up to the August 30 referendum to decide the territory's future.

The changeover sees Special Forces Colonel Tono Suratman, 47, replaced by an ex-Special Forces Colonel Muhammad Noer Muis, also 47, from the strife-torn northern Aceh province. Colonel Suratman is being transferred to Jakarta.

"There is nothing special about this replacement," said Udayana [Eastern] Commander, Major-General Adam Damiri, who is based in Bali. "In the military we can do this anytime and anywhere."

The reshuffle is significant because traditionally the post has been filled by a senior officer serving in intelligence or the special forces. It is also a position that frequently has been used to operate outside the military's formal command structure. Colonel Muis, who previously served a two-year tour of duty in East Timor, comes directly from an army warfare college in Sumatra to take command of a mixed force of regular and territorial troops estimated at about 14,000.

General Damiri told reporters that the security situation in East Timor was improving and that the military would continue to play a neutral role in the lead-up to the referendum. "The situation now is conducive [for the ballot] and we have to keep it that way," he said.

"I have noticed some small incidents in some areas and I have raised this with my people because East Timorese want to live in peace."

Commenting on the military's strategic planning in East Timor, General Damiri said the Indonesian military had ceased offensive operations and would redeploy its forces once pro-independence fighters and rival militias regrouped into cantonments and disarmed.

The United Nation's senior military officer in East Timor, Brigadier Rezaq Haider, said he expected "very good relations" with Colonel Muis.

Asked whether the security situation would remain calm during the political campaign period due to start today, Brigadier Haider said if rival groups stuck to the agreements they had signed, the campaign would be peaceful.

The commander-in-chief of the pro-Indonesian militias, Joao Tavares, pledged the militias would soon move into camps as required by recent agreements.

He said he was expecting a successful political campaign for the pro-autonomy side and predicted a resounding victory at the ballot box.

But in recent interviews, Basilio Araujo, the spokesman for the pro-autonomy Forum for Unity Democracy and Justice (FPDK), warned that his supporters were armed and would fight for autonomy regardless of the outcome of the referendum. Despite the promised peaceful election, a prolonged series of gunshots rang out over the market area of Dili yesterday, causing widespread panic and raising tensions.

An official from the nearby army headquarters told the UN that about 150 shots were fired by soldiers testing refurbished rifles. One woman shopping in the market when the firing started said pro-Indonesian Aitarak militia have been warning women and children to stay off the streets today.

"Tomorrow, women and children should not leave their homes to join the campaigning because we don't want to shoot you -- this is a warning," the woman said, quoting the militiaman.

US marines set for Dili

Paul Daley, Canberra -- American military officials told Australian defence strategists in June that the US would consider deploying up to 15,000 troops to East Timor, if bloodshed dramatically escalated in the troubled Indonesian province.

Specific details of American contingencies for East Timor were revealed to The Age after the Foreign Minister, Mr Alexander Downer, yesterday told Federal Parliament he was not aware of any US proposal for peace enforcement in East Timor.

A top-level diplomatic source has made it clear to The Age that US military contingency plans for East Timor include a massive deployment of American troops, including marines, for peace enforcement -- as distinct from UN peacekeeping.

In June, US military officials in the Pacific told Australian officials they were factoring Darwin into their military plans and sought an agreement to attach Australian military liaison officers to a possible US peace-enforcement mission. Australian officials said that would require consideration by the Federal Government, which rejected the request.

The Age has established that American military officials told Australian counterparts that the US Pacific command was willing to coordinate, as one option, the deployment of 15,000 US troops, including marines from Okinawa in Japan and other nearby units.

The US officials made it clear that this contingency would apply in an extreme circumstance -- quickly stopping large-scale violence by Indonesian-backed militias.

They told Australia the peace-enforcement contingency was based on an assumption that the US would operate alone, but that Australia would become involved in UN peacekeeping later.

In a recent TV interview, Mr Downer categorically denied a report in The Sunday Age that Australia had rejected a US request to jointly plan peacekeeping for East Timor, and that the US had told Australia it would consider sending marines.

Megawati appeals for autonomy in ballot

Dili -- Indonesian opposition leader and presidential front- runner Megawati Sukarnoputri on Tuesday appealed to supporters in East Timor to vote for autonomy rather than independence in the territory's August 30 referendum.

"East Timorese should have confidence and remain dignified to chose what is best for them and don't let anyone interfere to separate East Timor from Indonesia," she said in a brief statement to reporters at Dili airport.

Speaking at the end of a two-day official visit to East Timor, Megawati urged a peaceful political campaign, calling for close cooperation between the UN and National Police.

On Tuesday afternoon, Megawati, appeared at a dilapidated sports stadium in Dili to speak to some 500 supporters, many of them members of the hard-line pro-Indonesian Aitarak (Thorn) militia, led by Eurico Guterres, a Golkar candidate in the June 7 national election.

During her speech, she likened herself to a "mother" of East Timor. "When I was chosen as leader of the PDIP [Democratic Party of Struggle] and in one of the special congress meetings a member from East Timor came to me and said,'we want to vote for you so please do not leave us'," she said. "I'm not going to leave you -- I love the people of East Timor, " Megawati said.

During her visit, Megawati flew by helicopter to several trouble spots where pro-Indonesian militia violence has been a frequent occurence. However, she did not meet with any senior UN officials or leaders of the pro-independence National Council for Timorese Resistance (CNRT).

On Tuesday morning Megawati met with Dili's Nobel Laureate Bishop Carlos Belo, who urged her to respect the wishes of the East Timorese even if that meant independence following the referendum.

"Hopefully, you and the PDIP will respect the aspiration of the people of East Timor after the referendum on August 30," said the blunt-talking Bishop.

Megawati has said that the offer of self-determination for East Timor made by President B.J. Habibie last January is illegal, but as it is an international agreement she will respect the result.

Downer under fire over Timor

Sydney -- Foreign Minister Alexander Downer was accused Tuesday of deceit after being forced to admit he was wrong to deny that US officials had suggested Australian participation in a peacekeeping force for East Timor.

Downer's admission followed an opposition question in parliament on Monday. He had replied he was unaware of any requests from the United States for Australia to take part in peace enforcement in East Timor.

Hours later he told parliament he had been informed by his department that US military officials had asked "hypothetically" about Australia's willingness to participate during a meeting of officials in June.

Australian military officials had given a non-committal response to the question, Downer said, adding that it did not represent a formal US request nor reflect US policy and the matter had not been raised again.

It was the second time in a day Downer had been caught out over Australian policy towards East Timor before a UN-brokered ballot to decide the future of the former Portuguese colony, seized by Indonesia in 1975 and annexed as a province the following year.

Timorese independence supporters have suffered persistent intimidation and UN officials have faced numerous attacks at the hands of pro-Indonesian militia in the run up to the ballot.

Downer denied 10 days ago that a senior US official told Australian foreign affairs department head Ashton Calvert he believed a full-scale peacekeeping operation would be necessary in East Timor and that Australia's attitude was "essentially defeatist".

But Downer was forced Monday to concede that US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Stanley Roth had expressed "a personal view" to Calvert that a full-scale peacekeeping operation would be an unavoidable aspect of the transition to independence.

A leaked copy of a foreign affairs record of the talks had revealed "one area of difference" over the approach to security in the disputed territory, Downer said. Roth had suggested Australia's policy of keeping peacekeeping at arms' length was essentially defeatist, the document said.

Labor opposition foreign affairs spokesman Laurie Brereton said documentation showed Downer's propositions were demonstrably untruthful. "What we have seen is a complete inability on the part of the Foreign Minister to tell the truth," Brereton told ABC radio.

"The Foreign Minister again and again has been completely deceitful in his response to questions on differences between the United States and Australia in respect of East Timor policy."

He said Australia's position that there should not be peacekeepers in Timor after the independence ballot on August 30 could spell disaster.

Factions sign campaign code of conduct

Dili -- Representatives from East Timor's rival political factions on Monday agreed to commit themselves and their supporters to a peaceful referendum campaign in the lead-up to a self-determination ballot scheduled for August 30.

At a United Nations-organised ceremony, Leandro Isaac of the National Council for Timorese Resistance and Domingos Soares, the head of the United Front for Indonesian Autonomy (BRTT) signed the accord in the presence of senior UN, Indonesian, Portuguese, church and police officials.

"I hope we have taken an important step towards a peaceful and successful campaign," said Ian Martin, head of the UN Assistance Mission in East Timor (UNAMET).

Campaigning for the referendum is due to start on Saturday and the signatories have signed to "accept the officially validated outcome of the popular consultation, in accordance with the Main Agreement of 5 May 1999."

The code of conduct contains several key clauses related to freedom of speech. "All participants shall enjoy the fundamental right to a fair ballot, including the freedom to campaign," it said. "All participants shall respect the right and freedom of all other participants to campaign and to disseminate their political ideas and principles without fear," it added.

More than 150 people, mostly pro-independence supporters have been killed due to pro-Indonesian militia violence in East Timor since January.

The code also warned supporters of both sides to respect reporters and refrain from harassment or obstruction of journalists.

After signing, Isaac said he acknowledged the good-will of both sides in agreeing to the details contained within the code of conduct. He said: "There can be no peace [in East Timor] without a fair solution."

Commenting on behalf of the BRTT, Soares acknowledged that the code did not commit the rival parties to disarmament and he appealed to supporters on both sides of East Timor's political divide to "comply with the regulations contained in the Code of Conduct."

Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 after a sudden pullout by former colonial power Portugal left a power vacuum. Indonesia incorporated East Timor as its 27th province in 1976 but the move was never recognised by the UN.
 

Presidential succession

Gus Dur's boosts 'axis force's' chances

Jakarta -- Amien Rais praised Abdurrahman Wahid for the latter's willingness to be presidential candidate of the new political alliance that Amien forged, called "the axis force," and said the assent was a boost to democratization.

Amien, the chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), said in Surakarta, Central Java, that Abdurrahman's willingness would further strengthen the new alliance which so far grouped eight Islamic political parties. He said he envisioned a "political triangle" in the future which involved the axis force, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and Golkar.

Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, is the presidential candidate of the National Awakening Party (PKB) and chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, the largest Muslim organization in the country, which claims the support of 37 million followers.

Amien said Abdurrahman would serve as a fresh alternative in the next presidential election, adding to the existing front- runners, namely PDI Perjuangan leader Megawati Soekarnoputri and Golkar's B.J. Habibie.

"The nomination would give stronger support for the axis force," Amien said of the alliance. The alliance was meant in the beginning to offset stiff competition between Megawati and Habibie, which were polarizing people, he said.

Among supporters of the new alliance were United Development Party (PPP), the Crescent Star Party (PBB), PAN, the Justice Party (PK) and the Nahdlatul Ummat Party (PNU).

"With the support of PAN, PKB and other Muslim-based parties, I believe that the axis force will be a true power," said Amien, who first announced the alliance's support for Abdurrahman.

Amien noted, however, that the opportunity to talk with other winning parties on the matter was wide open. He justified his intention to include Golkar -- despite having repeatedly attacked the ruling party previously -- on the grounds that "there were also 'white Golkar', namely those who are pro-reform".

Amien, a former chairman of Muhammadiyah, the second largest Muslim organization in the country, conceded the new alliance was established due to Megawati's slowness in responding to various political problems. Megawati's party won first place in the June 7 poll, grabbing 33.7 percent of the vote.

"We [the axis force] and Abdurrahman find it impossible to accept the political uncertainties because Megawati was so tight-lipped about everything. We have to be creative and move forward," Amien said. Negotiation

Separately, political observer Pratikno from the Gadjah Mada University said in Yogyakarta on Monday that Abdurrahman's willingness was a boon not only to the axis force but would also make Megawati open negotiations with the group.

"Abdurrahman's willingness would strengthen the unity of proreform forces who all this time were divided into nationalist-secularist as represented by PDI Perjuangan and the Islamic forces," Pratikno said.

Political observer Arbi Sanit of the University of Indonesia agreed, and said that Megawati now must first embrace the new alliance if she still wanted to become president.

"Her chance at the next presidency hinges at whether she can cooperate with other parties," Arbi said on Saturday in the Central Java capital of Semarang. "Without the support of the other parties, it would be unlikely for her to garner 351 votes in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) during the presidential election."

Arbi said Megawati was too slow in approaching the other parties, so much so that they now believed she did not want them and preferred the company of other forces. Besides, "by cooperating with the axis force, her image as anti-Islam can be erased," Arbi said.

Pratikno said Abdurrahman's presence in the axis force would reduce the possibility of Habibie gaining its support. PPP said it would support Habibie.

Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung said, however, Abdurrahman's acquiescence to the axis force's nomination was not yet an official process. "The official procedure will only begin in the next MPR meeting," Akbar said during a family visit in Surakarta on Sunday. A presidential candidate must have extensive capability, experience and be acceptable, he said.

Meanwhile, chairman of the PKB branch in Central Java, Noer Iskandar Albarsany, said his party had yet to declare whether it would support Abdurrahman's willingness to be named presidential candidate of the axis force.

"PKB has yet to declare its stance on the matter. We will hold a leadership meeting on Saturday in Jakarta and decide later," Noer said in Semarang on Monday.

In Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, a group of Habibie's supporters said they would send 7,000 activists to Jakarta to safeguard the General Session of the MPR where a new president would be elected.

G. Mada, spokesman of the Indonesian Muslim Students Solidarity Forum, said they were only responding to threats from Megawati's supporters that they would occupy the House of Representatives building in order to ensure that Megawati was elected president.

"We are ready to go, too, if Megawati's supporters carry out their threat," Mada said. "The threat smacks of intimidation which hoodlums usually use."

"How would the people's representatives carry out their duties if they are under intimidation? Do they think they're the only ones who can spill blood using pin pricks?" Mada said in reference to Megawati's supporters who conveyed support for her after collecting bloodied thumbprints. "We, too, can spill blood with our machetes."

KPU agrees to restart selection of groups

Jakarta -- A group of around 200 students rallied outside the General Elections Commission (KPU) on Monday, demanding the disbandment of its Team of 15, whose members have been suspected of abusing their authority in the selection of interest group representatives for the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). The rally was held as disagreements among members forced the commission to start from scratch again and discuss common criteria to determine which interest groups should be represented in the MPR.

The students brought a white goat, with the word "KPU" painted on it, in their protest. They killed the goat and presented its head at the table of commission chairman Rudini.

The students chanted their demand that the Team of 15, tasked with the selection of the 65 representatives of the interest groups, be dissolved as it had lost its credibility.

"Stab Agus Miftah to death," several protesters cried several times, referring to the KPU representative of the Indonesian People's Economic Party (Pari) who is the spokesman for the Team of 15.

The students also demanded that Rudini establish an independent team to take over the tasks of the Team of 15. They recommended independent figures including Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid and Catholic priest Franz-Magnis Suseno to lead the team.

Several hours later, around 60 disabled people also held a peaceful demonstration in front of the KPU office, demanding that at least five, rather than the current two, seats at the People's Consultative Assembly be allocated for the millions of people in the Association of Indonesian Disabled People.

They said they were a vulnerable and marginalized group whose aspirations had not been channeled, either through political parties or the Assembly, the highest legislative body.

The two groups of demonstrators dispersed peacefully after Rudini received them. Rudini said the controversy over the recommendations of the Team of 15 forced the commission to again discuss criteria for the 65 interest group representatives.

He acknowledged that a number of the 65 organizations named by the Team of 15 were closely affiliated to the ruling Golkar Party and to a member of the Team of 15.

He cited as examples Majelis Taklim, chaired by Minister of Social Affairs Toeti Alawiyah, the Indonesian Youths Committee (KNPI), Indonesian Cooperation Council (Dekopin), Village Cooperatives Association (Inkud) and the BLBI environmental forum that Agus Miftah chairs.

Rudini said the commission members were also divided over whether Muhammadiyah and Nadhlatul Ulama, the two largest Muslim organizations in the country, should be represented in the Assembly, since their political aspirations had been channeled through the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the National Awakening Party (PKB). Rudini pledged fairness and transparency in the selection, scheduled to be completed in the middle of September.

Commission member Midian Sirait said that besides seeking power, many organizations had proposed their candidates for the MPR interest group because they wanted to see Golkar's candidate B.J. Habibie win the presidential election.

He also said several KPU members were against the Council of Buddhist Communities chairwoman Siti Hartati Murdaya representing the community in the MPR, because she is closely linked to the present ruler.

The Indonesian Hindu Dharma Council announced on Monday in Denpasar, Bali, that it had agreed to send Gedong Bagoes Oka, a religious figure known for her dedication to the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, as its sole representative in the next MPR.

Meanwhile, the official Election Supervisory Committee said on Monday that the June elections were "relatively free and fair", citing some irregularities that have yet to be resolved.

The committee, however, said the poll irregularities were not systematic and "could still be tolerated".

"The irregularities have, are and will be taken care of by the law enforcers and these should be taken as a lesson to improve the quality of the next election," committee member Ramlan Surbakti told a media conference.

Ramlan also said that President B.J. Habibie's decree last week validating the poll results "should be considered as a collective validation that the election was relatively free and fair".

Some 27 minority parties in Bandung, West Java, protested the West Java provincial election committee's decision to endorse the election results in the province, saying it had ignored the KPU's ruling on stembus akoord, or vote pooling deals.

The parties said that if the provincial elections committee complied with the deals arranged among some parties, they could get 10 additional seats in the House of Representatives.
 

Political/economic crisis

Religious clash kills 18 in Ambon

Ambon -- Muslim and Christian mobs fought street battles in eastern Indonesia, killing at least 18 people and injuring about 120, police and hospital workers said today. Riot police shot and killed some people, witnesses said. Mobs stabbed or beat others.

Workers at the city's Haulusy public hospital said they had received 11 bodies. They said about 120 people were injured. Lt. Col. Ghufron, Ambon police chief, said seven more bodies had been taken to a hospital adjacent to the main Al Fatah mosque.

Speaking at a news conference, Ghufron said eight security officers were being treated at the military hospital.

The official Antara news agency said many residents of Ambon's Mardika and Batu Merah neighborhoods -- where bloody conflicts first erupted in January -- sought shelter in churches, mosques, and military facilities.

Ghufron said men armed with makeshift weapons had erected barbed wire barricades in their neighborhoods.

Ten houses were set afire when fighting started late Monday in the town of Ambon, the capital of strife-torn Maluku province, 1,450 miles east of Jakarta. It was the latest in a string of religious clashes this year in the province, which was known as the Spice Islands during Dutch colonial rule.

The violence has been sparked by simmering resentment between Christians and Muslims. More than 300 people have died. Meanwhile, in the oil-rich western province of Aceh, police said today they were negotiating the release of two police officers and a civilian kidnapped by separatists.

Indonesia has deployed 11,000 troops to rout rebels who want to declare an independent Islamic republic in the province, about 1,100 miles northwest of Jakarta.

Priest says troops killed 24 in church

Ambon -- Indonesian soldiers opened fire on a church in the ravaged island of Ambon killing 24 people, the priest who buried most of the dead told Reuters Thursday.

Members of the elite Kostrad unit carried out the attack, which occurred Wednesday, Andreas Lopulalan said by telephone. The troops opened fire on a church just outside Ambon city where some 50 Christians had taken shelter, he said.

"I buried 21 of the victims this afternoon in the backyard of the church. They were all in the same hole," said Lopulalan, head of the Moluccas Protestant Church of Galala, the township where the attack occurred.

He added that before the shooting the Kostrad members set fire to a Pentecostal church opposite his church. The church was partly destroyed, he said. Police in Ambon Thursday denied that the incident had taken place.

Ambon city, some 2,300 km east of Jakarta, is the capital of the Moluccas or spice islands where religious clashes between Christians and Muslims have killed at least 450 people this year.
 

Aceh/West Papua

Heat is on Jakarta to talk peace in Aceh

Susan Sim, Banda Aceh -- Pressure is mounting on Jakarta to hold peace talks with a belligerent separatist group it is trying to crush and make a policy shift that could amount to an admission that it has lost political and moral authority in the country's westernmost province.

The alternative to talks, civic leaders in the provincial capital fear, could be massive bloodshed, with the ordinary Acehnese a victim once again.

"The patience of the Acehnese people is running out," Professor Abdullah Ali, a member of the Presidential Advisory team on Aceh, told The Straits Times. "It's getting bewildering trying to find a solution. The government's inaction and the military's bloodbath will simply turn the province into a recruiting ground for the Free Aceh Movement. That is the logical outcome of escalating the violence. More and more people will start arming themselves."

A local source estimated that up to half the villagers in the three districts where rebels and soldiers hunt each other down -- Pidie, North and East Aceh -- might already have acquired weapons and some arms training. A number might also have joined the estimated 400,000 refugees who fled military sweeps in recent weeks, burying arms caches to await their return.

Human rights activists whose work put them in contact with victims of military atrocities are also alarmed. "We're on the brink of a general rebellion," said Mr Humam Hamid of the Care Human Rights Forum. "The military's behaviour is forcing Acehnese to stand up against it. If the conflict escalates, we have no place to go. We're surrounded by sea and mountains."

The pressure to find a political solution to Aceh's pent-up frustration with Jakarta's economic exploitation and failure to live up to founding President Sukarno's pledge to allow it to develop according to Islamic values, as well as a recent military occupation claiming over 7,000 victims of unlawful killing, torture, rape and disappearances, is coming not just from Acehnese but political leaders in Jakarta.

The National Human Rights Commission last week proposed that President B.J. Habibie recognise the Free Aceh Movement or Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM) "as a fact in the field" and initiate a dialogue with it. His own 17-strong advisory team backs the idea.

But government ministers have ruled out talks with GAM while promising a comprehensive solution beyond the use of military force. At the same time, a martial-law option is being explored and an offensive against GAM is likely to go into full swing when more troops arrive, local organisers note.

"This does not build trust. The immediate demand of the people is to pull the riot troops out, not have more," said one community leader who asked not to be named.

He said GAM leaders in Sweden had indicated to him that a pre-condition for peace talks with Jakarta would be the withdrawal of all troops from the province.

But such a vacuum would only allow the GAM to grow even faster than it had in the one year since Indonesian military chief General Wiranto withdrew most of his men in a spurt of reformasi, a "mistake" he was not likely to want to repeat.

Seeking to bridge such an impasse, civic leaders are lobbying Western diplomats and international bodies to intercede on their behalf. Student groups have been less subtle, staging a two-day strike in the province and hunger strikes in front of the Dutch embassy in Jakarta last week to draw international attention to Aceh.

"What is the international community waiting for?" asked Prof Abdullah. "Doesn't the UN Charter on Human Rights apply to us too?"

The heartache of Aceh

Tim Dodd -- Indonesian marines, in their trademark purple berets, walked slowly through the village in double file, automatic weapons at the ready, while people hid in their houses. Today they did not search buildings or take anybody away.

They were here to intimidate, not to kill. But after they had passed, villagers said soldiers had killed several people nearby in the previous week. Welcome to Aceh, Indonesia's next intractable problem.

At the other end of Indonesia, the province of East Timor will vote in two weeks time to decide its future. And although its problems are complex, a solution is within sight.

Not in Aceh, where the history of conflict runs much longer and deeper, and where hardline opponents of Indonesian rule reject all compromise.

For Indonesia, the stakes in Aceh are much higher than in East Timor. The province is blessed with abundant natural wealth and was an integral part of the country from its declaration of independence in 1945.

Last Wednesday, a few kilometres away from where Indonesian marines were conducting a sweep through the village, I met the local commander of the Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh) Movement, the fighters who have been resisting Jakarta's rule since armed rebellion re-erupted in 1989.

A guide had taken us to a small mosque in the paddy fields, not far from the main road which was being patrolled by soldiers. We waited for about 20 minutes until the 43-year-old commander, Tenku Abdullah Syafii, arrived on a motorbike from his base in the mountains, wearing combat dress and carrying an automatic rifle. It was a contemptuous gesture, directed at the Indonesian army which claimed to have killed nine of his men a few days previously.

"We won't talk with Indonesia, because they colonised Aceh. They raped our women and killed our children. We will revenge them," he says.

Abdullah says he has been in the mountains fighting the Indonesians for 23 years. Coincidentally, this is the same length of time East Timor has been under Indonesian rule, but Abdullah rejects an East Timor-style solution. "Why must we talk with our enemies?" he asks. He labels them "Javanese colonial imperialists" and just wants them to leave.

No chance. Aceh, a beautiful mountainous region on the north- western tip of Sumatra, has too much natural wealth. Apart from the forests, which cover 60 per cent of the province, it produces 40 per cent of Indonesia's liquefied natural gas at the Arun plant in the industrial city of Lhokseumawe. The gas comes from Aceh's rich oil and gas fields, which also feed two fertiliser plants and a petrochemicals plant. Aceh is also rich in palm oil, coffee, rubber, coconuts and cloves. And if its problems ever end, the coarse sand of the surf beaches on the spectacular west coast will be a hit with tourists.

For the Acehnese the issue is that all of its major industries are owned by outsiders. Apart from foreign investors, the Jakarta Government and Soeharto interests own a large chunk. The LNG plant is 55 per cent owned by the state oil company, Pertamina. The petrochemical plant is owned by the former president's son, Tommy. One of the fertiliser factories is 60 per cent owned by the State. A paper and plywood factory is controlled by a Soeharto crony, Bob Hasan.

Iskandar Daoed, dean of economics at Banda Aceh's Syiah Kuala University, believes there is an economic solution to the Aceh problem. He says Jakarta takes 30 trillion rupiah ($6billion) from the province each year through taxes and profits of State- owned companies, and only 2 per cent of this is returned. "At least 30 or 40 per cent should go back to the Acehnese," he says.

Daoed admits his figures might not be accurate. "We don't know the exact numbers," he says, but blames the lack of transparency in the Jakarta Government's accounts for this.

A human rights campaigner in the capital city of Banda Aceh, Ahmad Humam Hamid, also wants an economic solution. But he fears things have gone too far. Even though the army started pulling out thousands of troops last year, and in March this year President B.J. Habibie went to Aceh to apologise for the army's brutal tactics in the past 10 years, there has been no proper investigation of human rights abuses since the current bout of rebel activity began. There are 7,000 cases on the books of human rights groups, including killings, missing people, rape and torture.

This week one man told of being detained by the army in 1997 and accused of being an Aceh Merdeka member. He was shot in the leg three times and had his foot amputated as a result. Another man told how he was tortured by the Kopassus special forces in their barracks in Lhokseumawe, which also happens to house the workers of the Arun LNG plant. The plant is 30 per cent owned by the Mobil oil company, which was embarrassed last year by claims by human rights groups that the Indonesian army used the Arun facilities for torture, and used heavy equipment to bury the bodies of its victims. The company has not denied the claims and, said one human rights activist pointedly, neither has it apologised.

Since President Habibie's Aceh visit the situation has worsened. In April, 45 people were massacred during a demonstration outside Bob Hasan's paper plant in Lhokseumawe. Last month at least 51 people died in an army operation in the village of Betoung in West Aceh. Now the army has stepped up operations, bringing 7,000 troops back to the province.

Ahmad believes Jakarta has to arrest the situation by giving real power to Aceh and the other provinces. "They have two choices. They have to adopt a policy of giving autonomy to the regions or they will have disintegration," he says.

In the Pidie district, the Aceh Merdeka stronghold where Abdullah leads the freedom fighters, the flashpoint is getting closer. Six weeks ago Aceh Merdeka began to move its supporters from their villages into refugee camps on the main roads. Now at least 100,000 people have deserted their homes to find safety from the army. Aceh Merdeka also knows that the stream of refugees will attract world attention to their plight.

But although the rebels have succeeded in gaining a hearing, they are far from united. Abdullah's predecessor in the Pidie region defected to the Indonesians, allegedly lured by comforts of life not available in the jungle, such as a nice car.

Aceh Merdeka's leader, Hasan Tiro, lives in exile in Sweden. Even though he is of Acehnese royal blood, suspicions that he plans to have his son succeed him have not endeared him to others in the movement. A more Muslim and more democratic faction of Aceh Merdeka is led by Husainy Hasan, who is believed to be in Malaysia. Although Aceh Merdeka will accept nothing short of an Indonesian withdrawal, plenty of other Acehnese will. For example, the influential student movement backs a referendum on independence.

But despite appearing divided, one thing the Acehnese will not do is give up. According to Ahmad, the Acehnese have a saying that when a man dies he leaves three things: his possessions, his family and vengeance. Revenge can be a long time coming.

The enemy within

The Free Aceh guerillas are vowing to fight to the death as Indonesian troops step up their crackdown in the province. Lindsay Murdoch talks to those in the firing line.

Nobody suspected Syaiful of being a spy, let alone an executioner. In March, he drove his jeep for the first time into Blang Meurandeh village, deep inside the mist-shrouded mountains of Sumatra's north-western tip. The villagers, who are usually distrustful of outsiders, quickly came to like Syaiful, a man in his mid-30s, because he would always listen to their problems and give them a lift down the mountain. They dubbed him "orang halus" -- a cultured, kindly man.

The soldiers, heavily armed and with their faces blackened, arrived without warning, jumping from two trucks and swarming over the village.

The people had no time to escape. It was early morning and Teungka Bantaqiah, the 55-year-old village guru, was asleep in the two-storey wooden boarding school where he taught a pure form of Islam to dozens of followers.

His wife Farisah, 32, woke him and told him Indonesian troops had arrived. "Everybody in Aceh fears the Indonesians and he grabbed a kitchen knife," she says, sobbing. "But I told him to put it down and go outside." By the time Bantaqiah walked unarmed down the stairs with his students and two of his sons, Sufi, 6, and Usman, 29, who was born to a former wife, the soldiers had herded the men into a group outside the school.

At first, the terrified villagers did not recognise Syaiful. He was wearing the uniform of Kostrad, the elite strategic reserve unit of Indonesia's armed forces, which has launched a new offensive to crush a growing rebellion in Aceh, Indonesia's staunchly Islamic oil-rich province.

Syaiful pushed to the front of the soldiers as one of them smashed a pistol into Usman's face and he fell against his father. Telling her story in detail to the Herald this week, Farisah says Bantaqiah shouted, "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great) three times and raised his arms in protest. A smile creased Syaiful's blackened face as he fired two shots at Bantaqiah. But when the teacher did not fall immediately -- which later prompted talk he was invincible to bullets -- another soldier raised a self-propelled grenade launcher and fired into his chest, splattering pieces of his body onto the school wall. Usman was also cut down.

Farisah says her son Sufi disappeared under falling bodies as the massacre started, one of a series in Aceh which human right groups say has been carried out by an occupation force that kills, rapes, burns and loots with impunity.

"The recent dramatic escalation in human rights violations in Aceh, including dozens of extrajudicial executions, disappearances and arbitrary arrests, flies in the face of the Indonesian Government's commitments to address human rights problems," says Amnesty International.

When the shooting stopped, 32 men lay dead, says Farisah, whose account is supported by human rights activists. Miraculously, her young son survived, suffering only a bullet wound to his right foot.

The soldiers then forced some of the villagers to lift another 25 wounded onto their trucks, saying they would take them to hospital. Two days later, their bodies were found dumped in a ravine eight kilometres away. Many of them had been slashed, as well as shot, indicating they were tortured.

The youngest victim was 18, the oldest 55. Farisah says the soldiers' commander told her, after the village women were searched and assaulted, that the Blang Meurandeh was a suspected base for the rebel Free Aceh Movement, which first declared independence for the province in 1976 with the aim of establishing an Islamic state.

"He told me they were looking for weapons," she says. "But they didn't find any and I asked him, 'Are you happy now?'" Human rights groups say evidence of the massacre is overwhelming, although there is no official investigation under way.

But the real motive for the killings is murky. Villagers say Blang Meurandeh grew marijuana for the military, which human rights activists believe controls most of the illicit trade of the drug in Indonesia. "The military will never leave Aceh because it is too lucrative a business," an activist says.

Early this year, B.J.Habibie, the Indonesian President, promised to withdraw troops from Aceh, try those responsible for human rights violations and end the siphoning of more than 90 per cent of the province's annual income. But like other promises of broad autonomy and the right to become an Islamic state, made by former presidents Sukarno and Suharto, they have not been honoured.

Sitting in a safe house with her two children, Sufi and seven-year-old Mahadi, Farisah denies her husband's role in the drug trade and says: "If I had a knife, I would cut the hearts out of those soldiers. If my husband was guilty, why didn't they take him away and put him through the courts? Why kill him and the others on the spot?"

With the rebels intensifying a nine-month offensive against Jakarta's rule, Aceh is in a state of siege. Although the eyes of the world are on East Timor, at the other rim of the archipelago far worse atrocities are happening. The fiercely independent Acehnese have never been pacified this century.

As hundreds more troops arrive in the province each day, with orders to shoot on sight, more than 140,000 villagers have fled their homes. They are living in appalling conditions in makeshift camps that are strictly controlled by the rebel movement. Every day, more refugees arrive at the six main camps, where conditions are deteriorating rapidly. Aid agencies fear outbreaks of serious diseases, as families squat in crude shelters, with little food and medicines. The conditions are said to be as bad as those endured by the Vietnamese refugees who poured into South-East Asian countries in the 1970s and 1980s.

At least 220 people have been killed in Aceh since May, when a 3,000-strong special anti-riot force was sent to the province by the armed forces chief, General Wiranto, the man widely tipped to be elected Indonesia's vice-president in November.

Both sides of the Aceh conflict acknowledge the existence of a so-called "third force" of troublemakers believed to have links to the armed forces. Although there is scant hard evidence, many analysts suspect they are former members of the Kopassus special forces.

Hundreds of buildings, including schools, have been destroyed across the province. And almost every day dozens of soldiers sweep through villages, seizing those they suspect of supporting the rebels.

Neither side is willing to negotiate. Habibie and Wiranto refuse to recognise the Free Aceh Movement, whose leader, Hasan di Tiro, 75, lives in Stockholm.

Yet there is widespread sympathy with many of the separatists' demands, even in some sections of the military. A local commander, Colonel Syarifuddin, says the Government's handling of social, economic and cultural problems caused the crisis. "This must be changed. The Government must give greater attention to Aceh because there will never be a military solution here," he says.

Arbitrary killings are just about a daily occurrence in the province, and evidence of mass graves has become commonplace.

Last week, Aceh was paralysed by a general strike in protest at the military's announcement of a fresh six-month campaign to wipe out the Free Aceh Movement. It will involve 11,000 police, soldiers and civilian militia hunting down the "disturbance movement", as the national police chief, Roesmanhadi, calls the rebels. Anyone not in the uniform of any of the official security forces and caught carrying a firearm will be shot on sight, he says. The police spokesman, Brigadier-General Togar Sianipar, is even more blunt. "This special operation will take pre-emptive and repressive measures to rebuild the society," he says.

But the rebels are extremely well organised and appear to have the support of most Acehnese. Only a few kilometres from a squad of heavily armed soldiers patrolling roadside villages, Abdullah Syafi sweeps into a small village on the back of a motorbike, waving his Kalashnikov rifle in the air in a show of defiance for a small group of foreign journalists. Sitting cross-legged on a mat in a traditional house, the Free Aceh Movement's senior commander launches into a tirade against the "Javanese imperialists" who, he says, have raped and murdered the Acehnese for decades.

"We have yet to wage real war," he says. "We want to play the rules of the international community. But the Javanese are stupid. The name 'Indonesian' is fake. We can fight them and we will fight them to the end." Syafi, 43, dismisses comparisons between Aceh and East Timor, where Jakarta is allowing the United Nations to organise a ballot giving East Timorese a choice between autonomy or independence. "We demand freedom. There is no alternative, so we are very different," he says.

The rebels have so far not attacked any of Aceh's huge industries, notably the P.T. Arun liquified natural gas plant, part-owned by Mobil, in the industrial city of Lhokseumawe, 1,600 kilometres north-west of Jakarta. Few analysts doubt that the movement, with an apparently steady supply of arms from Cambodia, has the ability to sabotage revenue flows to Jakarta.

"We are not stupid," says Syafi. "We respect the foreign people working there. But then, if the international community does not pay attention to us, maybe we will attack. There are no rules in war." The Free Aceh Movement is itself deeply divided. One side wants a referendum to decide the future of the Acehnese. But the hardliners, such as Syafi, a former teacher who has been fighting since his early 20s, insist the Indonesians must withdraw completely. "We will defend this place until our last drop of blood," he says.

Military chief hints at dialogue over Aceh

Jakarta -- Indonesian Military Chief General Wiranto on Saturday hinted for the first time that he is willing to negotiate with Aceh guerrillas to end the violence which has plagued the province for decades.

He said he was open to dialogue with any party to settle the violence, the first time a senior Indonesian official has raised the possibility of talks with the Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh) rebel movement.

But the military chief stressed that his troops, including a detachment of anti-riot specialists sent to Aceh amid escalating violence earlier this year, were not to blame for the bloodshed and would not be withdrawn.

"I will be willing to hold a dialogue with whichever side to find the best solution which will not disadvantage the people but will at the same time resolve the problem," Wiranto said, without elaborating.

"I think the problem does not lay [with the anti-riot troops]," he told a press conference here in response to mounting criticism of what is seen as the Indonesian military's heavy handedness.

A two-day general strike called by rights activists and students demanding the end of military violence in Aceh and the pullout of the anti-riot troops paralyzed most major towns in Aceh earlier this month.

The government has so far refused to countenance growing calls for dialogue with the leaders of the Aceh Merdeka, an armed movement which has been fighting for an Islamic state in Aceh since the mid 1970s.

On Saturday groups of rampaging men in North Aceh set a hotel and several vehicles ablaze, while on Friday armed men shot two policemen dead and injured four others at Makmur Lubu about halfway between Bireun and Lhokseumawe. "The reports that we have received is that some men put the Murni Hotel in Bireun to fire, as well as one bus and three trucks on the main highway between Makmur Lebu and Bireun this morning (Saturday)," said an activist by telephone from Lhokseumawe.

The activist, from the Birata non-governmental organisation active in monitoring violence in North Aceh, said no casualties were reported and the attackers remained unidentified.

Groups of men have also been discouraging people in Bireun, some 60 kilometres west of Lhokseumawe, from flying the Indonesian red-and-white flag as is customary ahead of independence day, which this year falls on Tuesday, he said.

The head of the Aceh trade and industry office in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh, said that the recent attacks on traffic in North Aceh have halted supplies of fuels to North Aceh.

"Drivers of tanker trucks refuse to take the Bireun-Takengon highway because they are worried about security disturbance on that way," the official, Sa'adan said according to the Antara news agency. The district's stocks of gasoline, diesel oil and kerosene had now been depleted, Sa'adan said.

Antara also said attacks had disrupted supplies of essential goods to the Gayo plateau in neighbouring Central Aceh district.

Aceh farmers fear abduction by military

Susan Sim, Pidie -- Village chief Idris Yahya started packing when he heard the machine-gun fire early Friday morning. PPRM riot troops were in the vicinity and that meant one thing: It was no longer safe to stay in Keumala.

"We had to leave. We were afraid that if not, the PPRM would come to kidnap us at night. It happened 10 years ago. It can happen again," he said, feeling safer now in an overflowing refugee camp in the Abu Beureueh Mosque in Pidie.

As the 300 Keumala villagers piled into trucks and vans for the 2-hour trip to Pidie, troops on motorbikes revved into sight.

"They were dragging six to nine bodies with bloody bullet holes behind them," farmer Ibrahim said, taking up the tale as fellow displaced villagers crowded round. The PPRM shouted: 'Come see how we deal with the GAM.' So we had to go look. I was so frightened."

Only three of the dead were known members of the Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM or Free Aceh Movement). "Everyone knows who the GAM are," he shrugged in reply to a question as the others nodded.

Nobody recognised the other six but assumed they were farmers like themselves from elsewhere in the rich rice- and coffee- growing district at the foothills of east Aceh's mountain range.

One of those who suffered at the hands of the Indonesian military during the infamous years -- when Aceh was designated a military operation area (DOM) from 1991 to exactly a year ago -- was Tengku Noordin of Tangse sub-district.

He said he was held from 1991 to 1993 in the notorious Rancong detention camp and tortured by soldiers who suspected him of being a GAM member.

"Thirty of my friends were killed," said Tengku Noordin who, less "traumatised" now in the Pidie refugee camp, admitted that he was a GAM activist who "did everything" except take up arms.

Sitting in the makeshift tent he and his family have called home since late June, he said he spends his days listening to Islamic lectures.

Sometimes his wife queues for packets of green bean soup for their two toddlers, when that is available. Meals every day consist of rice and salted fish from the communal kitchens.

Drawing strength from his religion, he said he had named the youngest of his 10 children, a 10-week-old infant born just before his family's flight to safety, after the Muhaggirin who accompanied the Prophet Muhammad on his flight from Mecca centuries ago.

"Muhaggir," he said, pointing to the sleeping infant, who was oblivious to the flies buzzing around and the uncertain future ahead.

Aceh rebels deny executions

Jakarta -- Separatist rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province on Monday denied charges by human rights watchdog Amnesty International that they were executing military informers.

Free Aceh Movement spokesman Ismail Sahputra said military informers were vital witnesses to military atrocities and would be needed to testify against abuses committed by troops in the nine-year operation that has killed about 2,000 people.

"We have never killed civilians who work with the Indonesian military," he told Reuters by telephone. "They are very important for us because we need them when we put the Indonesian military in an international court for killings done in Aceh. So why should we kill them?"

London-based Amnesty International last week accused soldiers and police in Aceh of getting away with murder, torture and disappearances. But it also held the rebels partly responsible for killing soldiers and civilians who worked for the military.

Local journalists in Aceh say about 100 people, many of whom worked for the army, had been killed in the past 12 months.

"They were officially classified as being killed by unknown persons or in mysterious shootings," said one journalist, who declined to be named. Sahputra said they were killed by "guerrilla soldiers" sent by Jakarta to wipe out evidence of past atrocities.

The journalist said while many of the killings were carried out by elements within the military, some were killed by rebels.

"I have to acknowledge that a very small number of informers were killed by Free Aceh in a spontaneous outburst of anger for the sufferings caused by them," said the journalist.

But he said Free Aceh had never embarked on a witch-hunt for informers because the rebels knew many civilians were forced to work for the military out of fear for their own lives.

Unrest kills 20 in Aceh

Jakarta -- At least 20 people have been killed in new unrest in Indonesia's bloodied Aceh province, including 14 civilians blasted to death by grenades, separatist rebels and human rights groups said Monday.

The 14 were among 18 killed Saturday by soldiers who thought they were rebels, Legal Aid Institute official Yakob Hamzah told Reuters by telephone from the province on the northwest tip of Sumatra.

Hamzah said the victims were working as woodcutters and farmers. "They did not carry any arms," he said. Free Aceh spokesman Ismail Sahputra told Reuters 14 people were blown up by grenades. "Another four, all farmers, were shot to death by the military. None of them were Free Aceh members," he said.

In the North Aceh town of Lhokseumawe, a youth was shot dead while running down a road Saturday, Yakob said. "The youth happened to be running when the PPRM [special anti-riot taskforce] passed by, who then shot him," said Yakob. The military was not immediately available for comment.

Another victim, local journalist Supriadi, was found in North Aceh hacked to death with his head almost severed, the Jakarta Post reported Monday.

Famine haunts Aceh as farmers flee

Susan Sim, Banda Aceh -- One year after the Indonesian military apologised for past abuses and pledged to withdraw troops, a humanitarian crisis is brewing in Aceh as a renewed crackdown on armed insurgents creates a growing refugee problem, social activists here warn.

"The violence has created a fragile situation," Mr Humam Hamid of the Care Human Rights Forum told The Straits Times. "If this continues, we are going to begin the new millennium with a famine."

Information compiled by volunteer helpers shows that some 400,000 Acehnese, most of them farmers from the province's rice bowl, are now sheltering in 17 sanctuaries -- plastic and cardboard cities set up in mosques, schools and government offices in Pidie, North and East Aceh. The three districts are where the separatist Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM or Free Aceh Movement) is most active.

Each time the rebels clash with troops, who follow up with "sweeping" action in nearby villages, an exodus begins, with many fearing harassment by soldiers.

But unless the villagers return to their farms before the end of the month, rice fields will probably not be harvested. And if the next planting season, in October and November, is missed, "we will have nothing to eat by the end of the year", Mr Humam said.

Eastern Aceh's rice fields feed the province's 4 million people as well as most of those in North Sumatra.

If no aid was forthcoming, not only would the growing numbers of refugees face severe malnutrition, but the lives of other ordinary Acehnese would be "at stake" too, he said.

Health workers at the Pidie refugee camps, which are overcrowded but unable to turn away fresh arrivals, said that sanitation problems could create a deadly malaria epidemic.

The compound of the Abu Beureueh Mosque is over-run by 18,000 refugees. Nurses sent there by the local health centre said they treated at least 100 people for diarrhoea every day.

Swatting away the flies buzzing around her as she measured out a limited supply of medicine, a nurse said about 20 people had died since the camp began in late June, mostly from "old age". "But we'll have malaria soon. Have you seen the mosquitoes here at night?"

The camps are also breeding a pro-independence fervour, with antagonism towards Jakarta so high that refugees refuse to accept food donated by the local authorities. "They would rather starve. So we have to be careful where we get supplies from," student volunteer co-ordinator Herri Shahputra noted.

Apart from contributions from local businessmen, volunteers also collect donations from cars passing in front of the mosque. "I don't know what it costs, but we need 3-1/2 tonnes of rice every day. Can the world help?"

Irianese living in fear, says commission

Jayapura -- Members of the National Commission on Human Rights concluded from their visit here saying that the Irianese lived in fear.

Albert Hasibuan and Clementino Dos Reis Amaral said during a meeting with community leaders, non-governmental organizations and religious leaders on Thursday that fear of arrest and intimidation caused Irianese to remain silent about the violence they had suffered.

The official rights body announced last week an independent team would be formed to look into alleged human rights abuses in Irian Jaya, including the military shooting last year in Biak. The incident occurred when security personnel opened fire on a group of people who raised a proindependence West Papua Morning Star flag.

Hasibuan said there were a number of witnesses to the shooting, "but security personnel intimidated them" from speaking out. One witness, as quoted by a report from the Institute for Human Rights Studies and Advocacy, was cited as saying he was intimidated into lying about the incident. "I was told to say a body was a victim of an earthquake in Aitape, New Guinea. If I [told people] the body was a victim of the attack, I was told I would be killed," he said.

Hasibuan appealed for an end to all intimidation in an effort to overcome political problems in Irian Jaya.

Scholars and community leaders here have pointed to abuses committed against Irianese as the reason behind the rising calls for the province's separation from Indonesia.

Local scholar Agus Alua told the rights commission the Irianese feared for their future. "Powerful people who are mostly non-Papuans have grabbed people's ancestral lands" for mining and forest concessions, he said, using the local term for Irianese.

"Papuans also fear being wiped out," Agus said, referring to accounts of people being slaughtered "like animals". A local priest, Hutapea, told the commission the slaughters led him to conclude that Irianese were "cheaper than chickens".

Meanwhile, local military commander Maj. Gen. Amir Sembiring said locals still respected and needed security personnel.

Hasibuan said in the meeting the best way to settle problems in the province was to hold a dialog in which all parties "had the chance to express their opinions, aspirations and restlessness".

Separately in Sorong, the Malamoi tribe protested plans to construct a palm plantation on what they said was their ancestral land in Warsumsum valley.

Community leader Matias Asrima told The Jakarta Post the company planning to build the plantation conducted a land survey without the tribe's permission.
 

News & issues

Suharto back in hospital

Jakarta -- Former Indonesian President Suharto on Saturday returned the Pertamina hospital where he had been treated for a mild stroke last month, a hospital spokeswoman said.

"He came in at 10am and that is about the only thing I can say," spokeswoman Susilowati said. "It is only normal for someone who has been treated for a stroke, there are controls to be done.,

The Very Very Important Persons private ward on the hospital's sixth floor, where Suharto was treated for 10 days last month, was again closed to the public and the entrance guarded by Suharto's personal security guards. Suharto's private physician, Hari Sabardi, was also at the hospital, his staff said.

Hospital director Sujiono Martoatmojo declined comment as he entered the hospital lift to go to the six floor.

A journalist who claimed to have seen the Suharto arrive at the hospital said the former president was taken in on a stretcher. He was accompanied by his sons Sigit Harjojudanto and Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, and daughters Siti Hediyati Prabowo and Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, the journalist said.

Suharto's Mercedes ambulance and two Mercedes jeeps usually kept at his Cendana residence in central Jakarta were also seen at the hospital.

Indonesia Confucians protest

Jakarta -- Hundreds of Confucians gave orchids to Indonesian riot police, burnt incense and chanted prayers on Monday to demand the government officially recognise their religion.

The 200 ethnic Chinese protesters gathered outside the office of Indonesia's General Election Commission to demand parliamentary seats to represent their community.

"The rights of Confucians in Indonesia must be returned to what they ought to be," said the group in a statement, calling itself the Committee of Friendship for Confucian Religion.

Although Islam is the dominant religion for Indonesia's 200 million people, it is not the nation's state religion. Five religions are officially recognised -- Islam, Protestant Christianity, Roman Catholicism, Hinduism and Buddhism.

Indonesians are required to identify themselves as belonging to one of these five religions on their identity cards and cannot declare themselves atheists, agnostics or members of any other religious groups. However, many Indonesians privately follow other beliefs.

Indonesian Confucians generally declare themselves as Buddhists on their identity cards and there no official figures on how many Confucians there are in the country.
 

Environment/Health

Indonesia blamed for forest fires

Keith B. Richburg -- Two years after Southeast Asia was enveloped in a debilitating smog -- stinging lungs, forcing schools to close and causing chaos to shipping lanes and aviation routes -- smoke from forest fires in the Indonesian provinces Sumatra and Kalimantan is once again blanketing the sky, raising questions about the government's resolve to contain what is becoming a perennial crisis.

In the last few weeks, schools have been closed in Riau province on Sumatra island, where a state of emergency was declared because of the haze. More than 300 people have been admitted to hospitals, mostly suffering from respiratory problems. And the haze is being blamed for the collision of a tanker and barge last week that left a dozen people dead. Haze was already sending pollution indexes to record levels across the Malacca Strait in Singapore and Malaysia, where the world's tallest buildings, the twin Petronas towers, were obscured by smog, and in Brunei, which has threatened to sue Indonesia. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will hold a crisis meeting at the end of the month for regional environmental ministers to address the problem.

By week's end, rain had decreased the number of fires and reduced the number of "hot spots" visible by satellite. Schools in Riau were able to reopen. But environmental experts warned that the reprieve was only temporary: The areas being burned this year may be even larger than in 1997. With this just the start of the burning season, the region is once again facing an ecological and health catastrophe.

"It's just started," said Longgena Ginting, coordinator of the forest advocacy program for the Indonesian Forum for the Environment. "We're pessimistic about the fires this year, and we predict they will be bigger." He said the underlying cause of the fires -- blamed on the practice of large plantation of burning wooded land to clear it for planting -- is Indonesia's rapid conversion of its forests to agricultural use. He said Indonesia is deforested at a rate of 12.4 million acres each year. The World Wide Fund for Nature said it had identified 37 plantations in Sumatra and Kalimantan responsible for most of the fires.

Today, environmental groups said the number of hot spots in Sumatra was down to 128, from a high of 342 on August 2; a hot spot is defined as 250 burning acres.

Many here accused the government of President B.J. Habibie of failure to take action to prevent the fires because it did not penalize agribusinesses identified as responsible for the latest round.

In 1997, when former president Suharto was in power, the government identified 176 companies suspected of involvement in the fires. But local environmental groups said none of those companies -- some of which were politically connected to the ruling elite -- was ever punished. The government blamed small- scale farmers for starting the fires, but investigations by local environmental groups found that 94 percent were caused by large plantations.

Longgena's group sued 11 of those companies in Sumatra and six in South Kalimantan, but both suits were dismissed when the courts said there was not enough evidence linking the companies to the fires.

Habibie, speaking at an environmental conference here last week, ordered immediate action to stop the fires, saying: "We must ensure that our forest is not burned because of our negligence. If this happens, our environment will be more damaged." But critics said inaction by a weak government hobbled by other more immediate crises -- from bank scandals to ethnic violence to separatist insurgencies -- was precisely the problem.

"We have so many laws to prevent the fires, but none are effective," said Bambang Hero Saharjo, a forestry expert and consultant with the World Wide Fund for Nature. "Habibie has asked people to stop the fires. But if there's no implementation, then it's just words." The ASEAN regional group has implemented a "haze action plan" to coordinate strategies for fighting the blazes, sharing information about the location of blazes and strengthening firefighting capabilities. A regular update on the fires is provided online (www.haze-online.or.id).

But even ASEAN concedes that the first job in controlling the blazes lies with Indonesia, and the government's response so far has been found wanting. "It's pretty slow," said Rodolfo C. Severino, the secretary general. "It's [a question of] resources. Plus, Indonesia is in a transition, so it's difficult to get its act together."

Ten hot spots found in South Kalimantan

Jakarta -- At least 10 hot spots, spread across five regencies, have been pinpointed in South Kalimantan since the end of July.

Madjedi, the head of the Environment Impact Management Body in South Kalimantan, told Antara on Sunday the sites were in Banjar Barat in Banjarmasin, Sungai Pinang in Banjar regency, Tabukan and Kuripan districts in Barito Kuala regency.

Hot spots are also reported to be in the regencies of Hulu Sungai Utara Hulu Sungai Selatan. Madjedi said the areas were the site of crops and plantations.

Madjed said all relevant authorities had been warned to prevent fires from breaking out. "Regents and mayors here are expected to increase their levels of alertness, so the potential of fires in this dry season can be reduced to a minimum," he said in the capital of Banjarmasin.

Sofayan Amir, secretary of the provincial coordinating post for disasters, said a public information campaign regarding the potential of forest fires here was being stepped up.

On Saturday, West Kalimantan authorities ordered children to stay inside due to haze from forest fires and burning crops, DPA reported.

West Kalimantan meteorology officials said haze from fires in the province was disrupting flights to and from Pontianak's Supadio Airport. Officials have called for urgent action to put out fires in West Kalimantan and the eastern Sumatra province of Riau.

Malaysia last week also prepared a national haze action plan, fearing a repeat of the health and traffic hazards in parts of Southeast Asia caused by Indonesian forest fires in 1997.

On Thursday, the environment ministry here located more than 280 hot spots during a flight over West Kalimantan.

Separately, Antara reported on Saturday that East Kalimantan officials have alerted all related institutions about the haze problem. "We have warned companies not to carry out burning for land clearing," said Uuh Aliyuddin, the provincial forestry office chief.

He said the forestry office, in cooperation with Malaysia's fire brigade agency, recently provided training to 40 local firemen instructors, who are expected to set up voluntary fire brigades to deal with potential forest fires in the province.

From mid-1997 until early 1998, approximately 520,000 hectares of East Kalimantan's 17 million hectares, was razed following serious forest and field fires.

In Riau, the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) distributed on Sunday 1,000 masks to locals to help protect them from smog arising from forest fires.

The distribution was a form of protest against the local administration's failure to take any measure to protect the public, said Zufra Irwan, the PWI secretary in Riau.

"Haze is becoming denser each day, but the local administration has only asked the locals to be aware of it, and hasn't done anything significant to stop the forest fires," he said. A heavy downpour on Friday failed to alleviate the smog.

Head of the local meteorological and geophysical office, Purwoko Soesilo, said the rain could not reduce the density of the haze, let alone put out the fires. Riau is covered by peat which is prone to fire.

With the increased levels of smoke resulting from the fires, respiratory problems have become common in the region, shrouding parts of Riau in the past week.

Civilians roped in to fight fires on Riau

Jakarta -- About 3,000 civilians have been roped in to help put out forest fires in the Indonesian province of Riau which have caused pollution to hit hazardous levels and the authorities to close kindergartens and put clinics on 24-hour standby.

Riau Forestry Department head Darminto Sutomo said that the department had deployed 251 firemen but this was insufficient to handle the more than 300 hot spots in the province.

"While we are recruiting more firemen from the Forestry Department, some 3,000 students of higher learning and civilians have joined the fire-fighting forces after the province was put on alert," he said when contacted in Pekan Baru on Friday. He said the move to recruit the students had helped to reduce the number of hot spots in the province.

The official expressed unhappiness with the attitude of Indonesian farmers, whom he said were responsible for the fires which led to the hazardous haze levels.

"Initial investigation found most of the fires were set by farmers and estate owners to carry out land-clearing activities," he said.

He said the department had taken legal action against two plantation companies involved in open burning and was investigating several others.

Meanwhile, Riau provincial health office head Rusmawi Rifin said: "After receiving reports, it turns out that the particle content in the air has now reached dangerous levels and therefore, we are calling on kindergartens to close down their activities." It has also recommended that outdoor sports activities be cancelled.

Ash particles in the air had reached 500 PSI (Pollution Standard Index), far above the dangerous level of 301, he was quoted by the Media Indonesia daily as saying.

He said kindergartens had to be closed as the presence of ash particles was especially dangerous for small children who were more prone to lung and respiratory infections.

For higher-school levels, Mr Rifin said the authorities could only call on them to reduce open-air activities. The Riau meteorology station in Pekanbaru, the main city in the province, said visibility was between 500 and 700 metres at 7am yesterday but had cleared slightly to 1,800 metres three hours later. Several hospitals in Riau have been crowded with patients suffering from respiratory problems, prompting the authorities to instruct hospitals and clinics on 24-hour readiness. A private hospital director said a large number of patients comprised children below five years old.
 

Economy and investment

IMF "extremely concerned" over scandal

New York -- The International Monetary Fund Friday issued a blunt warning to the Indonesian government to quickly get to the bottom of a scandal involving PT Bank Bali and a senior official of the ruling Golkar party.

An IMF spokesman said Friday that a full investigation, backed by independent auditors, will be essential to preventing further deterioration of investor confidence at home and abroad.

In an effort to quickly acknowledge the gravity of the matter, Bank Indonesia -- the country's central bank -- said it will take much of the responsibility for the scandal.

The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency -- charged with overhauling the nation's financial sector -- has said Bank Bali transferred 546 billion rupiah (around $70 million) in June to PT Era Giat Prima, a private company controlled by a deputy treasurer of the Golkar party.

The secret transfer was uncovered by Standard Chartered Bank PLC during a three-month due diligence investigation preceding its planned acquisition of a 20% stake in Bank Bali.

That deal, and the future of private sector involvement in the restructuring of Indonesia's teetering bank sector, is now seen at grave risk by some analysts.

The IMF signaled it is taking the Bank Bali incident very seriously and is particularly concerned about the degree of government involvement in the scandal.

"The IMF is extremely concerned about recent reports alleging irregularities in a transaction involving the IBRA, Bank Indonesia and a private bank," the IMF spokesman said.

"The decision by IBRA to launch a speedy investigation into the transaction and to publish its findings is absolutely necessary to bring this matter to a close," he said.

"We expect the investigation to be concluded in a matter of days. We also fully support the appointment of an international auditing firm to validate the findings of the investigation," the spokesman said.

"Anything short of this will further damage domestic and international investor confidence. The IMF will continue to work with the relevant authorities to deal rapidly and vigorously with this matter," he added.

An IMF mission isn't due to return for a regular review of the Indonesia economy and government policies until September following the disbursement of a $460-million installment to Jakarta at the beginning of August.

Another loan tranche due from the IMF under the $43-billion international rescue package arranged for Indonesia in November 1997 is due in October.

Relations between the IMF and Jakarta have been rocky since the IMF organized that bail-out. The Indonesia government initially dragged its feet in adopting a number of monetary and fiscal policies advocated by the Fund and it frustrated IMF officials by stonewalling their demands to completely restructure the banking sector, closing insolvent banks and recapitalizing those that can be saved.

Progress on most areas of concern has been made in 1999, leading the IMF to increase the amount of funds it will make available to Indonesia by a further $1 billion to $12.3 billion. But the latest scandal, coming at the conclusion of national elections and with a presidential poll looming, has again dismayed IMF management.

Bank regulators help businessmen

Hong Kong -- The Review has obtained a confidential report prepared for the central bank by consulting firm McKinsey & Co. that shows Bank Indonesia bent its own rules to save seven institutions earlier this year. The most prominent is Bank Nusa Nasional, owned by the family of influential businessman Aburizal Bakrie, a member of Habibie's board of economic advisers. Strict rules, announced in February by the central bank, ordered that any bank failing to meet a minimum capital-adequacy ratio of minus 25% was to be closed. A recent audit by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers and cited in the McKinsey report concluded that Bank Nusa had a capital-adequacy ratio of minus 210%, the Review reports. But Bank Indonesia rejected the auditor's interpretation of the balance sheet in favour of the bank management's view -- and revised the figure to a minus 24.6%, making it eligible for government money.

The McKinsey report went on to say that 99% of the bank's loans were doubtful and that 29% of all loans went to companies linked to the Bakrie family -- beyond the legal lending limit designed to protect banks from over-exposure to any one borrower. The report quoted Bank Nusa officials as either denying the violation had occurred or claiming it had permission from the central bank to break the law.