Aceh/West Papua

Six slain in Aceh violence

Jakarta Post - October 18, 2002

Ibnu Mat Noor, Banda Aceh -- Volunteers with the Indonesian Red Cross in Aceh have evacuated six casualties bearing gunshot wounds, including one state official, from four different locations in the strife-torn province, graphic evidence that violence is still rampant.

The campaign for independence by the secessionist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has seen an escalation in the violence in recent months.

Two bodies were found beneath a mountainous area in the village of Ara Bungong, subdistrict of Peudada, some 180 kilometers east of Banda Aceh. They were identified as Syamaun Madjid, 35, and Zulmahdi Yahya, 30.

Two other bodies were found in the village of Mon Kelayu, subdistrict of Gandapura, some 230 kilometers east of Banda Aceh, the capital city. They were identified as Amri Yusuf, 23, and Junaidi, 22.

A Red cross volunteer Azhari from the regency of Bireun said that he and other volunteers had transported those bodies to the Bireun hospital.

Separately, Red Cross volunteers in South Aceh on Wednesday also evacuated one body found near a road in the Gunung Kerambil area, subdistrict of Tapaktuan, about 500 kilometers southeast of Banda Aceh, and was evacuated to the Yulidin Away hospital in Tapaktuan.

Meanwhile, volunteers also evacuated Ridwan Abdullah, 43, an official with the Aceh education office from the Alue Gantong village, subdistrict of Seulimun, about 50 kilometers east of Banda Aceh. Ridwan had been declared missing three weeks ago.

Hunger strike goes on as two hospitalized

Jakarta Post - October 16, 2002

Apriadi Gunawan, Jakarta -- Two Acehnese who participated in a hunger strike for three days at the provincial legislature here were rushed to the hospital on Tuesday with digestive disorders.

But dozens of others vowed to keep up the fight, despite a deterioration in their state of health, until their demand for disbursement of state funds was fulfilled. One of them, Suminem, 62, suffered a stomachache and vomited several times, but refused medical treatment, Sumitro, the strike coordinator, said that M. Hasan, 58, was hospitalized in Malahayati Hospital while Zulkifli, 36, was taken to Pirngadi Hospital.

Meanwhile, provincial administration spokesman Eddy Sofyan said that thousands of Acehnese refugees, who had been taking shelter at the compound of the governor's office, were given 24 hours to abandon the site or face expulsion.

"They have no option but to leave because the local government employees have complained about the disruption caused by their presence," Eddy told The Jakarta Post said.

The refugees had built tents inside the office parking lot. They had also established a public kitchen and dried their clothes on lines surrounding the office, giving the compound the appearance of a shanty town.

The displaced people, who have been living in temporary shelters in Medan, Deli Serdang and Langkat, turned up in large numbers on Sunday to join in the strike at the governor's office to demand disbursement of state funds allocated to them, with 25 of them taking part in a hunger strike in front of the provincial legislature next door.

They vowed to continue their rally until the provincial administration disbursed Rp 100.5 billion in government funds provided by the Ministry of Social Affairs. The funds were disbursed by the ministry two months ago to the provincial administration.

Refugees stage hunger strike for aid

Jakarta Post - October 15, 2002

Medan -- Dozens of Acehnese refugees living in temporary shelters in Medan, Deli Serdang, and Langkat, launched a hunger strike in front of the North Sumatra Legislative Council on Monday to demand the disbursement of Rp 100.5 billion in government funds.

Twenty-five people, joined the strike that entered the second straight day on Monday. They vowed to continue their action until the provincial administration gives them their rights.

"They are so calculating in handling the refugees. Everybody knows that the money will yield huge interest if it is kept in the bank," Sumitro, 44, the strike coordinator told The Jakarta Post.

The fund has been provided by the Ministry of Social Affairs. Meanwhile, thousands of Acehnese refugees went to the gubernatorial office, demanding that the provincial administration to disburse the fund without delay.

Acehnese Refugee Forum (FPAA) coordinator Edy Gunawan Sirait said that the refugees had no confidence anymore in the provincial administration because the fund had been given by the ministry two months ago.

Allowing GAM to take part in election might end violence

Jakarta Post - October 15, 2002

Nani Farida and Kurniawan Hari, Banda Aceh/Jakarta -- Acehnese figures welcomed on Monday a proposal to allow the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to participate in elections, saying it would bolster efforts for a peaceful and fair solution to problems in the province.

Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh, meanwhile, confirmed that talks between representatives of GAM and Jakarta would take place on October 27 and October 28 in Geneva.

Bachtiar Aly, an analyst on Acehnese affairs, said a political approach would gain much support because it would have the potential to reduce casualties and bring about a peaceful solution. "That [idea] will be acceptable among the public because it offers a lower social cost," said Bachtiar here on Monday, referring to the many casualties resulted from gunfights in the province over the years. Acehnese politician Ghazali Abbas Adan concurred with Bachtiar, saying that the most important thing was that peace could be restored in Aceh.

Both, however, emphasized that Jakarta played a major role in determining whether or not the separatist group would be allowed to contest elections.

The idea to give GAM a chance to participate in elections was recently aired by Smita Notosusanto from the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro).

She said GAM should be put to the test to determine whether or not it really enjoy widespread support from the people, and that an election could serve as a test for GAM as to whether or not it could solicit support through peaceful means.

Smita added that allowing GAM to contest elections would serve as an incentive to the separatist group to lay down its arms and end hostilities. If GAM wins a local election, it would have the opportunity to obtain positions in the provincial and district administration.

But a GAM spokesman, Teuku, Kamaruzzaman rejected the idea, saying that it would not solve the basic problems in Aceh. He, however, emphasized that the conflict in Aceh was not a social conflict, therefore the proposal would not solve the problems.

"The most accurate solution is a self-determination vote through a referendum. We will see whether or not people in Aceh want independence," Kamaruzzaman told The Jakarta Post.

Bachtiar, who will soon take up an ambassadorial post in Egypt, emphasized that whether or not GAM became a political party was only a means, not the ultimate goal. The most important goal, he said, was the creation of peace in the resource-rich province.

According to him, both GAM and Jakarta should continue to follow up the agreement between the two camps made in May, which said that GAM accepted Jakarta's offer of greater autonomy for Aceh and vowed to end violence.

During the dialog, the government and GAM agreed that Law No.18/2001 on Nangroe Aceh Darussalam could be used as a starting point for an Aceh resolution.

The law gives special autonomy to Aceh, allowing it to implement Islamic sharia law and retain a greater share of its oil and gas revenues. "Whether or not GAM will become a political party will depend on further talks," Bachtiar added.

Ghazali, co-chairman of the splinter United Development Party (PPP) Reformasi, added that he fully backed the idea to promote GAM as a political party. Allowing GAM to contest elections, Ghazali said, would mean government recognition of the group, which in turn would help reduce violence.

Acehnese youths want to choose their own leaders

Jakarta Post - October 14, 2002

Kanis Dursin, Tamiang, East Aceh -- It was only 7 a.m., but hundreds of students had already gathered on the Tamiang Islamic University campus, a two-hectare compound from where King Tengku Arifin ruled in the 19th century.

By 8 a.m., over 500 students had assembled on the campus, each clutching a registration form, to take part in a simulated election. And when the exercise finally kicked off at around 9 a.m., close to 700 students had formed a queue and enthusiastically awaited their turn to vote.

"We want our leaders to be elected directly by the people," Maristina Tambunan, a third-year student from State Senior High School (SMU) II Tamiang, East Aceh said while lining up to cast her vote. "We want leaders who deliver, not those who make empty promises," Maristina's male schoolmate blurted out.

Maristina and her schoolmate were participants of the simulated election in Tamiang, some 400 kilometers east of the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, last week with the aim of educating Acehnese youth on how to hold a direct and democratic election. The exercise was organized by the Tamiang-based Ma'arif Education Foundation and the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro).

Law No. 18/2001 on special autonomy for Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) allows Aceh to hold direct elections for the post of governor, mayor and regent, making it the first province to organize direct elections for heads of regional governments.

The Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which has been fighting for an independent state since 1976, agreed during peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland, in May to use the special autonomy law as the sole basis for future dialog with the Indonesian government.

The Aceh provincial administration, however, is yet to promulgate a bylaw on direct elections as required by the autonomy law.

For the exercise, the Ma'arif Foundation recruited 700 student volunteers from five high schools in Tamiang who will be eligible to vote in 2004, when the country is scheduled to hold a general election. The students, who represented some 700 families, were assisted by 89 volunteer organizers.

The students were asked to elect a regent and deputy regent for Tamiang from three candidates for each post -- two pairs from political parties and one independent pair.

Special interest was put on the election process beginning with the verification of registration forms, ballot papers, vote casting, and vote counting, as well as submitting the vote tally from the election precinct to election organizers at a higher level up to the General the Elections Commission. Ballot papers and the election tally, for example, had to be signed by three election committee members in order to be valid.

Emphasis was also placed on the number of election officials and monitors, and their roles and duties.

"I am glad that I took part in this simulated election because it broadens my knowledge," Siti Aisah, a second-year student from State Senior High School II in Tamiang, said after casting her vote.

She said she would tell her parents that a direct election reduced the possibility of vote buying as it was rather difficult to bribe people.

Field organizer Syarifuddin Ismail, who is also chairman of the Ma'arif Education Foundation, told the Post that the exercise was significant in terms of educating the public, especially the young, on politics and democracy.

"The enthusiasm among students to participate in this exercise reflects the people's strong desire to hold a direct election for Tamiang regent," Syarifuddin said.

But according to noted sociologist Imam B. Prasodjo from the University of Indonesia, it was difficult to gauge if the students' enthusiasm to participate in the exercise reflected the people's desire for direct elections.

"The participants are homogeneous, they are all students," he said. He, however, believed that the exercise would put pressure on local politicians to draft a bylaw on direct elections for heads of regional administrations.

Cetro chairwoman Smita Notosusanto said that high school students were chosen to take part in the exercise because their vote would be a deciding factor in the 2004 elections. "They could sway the election race in 2004 since they are first-time voters," Smita said in Tamiang on Tuesday.

'War on terrorism'

How the CIA traced al Qaeda's regional role

Melbourne Age - October 20 2002

Lindsay Murdoch -- For three months Omar al-Faruq refused to talk. But CIA interrogators at a US-held military base in the Afghan desert used sleep deprivation, isolation and other undisclosed techniques banned in the US to break the 37-year-old Muslim cleric they believed to be a key al Qaeda representative in South-East Asia.

Finally, on September 9, al-Faruq succumbed and began telling his captors about Jemaah Islamiah, the militant Islamic group that has emerged as the key suspect for the Bali bombing.

The testimony of al-Faruq, who had been arrested at an Indonesian mosque in June, sent shockwaves through Asia's capitals and prompted the US to issue a new warning about a threat to Western economic interests only days before the Bali blast.

According to CIA summaries of the testimony, Kuwaiti-born al- Faruq said he had been ordered by al Qaeda to organise local militants to launch large-scale attacks against US interests in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam and Cambodia. If he was arrested or killed, others were ready to take his place.

He said, among other things, that Jemaah Islamiah operatives had obtained explosives from army people to be used to bomb the American embassy in Jakarta (the bombing never took place but the information has provided a vital clue for investigators trying to trace the origin of the Bali bomb).

But even more alarming, Western analysts say, was that al-Faruq confirmed already gathered intelligence indicating that for a decade al Qaeda had been slowly penetrating the region, co-opting Muslims, establishing independent cells and finding a common cause with local militants.

As investigators in Bali begin to piece together what led to the devastating blast outside the Sari Club, US and Australian intelligence agencies already have substantial evidence linking Jemaah Islamiah to atrocities across the region that were previously thought to be unconnected.

Waging a campaign of violence in a bizarre attempt to create a pan-Islamic state in South-East Asia, the group's operatives have bombed scores of churches and other civilian targets, robbed banks, assassinated a Christian politician in Malaysia and mobilised hundreds of militant Muslims to fight Christians.

Other plots, including one last year to blow up diplomatic missions and other targets in Singapore, failed after they were uncovered by Singapore's intelligence agency.

Although crackdowns in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines have seen many members of Jemaah Islamiah, or JI as it is known, arrested over the past year, the group's leaders remain at large.

In the immediate aftermath of the Bali bombing, the world's media descended on Jemaah Islamiah's spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir at the Islamic boarding school he runs in central Java, where he urges the waging of a jihad, or holy war, against Americans, Jews and other infidels.

But if intense foreign pressure forces the government in Jakarta to jail 64-year-old Bashir, the Jemaah Islamiah's militant wing will remain intact and extremely dangerous, headed by a 37-year- old Indonesian veteran of the Afghan war against the Soviet Union, Riduan Isamuddin, alias Hambali.

While Bashir has stolen the media spotlight, Hambali is the principal al Qaeda contact for Jemaah Islamiah, apparently recruited a decade ago by Osama bin Laden's lieutenants in Afghanistan, Western intelligence officials say.

The failure of law enforcement agencies in the region to catch Hambali is one of the key reasons intelligence officials fear that al Qaeda retains the capacity to strike again in Asia.

A long-time resident of Malaysia, where he set up an Afghan war veterans' association, Hambali is now believed to be living in Indonesia, possibly Sulawesi, where another bomb was exploded last weekend outside the Philippines' consulate.

Hambali is the key to all the "really bad stuff", says a Western intelligence official in Jakarta. "He's the one we want more than any of the others. His hand is everywhere."

Hambali's involvement can be traced to many of the worst atrocities and attempted terrorist plots in the region since the early 1990s. These include a bomb that killed 22 people in Manila, church bombings across Indonesia on Christmas Eve 2000, plots to bomb US embassies, and another hatched in late 1994 to blow up 11 US airliners simultaneously while they were flying across Asia. A short, stout, bearded man who grew up in the highlands of West Java, Hambali answered the call to jihad and spent three years fighting in Afghanistan, where he became an experienced al Qaeda foot-soldier.

Most of the radical Islamic groups now under intense scrutiny in South-East Asia have an Afghan connection.

Like thousands of others who fought with the mujihadeen in Afghanistan in the 1980s, Hambali returned home believing in the need to fight a jihad to create an Islamic state governed by sharia law.

But he also persuaded radicals in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines to dovetail their desire to bring Islamic law to their home countries with al Qaeda's global agenda.

Jihad had to be waged to protect Islam against the Western and Jewish infidels, Hambali argued.

He found plenty of support among radical minority groups across South-East Asia, home to a third of the world's Muslims, and built a logistical support base for al Qaeda's broader network.

Hambali, for example, met two of the World Trade Centre bombers in Malaysia in January, 2000. He also met a suspect in the Yemen bombing of the USS destroyer Cole in October, 2000.

Hambali's organisation provided money and documents identifying Zacarias Moussaoui as a consultant for a Malaysian company that allowed him to enter the US. Moussaoui is on trial in the US over the September 11 attacks.

The fact that Hambali managed to operate undetected in Asia for a decade indicates how regional countries were absorbed solely with domestic issues and either refused to accept or failed to see that local militants could be linked to international terrorism.

That illusion was shattered with a series of arrests under Singapore's Internal Security Act, which allows for indefinite detention without trial.

On September 19, Singapore issued a public statement directly accusing Hambali of preparing attacks on targets in Singapore in an attempt to create a situation conducive to overthrowing the Malaysian Government and making Malaysia an Islamic state.

The attacks on key Singapore installations would be portrayed as acts of aggression by the Malaysian Government, thereby generating animosity and distrust between Malaysia and Singapore, the statement said.

Intelligence analysts say that while Jemaah Islamiah usually operates on its own, evidence points to the group swapping assistance and expertise with al Qaeda and cooperating in business ventures.

Omar al-Faruq, the Indonesian cleric interrogated in Afghanistan, revealed that Bashir had coordinated a plan to spark a civil war in Indonesia with a man called Rashid, a senior lieutenant of Osama bin Laden.

One of the CIA's summary documents says: "Rashid acts as a representative of a committee of Gulf-state sheiks who are al Qaeda financiers and who have committed ample funds, weapons, ammunition and computers to support this war." Al-Faruq left his captors with no doubt that Jemaah Islamiah is determined to achieve its goal of a pure Islamic state by provoking widespread bloodshed. He told them he had cased tall buildings in Jakarta because he had thought of using them for sniper positions should the plan succeed in provoking fighting among the civilian population.

US officials suspect that following the US-led attacks in Afghanistan many al Qaeda militants have fled to Indonesia where they have been welcomed into radicalised families and groups.

In a country where the Vice-President, Hamzah Haz, has provided political protection for Bashir and others who advocate violent campaigns in the name of Islam, al Qaeda found a haven from the US-led war on terror. Indonesia's borders are porous, immigration, customs and law enforcement agencies are largely corrupt.

In a recently released report on al Qaeda's presence in South- East Asia, the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank, denied that Indonesia was a terrorist hotbed.

Proponents of radical Islam remain a small minority, the group said. But even a tiny group of people can cause an immense amount of harm.

Enforcing new terror laws will be the test

Straits Times - October 20, 2002

Robert Go, Jakarta -- Jakarta is now armed with tougher anti- terror decrees, but the question remains whether it can aim and pull the trigger at the right targets as it tries to prevent a repeat of the tragedy in Bali.

For the first time in the country's history, there is a clear and legal definition of the crime of terrorism. Stiff penalties have been laid down, including death by a firing squad and life imprisonment for those convicted.

Police and other security agents also get more leeway in investigating terrorism-linked cases, including the right to arrest suspects based on intelligence information and before a crime is committed. Prosecutors will also get to analyse evidence and tie in motives.

If, for example, anybody gets caught with explosives and a blueprint of a hotel's basement, the government can now charge them with intent to blow up the hotel -- an act of terror -- instead of just possession of explosives.

On paper, the new laws are tough enough. But the big test will be in how the government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri and its agencies use these laws. That is because in many instances, issued here are coloured by personal or organisational politics and rivalries.

Take the cases of the armed forces, police and intelligence agency. Earlier this month, army chief Ryamizard Ryacudu was forced to apologise to the police rank-and-file in North Sumatra and discharge 20 soldiers, after his troops attacked a police station last month and killed eight people in a nine-hour gun battle.

The clash was apparently triggered when soldiers demanded the release of a soldier detained on drugs charges and police refused. This was just one of the most recent flare ups.

Serious rivalry exists between the two services since their formal separation in 1999. The problem on the field is caused by turf wars for control of businesses -- including protection rackets -- that provide additional income for men in the police and military.

But it is not just an operational problem. The splits also exist among the top brass for more ideological and strategic reasons.

Armed Forces chief Endriartono Sutarto was said to be unhappy that the new emergency anti-terror decrees handed control of anti-terror operations to the police. Sources said that during the week, he had lobbied hard for an anti-terror taskforce under the supervision of the Armed Forces.

Analysts said that the military, police and the intelligence agency do not share information and do not brief one another about their operations because there is a strong sense that they are competing against each other.

"It is a matter of prestige," an intelligence specialist said. "One guy doesn't want the other two guys know about his information because he wants the credit. There is little cooperation, which is also why government officials often make conflicting public statements, depending on which security unit had fed the information."

Clearly, this kind of a rift has hobbled the country's intelligence-gathering operations and will hamper efforts to nab terrorists before they strike. The police cannot go it alone and need all possible information from the military and intelligence bodies.

Another factor that could take some of the bite out of Indonesia's anti-terror strategy has been raised by human-rights groups and activists. They have warned the government that flexing its new-found muscle could spell a return to the tough days of the Suharto-era -- and anger the public at large.

As Mr Kusnanto Anggoro, an analyst from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta, saw it: "These laws can be misused to arrest those considered to be problem cases by the government. This group includes critics, activists and secessionists, among others."

While such arguments are worth airing, given the political atmosphere here, they could also hamper the ability of security agencies as as they try to track down anarchists and terrorists who have no respect for the rule of law. Justice Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra, whose office drafted the two decrees that were signed into law late on Friday night, said that human-rights issues were at the top of his list of concerns.

A government source said that the lengthy Cabinet discussions on Friday focused on human-rights concerns, and that adjustments were made to "tone down some of the language and terms" of the new laws as a result.

Indeed, US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, a former ambassador to Jakarta during the Suharto era, had noted that terrorists had been successful in Indonesia because "the Suharto regime fell and the methods that were used to suppress them are gone".

So is the bark of the new laws going to be louder than the bite? The arrest of Abu Bakar Bashir, alleged head of Jemaah Islamiyah, is an important test case for the government.

Already, lawyers are engaging in well-practised stall techniques, aiming to delay as much as possible the official questioning and possible declaration of their client as a terrorist.

In the minds of many foreign officials and analysts, this is a clear-cut case. Too many fingers have been pointed in Abu Bakar's direction. Indonesia must get its act together and show whether it is tough enough to point that way too.

Tensions rise as Indonesian police swoop on cleric

Melbourne Age - October 20 2002

Matthew Moore, Jakarta and Brendan Nicholson -- Indonesia was last night bracing for demonstrations after police detained the radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir for questioning over alleged terrorist acts, the nation's second decisive step against terrorism in less than 24 hours.

Indonesia's national police director general (criminal), Arianto Sutadi, said late yesterday he had "captured" Bashir in a hospital in the central Java city of Solo. "I captured him," he said. "Now he is under police custody." Bashir, who remains in the hospital, may not go anywhere in the next 24 hours without police permission.

Police had planned to interview Bashir at 10am yesterday about church bombings in Jakarta in 2000, and not the explosions in Bali, but sent a team to the hospital where Bashir was admitted on Friday after collapsing.

Police signalled that they also wanted to interview Bashir about an assassination attempt on the Indonesian leader, President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Bashir's detention sparked noisy protests by hundreds of the cleric's supporters singing religious songs, facing off scores of police on the road outside the hospital. But they later dispersed peacefully.

"The road has been reopened, traffic flow is smooth, and only a handful of policemen remain outside the hospital," a hospital official said.

In an interview with The Age last week, Bashir predicted widespread demonstrations by supporters if he was arrested. He blamed the United States for planning the Bali bombings.

Bashir has led a free and open life in Indonesia. He has been untroubled by accusations from Singapore and other governments that he was the spiritual head of Jemaah Islamiah, a radical group aiming to create a major Muslim state in South-East Asia and believed to have links with al Qaeda.

Earlier yesterday Indonesia took its first real step towards tackling terrorism when it unveiled details of a special anti- terrorism regulation just approved by Cabinet.

But despite these new powers, police will be unable to use them to interrogate Bashir because they apply only to the Bali bombings, in which they say he is not a suspect, and to any future terrorism acts.

There were a number of other developments yesterday:

• The Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, just hours before Bashir's confinement, warned that the detention of Islamic extremist leaders could trigger a violent reaction from fanatical supporters. "If Islamic extremist leaders are arrested in Jakarta there is a heightened danger of further violence that could be perpetrated by their immediate supporters," he said.
• The Australian Government is considering ways to ensure that warnings of dangers overseas reach all Australians planning to travel. A spokesman for Mr Downer said the present system of travel advisories ensured information about such threats reached many of those going abroad through travel agents or the DFAT website.
• The US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, urged Australians not to focus solely on the Bali bombing and ignore terrorism elsewhere in the world. Asked in an interview recorded for ABC television's Insiders program if events in Bali might turn Australian public opinion against sending troops to Iraq, Mr Powell said he hoped the Australian Government would make the case that the bombings could not be isolated from problems elsewhere.
• The estimated toll of Australians killed in Bali has been downgraded, with state police confirming that 11 people reported missing had been located. The Australian consulate in Bali announced yesterday the number for whom authorities held "grave concerns" had dropped from 114 to 103. By early yesterday afternoon, investigators had still only formally identified one of the Australian victims -- 19-year old Angela Golotta, whose remains were yesterday flown home to her family in Adelaide. One Briton and one Japanese have also been identified.

The detention of Bashir comes in the wake of mounting pressure from US, Japan and other Western nations for Indonesia to make significant moves against terrorism in coming days or risk being shunned by the international community.

A senior US official warned late on Friday that "Indonesia was now very much at a crossroads" and had to demonstrate its determination to pursue suspected terrorists or risk the consequences.

Over recent days, several Western countries have applied great pressure on Indonesia to move against terrorists immediately.

The US ambassador to Indonesia, Mr Ralph Boyce, said: "Foreign friends of Indonesia and Indonesians themselves have the right to expect some decisive action in coming days, based on the horror of what happened in Bali." And the Japanese ambassador, Yutaka Iimura, warned Indonesia's President Sukarnoputri that the country must "accelerate their efforts in combating terrorism".

Under Indonesia's new terrorism regulations, suspects can be detained for three days based on intelligence reports. A judge can then order suspects to be held for up to six months without charges. Anyone who commits or threatens an act of terror, faces sentences that include life in prison or death by firing squad. Until now, Indonesian police have insisted they do not have the power to question suspected terrorists without proof of their crimes.

Western countries expect the new powers to be used almost immediately against Indonesian suspects named by a senior al Qaeda figure, Omar al-Furuq. Al-Furuq was arrested in Indonesia in June, and handed over to the CIA before finally revealing in September plans to blow up the US embassy in Jakarta.

He names Bashir as a key figure in the Indonesian network, although Bashir, who runs a Muslim boarding school, denies knowing al-Furuq or having any involvement in terrorist activities.

Mr Downer said it was very important for people thinking of going to Indonesia, or for Australians and other foreigners in Indonesia, to be alert to the dangers.

"On one hand, we very much want extremist leaders who might be involved in terrorism to be interrogated, investigated and, of course, if they have some responsibility for the Bali bombings, brought to justice," Mr Downer said.

"But it's important to tell people that if this is what is to happen, then in those circumstances there could be some violent reaction from the immediate and fanatical supporters of these people and we just have to be very wary of that.

How the Balinese became the forgotten victims

The Guardian - October 16, 2002

Kathy Marks, Bali -- Sesca Rompas climbed on to a plastic stool and peered through a dirty window at her brother, Aldo Kansil, lying motionless on a bed below. He was a pitiful sight: two drips attached, arms swathed in bandages, his face an angry mosaic of burns.

Aldo was in Paddy's Bar, a nightclub opposite the Sari Club, when the car bomb went off on Saturday night. He was taken to Bali's Sanglah Hospital, where he had no medical care until 2pm on Sunday. No cream, no bandages, not even painkillers, although he was burnt so badly he was crying in pain.

This was the hospital that received all the foreign tourists injured in the blast -- but now the only white faces to be seen are those of expatriate Westerners helping out as volunteers. All the holidaymakers were evacuated within 36 hours to Australia or Singapore, where they are being given the best medical treatment available in the world.

The Indonesian victims remain in Sanglah, on narrow iron beds, in spartan wards. Their families huddle outside in open-air corridors, sitting crosslegged, waiting patiently for news. When night falls, they stretch on threadbare mats or pieces of cardboard. Hotel rooms are out of the question.

Little has been heard of the Balinese people unlucky enough to have been caught in an attack aimed directly at Westerners. But the bomb, placed outside a club with a policy of admitting only foreigners, exacted a heavy toll on the people who live here. Seven Indonesians are confirmed dead, and 35 are missing. Dozens are in hospital, including 26 in Sanglah, many of whom suffered severe burns.

Three truckloads of medical supplies arrived from Australia yesterday and the position at Sanglah is less dire than in the early hours after the explosion, when the hospital ran out of blood, bandages and scalpels. But conditions on the wards are basic, and Sanglah is short of plastic surgeons and other burns- related expertise.

The families of Indonesian victims say they would have been delighted if Western nations had flown out their loved ones along with the foreigners, even if it meant temporary separation. "Wherever is the best care, I want my brother to go," Sesca Rompas said.

The Balinese doctors would like to look after their own, but they realise medical treatment is superior elsewhere. "If there was a donor to evacuate all these burns patients at this moment, that would be very welcome," Dr Wayan Dana, the hospital's human resources manager, said.

Aldo, who is from the neighbouring island of Lombok, was in Bali for the first time. A travelling supplier of building materials, he was due home last Sunday from a business trip but found himself with a day to spare. He decided to go sightseeing in Kuta, Bali's main nightlife area. He was raising his first drink to his lips in Paddy's Bar when the bomb went off. The force of the blast tossed him in the air and threw him down 10 yards. He got up, walked a little distance then collapsed. Amid the heat and the chaos, strangers grabbed him and put him in a taxi. His family arrived at Sanglah a few hours later.

"I didn't recognise the face, only the voice," his brother-in- law, Silas Edison Gaghana, said. "He had burns on his face, his shoulders, his arms." Aldo Kansil is along the ward. Sesca said: "He looked like his flesh was still burning. He couldn't breathe very well. He was trembling a lot. I couldn't talk. I could only cry."

Aldo, 20, is the baby of the family, and his elder siblings are distraught. Sesca feels guilty because she pressed him to come home early from his trip, which meant he was in Bali that fateful evening. Another sister, Meske Rompas, has flown from Jakarta to join the hospital vigil. They have not found the courage to tell their mother Aldo is hurt; they fear she might have a heart attack.

Like other relatives, Aldo's family have been allowed little contact with him. The ward is a sterile area, and visits are brief. Sesca, a diminutive woman in a white T-shirt and green flip-flops, fills in the long gaps by gazing at her brother through the window.

Some families have camped on the doorstep of the ward that has most of the Indonesian bomb victims. Last night dozens of people sat on the ground outside or leant against the wall, smoking cigarettes and chatting quietly. Around them were bags of fruit and bread, bottles of water, changes of clothes. Mosquito coils fizzed.

"We just want to be very close to her," said 17-year-old Sumiarsi, whose elder sister, Tumini, lay in the ward with 40 per cent burns. "We want to be here in case she cries out at night, or in case the doctors have something to tell us." Tumini, 25, was walking past the Sari Club when the bomb was detonated. "She was thrown very far, but she was still conscious and she ran looking for a swimming pool because the burns were hurting her so badly," Sumiarsi said. "When we saw her on Sunday, she looked awful. Her face was black." Most of the family live in Tuban, not far from Kuta, but Tumini's father, Radi, has moved to the mountains, 60 miles away. He took six hours by public bus to reach Sanglah, just outside the Balinese capital, Denpasar. He looks worn and shell-shocked, with his eldest daughter lying disfigured a few yards away, The family have seen Tumini just once, for five minutes on Sunday. They have been sitting in the same spot outside the ward since. "We don't really know how she is because we're not allowed to go in," Sumiarsi said.

Just around the corner, an anxious-looking couple were standing close together, clutching plastic bags. Nyoman Suda and Desak Made Sukreni had come to visit an 18-year-old cousin, Desak Made Purnamidewi. She was another passer-by in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The couple had arrived at the hospital only minutes before, after seeing her name listed among the injured in a television report. They travelled 60 miles on a motorbike from their home village of Jembrana. "We want to see her, we're very worried about her," Nyoman Suda said.

"First we heard she was dead because the police found her ID card next to a body. Then they said it was a mistake, the body wasn't hers. Next thing we heard she was one of the wounded." In some respects, these families are fortunate. Worse off are those who have not yet traced lost relatives, who fear they must be among the charred bodies in the crowded Sanglah morgue, where they must go masked, because there is not enough refrigeration. Each day they crowd into the family crisis centre on the second floor of the hospital, hoping against hope for some kind of news. A disaster fund has been set up for Indonesians who were caught in the blast. A notice on the wall at Sanglah implores people to give generously. "Please help us to help the Indonesian wounded and the families of the dead," it says. "They have little access to funds for evacuation or insurance." While the international community expresses outrage at the loss of life and limb among foreign tourists, Indonesians are the invisible victims of the bomb that stole Bali's innocence on Saturday night.

Megawati signs emergency decrees to fight terror

Australian Associated Press - October 19, 2002

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri has signed two emergency decrees to combat terrorism following the devastating Bali bombing, Justice Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said today.

Mahendra said one decree contained the anti-terrorism measures. The other would allow them to be applied retroactively to cover the October 12 bombing which killed at least 186 people on the resort island.

"The government sees it necessary to have a strong basis to fight terrorism and considers that the existing criminal code and other laws only deal with ordinary crimes," Mahendra said, without giving details of the measures.

Officials said earlier the government would have power to impose the death penalty for those convicted of terrorism and to detain terrorist suspects without trial for several months.

The decree, which won the support of parliament leaders yesterday, has been rushed through in response to the bombing. "This regulation may reduce some rights but all of this is intended to protect the greater rights of human beings," Mahendra said in response to critics who fear it could usher in a new era of Suharto-style repression.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said Indonesia's response to the Bali bombings should not undermine its already weak rights record. "President Megawati and the Indonesian government must avoid the trap of issuing emergency decrees that may strengthen the role of the military in civilian affairs and lead to further human rights abuses," it said in a statement.

But Megawati said existing laws were inadequate to tackle terrorism and the existence of such a decree before the Bali blast might have prevented the attack.

Australia, which fears it lost 114 nationals in the attack, and the United States have been critical of Indonesia's failure to address the terrorism threat before the Bali bombing. Many countries are now advising nationals to avoid the country, in a new blow to tourism and already faltering foreign investment.

Officials had said the decree would authorise the setting up of an anti-terrorism task force but Mahendra said the government had decided not to do so. "We have agreed not to set up a new body but the president has the authority to take measures and the president can appoint a minister, in this case the minister of politics and security affairs, to formulate steps to implement this regulation," he said.

Current judicial provisions do not make laws retroactive. "It should not be the case that just because a regulation cannot be retroactive, those people who killed so many people in Bali can get away," Mahendra said earlier, shortly before a cabinet meeting which later authorised the decrees.

He said the decrees would be replaced by an anti-terrorism law soon to be considered by parliament.

Jakarta has played with fire of Islamic extremism

Sydney Morning Herald - October 17, 2002

Hamish McDonald -- Although the Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, has dismissed the line of suspicion as "silly", some officials in his entourage must have wondered as they did the rounds of Indonesian military and police chiefs in Jakarta yesterday how clean were some of the hands they were shaking. There is a long history of political manipulators within the Indonesian armed forces, or TNI, playing with the fire of Islamic extremism and staging incidents of terrorism.

There is also the institution itself carrying out state terror as in Aceh, Ambon and East Timor -- either directly or through militia proxies. David Jenkins, a journalist, recalled the Machiavellian use of former Darul Islam fanatics by the intelligence chief Ali Murtopo during ex-president Soeharto's New Order, leading to acts of terror, such as the 1980 hijacking of a Garuda Airlines jet, that were used to justify political crackdowns.

The bombings that hit Jakarta in the second half of 2000 included a car-bomb explosion outside the home of the Philippines ambassador, which killed two people, and a huge car-bomb blast in the underground car park of the Jakarta Stock Exchange, which killed 15 people and for which two members of the army special forces or Kopassus received jail terms. The explosive used in at least one of these bombings was C-4, the charge used in the Sari nightclub bombing. It is widely used by armies and terror groups, such as in the al-Qaeda boat attack on the destroyer USS Cole.

If the Bali explosive is traced by some chemical signature to stocks held by the TNI, the possibility still remains it could have been obtained by al-Qaeda or the South-East Asian network of Jemaah Islamiah from sympathisers or corrupt elements within the military. Once obtained, getting a large amount of C-4 into a parked car in Kuta would not have required any special logistical or security assistance.

President, Megawati Soekarnoputri's 14 months in office have seen several blows at entrenched New Order or "status-quo" forces. The heaviest was the four-year jail term recently given to the parliamentary speaker and Golkar party chief, Akbar Tanjung, who remains in his posts while his case is under appeal. Another has been the constitutional changes which will end the TNI's special representation in the legislature in a couple of years.

Jakarta's failure of accountability for the atrocities in Timor remains a huge obstacle to resumed military ties with the Americans. The TNI's image is also tarnished by the evident backing of its Strategic Reserve Command and other elements for the Laskar Jihad, a force of several thousand young Islamic fanatics set against the Christian communities in the Moluccan islands and in the coastal towns of Papua.

What is emerging as the deliberate staging by Kopassus soldiers of a freedom fighter "ambush" last month near the Freeport mine at Timika, Papua, seems to have been the first deliberate targeting of foreigners. Three schoolteachers, two American and one Indonesian, were murdered.

The upsurge in Laskar Jihad activity and the Timika murders follow the posting as Papuan regional military commander of Major-General Mahidin Simbolon, who was a key figure in orchestrating the East Timor violence in 1999. The promptness with which the Laskar Jihad announced on Tuesday it was disbanding and withdrawing from Ambon only serves to illustrate the degree to which it was inspired from above.

The Bali bombing may well have been solely the work of Islamic extremists, rather than an effort by the "status-quo" forces to undermine Megawati or bring US support back to the TNI. If foreign support is directed not just to the hunt for terrorists, but behind a decisive cleaning-up of the TNI, Indonesia and our region will be made more secure.

Army a missing link as extremists disband

The Guardian - October 17 2002

John Aglionby, Kuta -- Indonesia's most violent radical Islamist group, blamed for the deaths of thousands of Christians in eastern islands during four years of communal conflict, dissolved itself on Saturday, hours before the Bali bombings, it emerged yesterday.

Laskar Jihad, which had 15,000 members, was wound up because of an internal dispute over the approach to waging jihad (holy war) used by the group's leader, Jafar Umar Thalib, according to its legal adviser, Achmad Michdan.

"It has nothing to do with the bombs. There was no pressure on us from military," he said. "The clerics in Indonesia and in the Middle East have disagreed with Jafar Umar Thalib's teachings and have asked him to disband the group." Such a simple explanation appears to have been accepted. But nothing in Indonesia is as simple as it seems.

The missing link in Tuesday's shock development is the role played by the extremely powerful military -- its meddling hand has been visible at virtually every stage of radical Islam's resurgence since the fall of the dictator Suharto in 1998.

This has prompted speculation, as yet unsubstantiated, that if Islamic elements are behind the Bali bombings then the Indonesian military must, at least indirectly, have been involved as well.

The fact that C-4 plastic explosive is thought to have been used will fuel conspiracy theories because the army's special forces are the only people in Indonesia with access to such explosives.

Laskar Jihad, or Holy War Force, was formed in early 2000 and caused ructions in the military after Lieutenant-General Agus Wirahadikusuma, a rare reformist, accused unnamed hardline officers of creating the group to destabilise the nation.

While his claims were denied, they have since been proved correct. The military allowed thousands of armed Laskar Jihad forces to enter the Maluku Islands in 2000, a move that intensified the fighting.

Once it was clear that the fighting had become entrenched, the military coordinated the removal of thousands of fighters to central Sulawesi, where they nursed simmering tension between Christians and Muslims into open conflict.

Hundreds of Laskar Jihad members also travelled east from the Malukus and set up bases in Papua, which, like the Malukus, is one of the few regions of Indonesia where Muslims do not enjoy a majority.

Most recently Laskar Jihad offices have been established in Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra, where Muslim separatists have been fighting for independence since 1976, though they have yet to make an impact because the locals treat them with suspicion.

But the security forces' involvement with radical Islam does not end with Laskar Jihad. Other groups such as Front Pembela Islam (FPI, the Islamic Defenders Front) and the Gerakan Pemuda Islam (GPI, the Islamic Youth Movement), which are used for little more than organised thuggery and political demonstrations, are among others that are known to have close links with both the police and elements of the military.

The same can also be said for the Indonesian Mojahedin Council, which was established in 2000 by Abu Bakar Bashir and which many people believe is responsible for the Bali bombings.

"If you scratch below the surface of any radical Islamic group in Indonesia you will find the hand of the military at work," said Sidney Jones, the head of the Jakarta office of the International Crisis Group. "And with many of them you don't really have to go beneath the surface."

Most analysts and diplomats agree that the military is trying to reassert itself behind the scenes to compensate for the erosion of its formal political power. "It looks like the military is genuinely trying to become a more professional force and in some respects it is," one Western diplomat said. "But there is also a large element of giving with one hand and taking with the other."

Its connivance with radical Islamists appears to be encouraging increased public resentment about the civilian politicians' inability to maintain law and order and stimulate economic recovery. This reached a new level as the political and economic impact of the bombs began to sink in. "If things continue like this, the people will welcome a military government," said Made, a newspaper seller on Bali. "Things might have been bad under Suharto but at least we were safe."

Such voices are not just being heard on the streets. When the disgraced former armed forces chief General Wiranto launched a book he had written on East Timor a few months ago, one member of the audience set the tone with a rallying cry that could have come straight from a 1920s Munich beer hall.

"Indonesia will only become great again when it has strong leadership which will drag it out from under the oppressive shadow of its neighbours," he said. "It is only then that Indonesia will stop being a victim."

Laskar Jihad closed just hours before Bali blasts

Radio Australia - October 17, 2002

[One of Indonesia's largest and most militant militias, the Laskar Jihad, has been publicly disbanded in a surprise development which took place just hours before the Bali bombings. Analysts say the radical group had lost the backing of an influential body of islamic clerics. But perhaps more importantly, hardliners in the Indonesian military accused of supporting the Laskar Jihad, may also have withdrawn their backing.]

Transcript:

Fitzgerald: At a court case in Jakarta a few months ago, Laskar Jihad or Holy War followers rallied behind their leader Jaffar Umar Thalib.

He stood accused of fermenting religious hatred in Ambon and across the Maluku Islands and of insulting President Megawati, offences he claimed were trumped up by his Christian enemies.

The charges came two years after the Laskar Jihad leader dispatched thousands of white robed armed warriors to the Maluku Islands where they supported local Muslims in a conflict against Christians.

That conflict resulted in the deaths of more than six thousand people and forced three quarters of a million civilians to flee their homes.

Mr Lambang Trijono is a specialist in Islamic extremists at the Gadja Mada University, in Yogjakarta, where the militia's headquarters are. He says the Laskar Jihad members were told Saturday the militia was disbanding.

Lambang: "In the evening ... on Saturday evening they declared themselves that they predict that the Laskar Jihad will be disbanding. The declaration is not declared by the chief of Laskar Jihad, but by the representative of the chief in the central organisation."

Fitzgerald: In Jogjakarta?

Lambang: "Yes Jogjakarta."

Fitzgerald: So did he call the members to the office and then told them the organisation was disbanding?

Lambang: "Yes and then distributed a kind of paper -- two pieces of paper and then distributed them to their members. "

Fitzgerald: The Laskar Jihad has gone on to lead conflicts against Christians in Indonesian Sulawesi and Papua. It's partially funded by an international body of Islamic clerics or Ulamas.

Mr Lambang says Saturday's closure came after the clerics withdrew support from Jaffar Umar Thalib because he was in conflict with the Indonesian Government.

Lambang: "Because their consensus among Ulama that during the confrontation with the regime or with the government and the chief of the Laskar Jihad have had confrontation or conflict with the govenment."

Fitzgerald: Donors in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and an Islamic community in New Jersey in the United States were financing the Laskar Jihad through the international Ulama's body.

But Mr Lambang says powerful retired generals including former armed services chief General Wiranto were also assisting and equipping the Laskar Jihad.

Lambang: "Hardliners ... or what I call hardliners in the military factions and also supplied the weapon and also support ... not money but support politically ... giving guarantee that the Laskar Jihad will be protected by the hardliners of the military, so that kind of support. So political support and also kind of infrastructure support like a weapon and so on."

Fitzgerald: If hardline Generals were involved in the Laskar Jihad, then was the abrupt closure of the group just hours before the Bali bombings, more than a coincidence?

Especially given that elements of the military may have grudges to bear against Australia, because of its role in helping to secure East Timor's independence.

Lambang: "Yes, that is suspicious, yes very suspicious. It makes sense to make a connection like that, because before they even dissolved ... you know ... yes very suspicious actually."

Fitzgerald: Mr Lambang says the alleged high level military support being offered to the Laskar Jihad will ensure its leaders and supporters are protected from prosecution.

Lambang: Ah it's very difficult to predict, but you know in Indonesia you sort of got patron-client relationship ... followers and leaders. I think the followers of Laskar Jihad will dissolve -- again they'll ask those in the government who used to support them to protect them."

CIA warned of attack 14 days before

Sydney Morning Herald - October 16, 2002

Mark Riley and Tom Allard -- The Central Intelligence Agency issued an intelligence report listing Bali among possible targets of a pending terrorist attack just two weeks before the weekend's devastating Kuta bomb blast, the Washington Post is reporting.

The warning was based on intercepted communications picked up in late September, which signalled a strike against "a Western tourist site". "Bali was mentioned in the US intelligence report," the paper says.

All information gathered by United States and Australian intelligence agencies is shared between the countries. But the Prime Minister, John Howard, said yesterday he had no knowledge of the US report.

The US embassy in Jakarta issued two travel notices, on September 26 and October 10, warning Americans and other Westerners to "avoid large gatherings and locations known to cater primarily to a Western clientele, such as certain bars, restaurants and tourist areas".

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs' most recent travel advice before the attacks was on September 20. It urged Australians to maintain high levels of personal security amid a risk of bomb explosions, including in tourist areas, but said tourist services were "operating normally" in Bali.

Mr Howard said the US report "hasn't been brought to my attention, no. We had no warning of the specific attack that occurred. There have been general warnings about the deteriorating security position, the deteriorating terrorist position in Indonesia." The official Australian death toll rose to 30 last night. A further 180 people remain missing and 113 Australians have been injured.

The Federal Government had airlifted 86 injured people from Bali by last night. Only seven patients remained in Darwin Hospital, with the rest sent on to other capital city hospitals.

Ten patients, two of them in a critical condition, were in Sydney hospitals. Fifteen critically injured people have been flown from Darwin to other major centres, two of whom had since died.

In Bali, police said yesterday they were "intensively questioning" two Indonesian men tracked down after one of their identity cards was found near the site of the bomb blasts.

The Washington Post report did not specify whether the communications were intercepted in Indonesia, where the Australian Defence Signals Directorate has primary responsibility for eavesdropping, or as part of the CIA's intelligence sweep across Asia and the Middle East.

Australian intelligence experts said the existence of the advice would suggest a huge breakdown in the international intelligence community before the Bali attack.

"It would be an unthinkable and unforgiveable failure of the intelligence network," said Warren Reed, a former head of the Indonesian desk of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service. "If the Americans had this information, they would have passed it directly to us and others in the intelligence club."

The US ambassador to Australia, Tom Schieffer, said yesterday he was not familiar with the reported US intelligence. But a US embassy spokesman in Canberra said there was no closer intelligence-sharing arrangement in the world than that between the US and Australia. "It's a hand-in-glove arrangement ... I don't think there's anything that hasn't been sent," he said.

Mr Howard defended Australia's consular warning to travellers to Indonesia and Bali as "strong" and "quite strong".

Two days before the attack, the US issued a worldwide warning notice again urging tourists to avoid "clubs, bars and restaurants" where Westerners congregate. The Australian Government did not issue a similar warning.

The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, rejected any suggestion the Government could have done more to alert Australians to the threat of a bombing. However, questions over the adequacy of the intelligence system before the bombing may be investigated by the Senate.

Greens Senator Bob Brown said he would support an inquiry if there was sufficient evidence of intelligence failings. He said the best time to think about constituting an inquiry was in mid- November, when Parliament next sits. The Australian Democrats and Labor said it was too early to consider an inquiry but did not rule out their support.

Laskar Jihad disbands in face of blast outrage

Straits Times - October 16, 2002

Robert Go, Jakarta -- Indonesia's most violent Muslim extremist group, Laskar Jihad, has been disbanded. The move comes in the face of the deadly blasts in Kuta which have clearly shifted public opinion against such terrorist groups and the ideologies they preach.

There are also plans by the Indonesian government to issue sweeping powers to the authorities, including the ability to order arrests without warrants and extended-detention periods without the need for trials, in order to check the nation's terrorist problem.

The Laskar Jihad, which is blamed for the killing of thousands of Christians in a sectarian conflict in the Maluku islands, is not believed to be linked to Saturday's car-bomb attack on the Sari Club in Bali.

But the change in attitude of the government and the public has prompted Ja'afar Umar Thalib, the group's supreme commander, to call for the group's disbanding on Monday night.

Local media reported that about 700 members of the rebel group held a last parade in Ambon, Maluku province, before boarding ships bound for Java shortly after the announcement of the break-up.

A man known only as Jamal, who heads Laskar Jihad's operations in South Sulawesi province, confirmed the group was no more. He said: "Our supreme commander has ordered us to disband. We are no longer Laskar Jihad. If you want to know why, ask him."

Further confirmation was published on Laskar Jihad's website which said the organisation had closed down on Saturday and its headquarters in Yogyakarta in Central Java had been abandoned and locked. Supreme commander Ja'afar faces trial after being detained last May allegedly for making a provocative speech in April, just days before Muslim militants killed 13 Christians.

This was not the only sign that moderate Muslims in Indonesia were getting increasingly impatient with radicals.

Of late, The Defenders of Islam (FPI), another extremist group that specialises in terrorising bars, clubs and other nightspots throughout Jakarta and other urban centres, has been coming under public attack.

In Jakarta on Monday, thousands of entertainment-sector workers demonstrated against FPI and asked for protection from the police, whose officers often stand idly by while radicals smash up their workplaces. Police were interviewing FPI leader Habib Rizieq Shihab yesterday in connection with attacks against private businesses.

Moderate Muslim leaders, including Mr Hasyim Muzadi who chairs the country's largest Muslim group Nahdlatul Ulama, have also called for the FPI's dissolution, saying that its actions harm the image of Islam as a peaceful religion.

The Bali tragedy and the anti-FPI protests are indications of a shift among Indonesia's moderate Muslim population to reflect less tolerance towards radical Islam, according to experts.

"The perception that Islamic militants could be behind the blasts in Manado and Bali is taking hold," said political analyst Kusnanto Anggoro. "The image is that radical Islam is a dangerous force that could hurt Indonesia's own interests. After the terror blasts, radical Islam could be cornered. Now they see that their support base is no longer as strong, and some might consider disbanding to avoid prosecution."

Business daily needs reality check

Laksamana.Net - October 14, 2002

It's hardly surprising that rabid Muslim clerics and shortsighted nationalist professors are blaming the US for the horrendous Bali nightclub bombing.

But something is seriously wrong when Indonesia's leading business newspaper also suggests that foreign countries might have masterminded the carnage as part of a covert plot to take over the nation's rich natural resources.

The Bisnis Indonesia daily, in its editorial on Monday, does exactly that, claiming that foreign powers could have orchestrated the monstrous act of terror in an effort to control Indonesia.

"It is not impossible that the terror package came from other countries which wish to see the destruction of Indonesia, hoping that they could control this country which is rich in natural resources," says the daily.

Bisnis Indonesia also claims Jakarta should reject foreign assistance in dealing with terrorism.

"We are certainly obliged to combat terrorism, but we should act in our own way, without guidance from other nations," says the newspaper, seemingly unaware of the gross incompetence and unprofessionalism of Indonesia's security authorities.

By casting aspersions on foreign countries, as opposed to foreign terrorists, Bisnis Indonesia is putting itself in the same boat as extremist Muslim cleric, Abu Bakar Bashir, who had this to say about the attacks: "It would be impossible for Indonesians to do it ... Indonesians don't have such powerful explosives. I think maybe the US are behind the bombings because they always say Indonesia is part of a terrorist network."

Bashir's comments were echoed by Habib Rizieq Shihab, leader of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), which has often attacked nightclubs. "The incident could be used as reason for the United States and its allies to justify their accusations that Indonesia is a terrorist network base," said Shihab.

Like the Islamic radicals, the person who penned Bisnis Indonesia's editorial apparently has no idea that foreign countries doing business in Indonesia desire security and political stability, and have nothing to gain from chaos or the break-up of the republic.

Even if a foreign government was seeking to unleash chaos in Indonesia for whatever nefarious motive, it would hardly target a location packed with foreigners.

The Indonesian economy is now already starting to suffer as a result of the Bali attacks. Stupid remarks from Bisnis Indonesia will do little assuage investors' fears. Jakarta stocks were down 9% to 342.12 by midday Monday and the rupiah had slipped more than 3% to 9,300 by 2pm.

The stock market drop was reminiscent of the worst day on the Jakarta exchange at the height of the financial crisis in 1998, when the bourse plummeted 11.96% on January 8 that year.

"We're finished. Our defense to convince people that doing business in Indonesia is safe is finished," Aburizal Bakrie, chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

"Who wants to invest in this kind of situation ... not only foreign investors but local investors will think a thousand times before making any investment," he said.

He urged the government to find the perpetrators as soon as possible, to counter the negative impact on Indonesia's efforts to overcome its prolonged economic crisis.

Indonesia: The enemy within

Asia Times - October 15, 2002

Bill Guerin, Jakarta -- For Indonesia the pretense is well and truly over. President Megawati Sukarnoputri, reading out a prepared seven-point official statement more than 13 hours after the carnage in Bali occurred, said the government expressed its condolences to the relatives of victims in the brutal and inhumane violence, which was against the existing laws, religious teachings and moral values adopted by the Indonesian nation.

In the so-called Island of the Gods where 95 percent of the 3 million population are Balinese Hindus, with very small Muslim and Christian minorities, three bombs exploded almost simultaneously shortly before midnight Saturday, just when the extremely lively nightlife scene kicked off in Kuta. The mainly young and foreign crowds heading out to seek action and fun in the Sari Club and Paddies, two of the most "in" venues close to the center of the original Kuta village, fell victim to a massive car-bomb explosion that killed at least 180 and injured more than 400, many of them seriously.

Since September 11, 2001, the Indonesian government and police have been able to balance domestic interests and dangers against the security concerns of foreigners. Kuta has changed that forever. The terror in Bali that the national police chief General Dai Bachtiar called the greatest act of terrorism in Indonesian history has placed Indonesia directly in the world spotlight over it's support for the war against terrorism.

The sheer horror and evil of this incident, one year, one month and one day after the destruction of New York's World Trade Center, will have extremely far-reaching consequences for Indonesia.

Balinese life is culturally and spiritually linked to satisfying and appeasing the gods, spirits and demons, but the gods have deserted them this time. A driver, Putra, summed it all up: "It was horrible. I am devastated. Bali has always, always been safe. We depend on tourism for our livelihood. Our name has been smeared by this horrible blast, what are we going to do now?"

Bali's economic lifeblood, tourism, will quickly drain away after the terror. A steadily increasing influx of Australian surfers drawn by the waves at Kuta and those seeking spiritual solace in Ubud made tourism in Bali one of the few sources of stability in the New Order economy. An estimated 75 percent of the injured were Australians who had flocked to Kuta in droves and the attack caused the greatest single loss of Australian lives overseas during peacetime.

Ninety percent of the province's total income comes from tourism, and Bali attracted nearly 1.5 million foreign tourists last year, compared with five million for Indonesia as a whole. Some 406,000 foreign tourists arrived in July and 153,500 entered via Bali.

Previous blows to the island's tourism were from a cholera scare (which proved unfounded) and from the knock-on effect of the bombing incidents in Jakarta, notably the blast at the Jakarta Stock Exchange, but this time the effect on the Balinese economy will be devastating. The hotels and restaurants in Bali now face their most severe test ever and the thousands upon thousands of locals who live off the tourism sector will likely be driven into hardship.

Their Hindu status in the Islamic nation has cost the Balinese dearly. In the bloody anti-communist purges of the late 1960s, given the green light by Suharto when he took over power, as many as 100,000 Balinese were killed, some as suspected communists, others because of their Chinese heritage. The Balinese are now not only shocked but very angry. There are unconfirmed reports of vigilante extremist Hindu groups setting up roadblocks in Kuta, Sanur and elsewhere to target Muslim Indonesians.

For the Indonesian people as a whole the main responses are likely to one of great shame and also anger at their own authorities who have been unable to come to grips with the terror in their own country.

The risk of destabilization in Indonesia has for long been exacerbated by the political crisis that started under Abdurrahman Wahid and continues under a different guise within the Megawati administration. During the final months of Wahid's presidency, the more militant and radical Islamist groups such as the Front Pembela Islam (FPI - Defenders of Islam) and Laskar Jihad (Holy Warriors) Islamic militia, seeing the political impasse, seized the opportunity to act outside the law particularly following Wahid's expulsion of military hardliner General (ret) Wiranto from the cabinet and his removal of the army from matters of internal security, which were handed over to the police. These violent and aggressive elements of the Indonesian Muslim community were able to exercise an influence vastly out of proportion with their tiny representation in society.

Sixty-four-year-old Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, a self- confessed admirer of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, is claimed by Malaysian and Philippines authorities to be the leader of Jemaah Islamiah, which in turn is said to have ties with al- Qaeda. Ba'asyir denies Jemaah Islamiah exists and that he has links to terrorism.

Though there has been no official comment or suggestions from Indonesia of a link between the Kuta bombs and Ba'asyir, only three days before the Bali attacks the cleric had threatened the Indonesian government with a jihad. True to form, at a news conference on Sunday, Ba'asyir blamed the United States for the attacks. "It would be impossible for Indonesians to do it," he said. "Indonesians don't have such powerful explosives ... I think maybe the US are behind the bombings because they always say Indonesia is part of a terrorist network."

Less than a week ago, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said during a regional meeting in Malaysia: "The organization that we are most concerned about is a group called Jemaah Islamiah. We think Ba'asyir is a significant figure in JI." On Sunday, after the blast, Downer said, "Jemaah Islamiah does have links to al-Qaeda and it's conceivable that an organization like that could be behind this action."

Powerful interest groups, including active, or retired, senior officers in TNI, are also said to be intent on destabilizing and undermining the authority of Megawati's secularist and shaky coalition government and further stalling reformist policies as a means of protecting their own vested interests. There have even been suggestions this weekend that the carnage was indeed the work of disgruntled generals who hate Australia for its interference in East Timor.

Former president Wahid accused those who had earlier been members of the Indonesian government itself. He said the terrorists within "want to create instability in the country and create an environment of fear so that tourists will not come here", adding that he was not prepared to name those he believed were behind the action, because the police had asked him to keep quiet. Harnessing Muslim discontent with Western and American influence and perceived arrogance, and undermining US influence in Indonesia to pressure the government toward a more Islamist stance are tactical options that may no longer be available to these shadowy commanders

The United States was quick to condemn the bombing and is likely to force the pace on strengthening Indonesia's capability to tackle terrorism. "It was a despicable act of terrorism, the likes of which Indonesia has never seen," US Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph Boyce said in a statement, which concluded, "The United States has offered all appropriate assistance to the government of Indonesia to see that those responsible for this cowardly act face justice."

The events in Bali, however, have also greatly strengthened the hand of the Indonesian military (TNI). TNI chief General Endriartono Sutarto said only last week that if the government wants to beef up the "fight against terrorism" it must impose a tough law that provides a legal basis that enables the military to move fast. Sutarto's power play follows rising concerns over the ability of the police, currently the only institution authorized by law to deal with internal security issues, to crack down on terrorists operating in the country.

The military has always justified itself as the guardian of the country against political extremes, defender of the Pancasila (the philosophical basis of the Indonesian state) and the guarantor of domestic stability. With communism no longer a threat, militant Islamic fundamentalists and terrorist acts could be used to justify military intervention and continuing political involvement. TNI will also see the post-Kuta situation as an opportunity to create a more favorable impression with the US, and it also has a vested interest in backing up the US-led campaign against international terrorism in cracking down even harder on Free Aceh Movement (GAM) insurgents.

The country's leaders show little sign of rising to meet the challenges and have preferred to slam the US in public as being anti-Indonesian and anti-Muslim rather than take warnings of terrorism seriously.

For a month, the ambassador Boyce has been warning of a high risk of terrorist acts in Indonesia, but has been repeatedly slammed by religious leaders and many leading politicians, including Indonesia's Vice President Hamzah Haz. The embassy was closed for five days after an undisclosed threat of terrorist attacks on staff. Soon after, Time magazine said a senior al-Qaeda member in Indonesia, Omar al-Faruq, had been masterminding a car-bomb attack on the Jakarta embassy when he was arrested in June.

The CIA interrogated al-Faruq after he was deported to the US and he confessed to planning a series of terrorist attacks in Indonesia, which the US embassy confirmed. Al-Faruq admitted that he was in the region to plan wide-scale attacks against Western interests in eight countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam and Cambodia) and to assassinate Megawati Sukarnoputri (before she became president) as she was a secular threat to al-Qaeda's future goals in Indonesia. He also said he had been behind a series of 24 attacks against churches and leisure venues on Christmas night 2000 and logistical support had come from Abu Bakar Ba'asyir.

Akbar Tanjung, the House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker and chairman of the Golkar party, as well as a convicted felon, last week slammed the US government's plan to withdraw all of its representative staff from Indonesia, with the immortal words: "There is no proof Indonesia is unsafe."

Megawati's support for the chairman of the United Development Party (PPP), Hamzah Haz, as her vice president has also created an image problem all of its own. Haz, who leads Indonesia's largest Muslim political party that forms a key plank in the Megawati administration is widely seen as blatantly vying for support from among Indonesian Muslims, including the militant groups, to strengthen his run for the presidency in the country's next general elections in 2004.

Over the last few months the vice president has overtly supported the Muslim hardline clerics, and held meetings with Ba'asyir, visited the detained leader of the Laskar Jihad, Jafar Umar Thalib, whose troops have fought to evict Christians from the sectarian-ravaged Moluccas islands, and played down the recent violence by members of the FPI.

Haz has also challenged recent US State Department allegations that radical Islamic groups were active in Jakarta and continued to threaten US interests, saying there is no terrorist network in the country: "There are no terrorists here. I guarantee that. If they [terrorists] exist, don't arrest any Muslim clerics, arrest me," he said during a meeting with Ba'asyir's followers.

Though conspicuously saying nothing about the victims, Haz was quick to point the finger at Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, saying on Sunday that the minister ought to explain why the explosion had happened. "Our weakness lies in the management of politics and security," Haz said. Such crass insensitivity is nothing new for Haz, who said after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington that the attacks "will cleanse the sins of the United States".

The challenges for Megawati, her shaky coalition government, and the moderate Muslim majority in Indonesia to keep on track with such economic reform as has been planned now becomes more of an impossible mission. The domestic political strife brought about by electioneering, and the readiness of the Islamic-oriented parties to exploit nationalist and anti-foreign sentiments for political gain, added to the likely pressure from the US after Bali, will be too heavy a burden for a leader like Megawati with such a dearth of political experience.

This political manipulation using Islamic symbols is extremely dangerous and poses the greatest danger ever to Indonesia's stability since the downfall of Suharto. The crisis of leadership suffered by Indonesia that allows Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism to be confused with all Islamic movements, political and social, non-violent and violent, is driving a wedge between the West and the Indonesian Muslims. If the West and the Islamic world cannot meet in the middle, then the future holds only the frightening prospect of more hatred and radicalism, the rise of more extremist movements, and a breeding ground for recruits for the bin Ladens of the world.

Canberra and Jakarta respond to Bali

APSN - October 15, 2002

Max Lane -- On October 14, in the Australian parliament Prime Minister John Howard seized on the terrorist incident in Bali last weekend to justify a further strengthening of repressive so-called anti-terrorist laws as well as of the security apparatus in Australia. In this regard, he is no different from scores of government power wielders around the world cynically using the sympathy and solidarity generated among ordinary peoples when they react in horror to the barbarism of such acts of terror as that which occurred in Legian. Civilised people everywhere want an end to these criminal acts and will demand that governments do something.

But are these so-called government leaders really serious? I don't think so, whether in Canberra or Jakarta. When any social evil emerges, such as terrorism of the kind that occurred in Bali, the first step of any serious effort will be to seek out and address the cause of the phenomenon: why is it happening? All such social and political developments, where there is any general pattern or general trend, have causes. Acts of terror do not emerge from no where.

The reality is, however, that all those governments and political forces supporting George W Bush's "war against terror", including the Australian government, show no interest in identifying and eliminating the causes of this social evil. Of course, to know the cause is not to excuse the individual perpetrators, nor to say that no police measures at all should be taken. But in the end, no amount of tightened security will end this trend unless the causes are addressed.

In fact, heightened security that violates civil liberties and is based on such things as racial profiling will only generate further acts of terror.

Fanatical political, religious, or communal groups did of course, not pioneer the use of terror in politics. Terror in politics was pioneered, and thereby legitimised by states. In the case of Indonesia, terror in politics was institutionalised by the Suharto-GOLKAR regime that controlled Indonesia since 1965. Between 1965-67 mass terror was carried out on a scale not repeated until the era of Pol Pot in Cambodia. At least 1 million people were slaughtered, often in public executions. But even after 1968, violence was used to terrorise the population on a periodic basis. Indonesians are very familiar with the history, including incidents such as the Tanjung Priok incident, the Lampung massacres, the "PETRUS" (mysterious shootings) of the 1980s, the kidnapping and disappearances of student activists in the 1990s are just some examples. Since 1998 also, all the major political parties have developed para-military groups, which also use violence and terror to intimidate their rivals.

The Suharto-GOLKAR New Order regime legitmised and spread the use of violence in politics. All Australian governments, including the Howard government, have defended the Suharto-GOLKAR New Order regime and are complicit in this legitimisation of violence. At the same time the Suharto regime was using terror to control politics in Indonesia, John Howard tried to tell the Australian and Indonesian people that Suharto was a "caring and sensitive" leader. Now Howard laments the fact that acts of terror start to hit Australians in Indonesia. The hypocrisy is mind boggling. Howard should have resigned in shame in 1999. His East Timor policy of acquiescing in the military occupation of East Timor while Suharto was in power also laid the basis for the East Timorese people suffering also a wave of horrific terror in 1999. The US government is complicit in the same way.

Indonesian regimes after Suharto, including the Megawati government, bear the same responsibility. There has not been one single prosecution and jailing of any of those government or military officials responsible for the use of terror under Suharto. Suharto himself has not even been charged with violation of human rights. If Suharto and all the officials of the repression apparatus during the Suharto period can get away with terror as a tool of politics, why should anybody be surprised if more and more elements in society think that terror is a justifiable means of doing politics. While Suharto and friends remain free and while major political parties maintain uniformed para-military units, terror, i.e. violence in politics, will continue to be legitimised.

Legitimising terror is not the only form of Western complicity in the causes of terror that we see today. The underlying cause of the spread of non-state terror throughout the world is the deepening social disintegration of so many societies. This is also beginning in Indonesia. As unemployment and poverty increase and uncertainty about the future among 220 million people worsens social solidarity is undermined. A process is beginning of pitting all against all: centre against region (as with Aceh); regions against centre; natural resource rich regions against their neighbouring resource poor areas, such as in the Riau case; ethnic group against ethnic group; religion against religion; kabupaten against kabupaten and so on. This process is a direct result of the socio-economic crisis that has engulfed Indonesian since 1997. Since 1998 this crisis has "stabilised" bit it continues to gradually deepen.

The crisis itself is caused by the plunder of the Indonesian economy, forced open without protection by the International Monetary Fund. Western commercial interests drain the country of wealth and destroy its productive capacity, even in rice and sugar, while the local political, business and military elite looks on, acquiescing and enriching itself. The elite has no solution to the socio-economic crisis, except to beg for more foreign investment, which will never come. In this whole situation, Western governments, including the hypocritical Australian government of John Howard, are fully complicit.

So a vacuum is created in the search for solutions. A real solution is being formulated out of the thinking done by the activist and politicised wing of civil society, but they have not yet won a hearing among the mass of the population. So the conditions have been created for the spread of scapegoat politics and demagogic agitation. This is the situation now in Indonesia, as well as globally. Scapegoat and demagogic politics in a world where the ruling elites and governments have legitimised violence in politics will inevitably foster the spread of non-state terrorism.

On the streets of Jakarta, there are many suggestions as to who the bombers are: Al Qaeda, or some similar group, local or foreign; the US or the CIA, wanting to create a terrorist scare; the Indonesian military or intelligence services; some elite faction wanting to distract attention away from current controversies. There is no evidence yet who carried out the criminal and barbaric act in Legian, Bali. Whoever carried out this act should be identified and held responsible. But so should those responsible causing the underlying causes of this violent world: Suharto, Howard, Bush, the IMF, Megawati and all those who defend the unjust and semi-barbaric system the world now lives under.

[Max Lane is the chairperson of Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific.]

In the shadow of the generals

Sydney Morning Herald - October 14, 2002

Greg Barton -- The long hand of the military may have left its prints on the Kuta bomb. The shocking news from Bali probably couldn't get much worse. But the hard truth is, it just might. Most of the likely explanations for what happened point to systemic problems that are likely to escalate before they subside.

There is, of course, the possibility that what occurred was a one-off incident which was simply the product of some sort of criminal dispute in Bali's club land. No one, however, seems to seriously believe this. Instead, with unprecedented candour and haste, senior officials on all sides are talking of a terrorist attack.

Within hours of the bombing, the Indonesian police chief, Dai Bachtia, said: "This is the worst act of terror in Indonesia's history." The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, told ABC television: "It does look as though a terrorist organisation was involved, and secondly it clearly looks as though this attack has been co-ordinated, and it clearly looks like an attack against foreign interests." The absence of the usual sort of diplomatic equivocation might be explained by the fact that a terrorist attack on foreign interests in Indonesia had long been expected.

Only hours before the blast in Kuta the softly spoken and beleaguered US ambassador to Jakarta, Ralph Boyce, was again under fire from members of the Indonesian elite for his statement that, in light of intelligence assessments about the possibility of an imminent terrorist strike against foreign interests, the US was considering withdrawing American personnel from Indonesia. For weeks Boyce had been visiting government and religious groups trying politely to persuade them that the US was genuinely concerned about radical Islamist terrorism in Indonesia.

It is unlikely that senior officials will now persist with the charge that Boyce was guilty of crying wolf. But this is cold comfort. All of the likely terrorist scenarios point to more trouble ahead.

If the group behind Saturday's attack was acting autonomously out of genuinely "religious concern" that Islam -- or perhaps Islamism -- should defy the Western hegemony, particularly when the West is moving towards another military engagement in the Muslim world, there is every likelihood that more attacks will follow.

Moreover, the Indonesian police and military are in a poor state to stop determined domestic terrorists from acting repeatedly.

Another scenario is that the group responsible is comprised of radical Islamist militia which is previously, or even currently, sponsored by elements within the Indonesian military.

In the 1970s and '80s the Soeharto regime enticed radical Islamists out into the open saying their help was needed to combat the (mythical) resurgent communists, only to arrest and jail many of the leading figures such as Abu Bakar Bashir. Perversely, partly as a result of this Machiavellian repression, radical Islamist networks, such as the shadowy Jemaah Islamiyah group based in Central Java, grew in credibility and strength.

In the '90s, Soeharto changed tack and sought to co-opt radical Islamists into the regime, in part as a counter-balance to the military. Then, since the fall of Soeharto in 1998, key military generals with Islamist sympathies sought to mobilise Islamist militia for their own purposes.

At this time Bashir and other Jemaah Islamiyah leaders returned to Java from self-imposed exile in Malaysia. Two years later, in early 2000, when President Wahid sacked General Wiranto over the East Timor post-ballot massacres and began to push hard for profound reforms within the military, non-Islamist, nationalist generals joined forces with generals known to be religious hardliners to use radical Islamist militia to destabilise the Wahid administration. In troubled regions such as Ambon, North Maluku and Central Sulawesi military-backed militia such as Laskar Jihad wreaked havoc and greatly increased the level of violence.

When Megawati took over from Wahid in July last year groups such as Laskar Jihad became generally less visible (with the significant exception of Papua province) and the new administration, which enjoyed strong ties with the military, was left in peace.

Some have suggested those responsible for the bombing were motivated by a desire to undermine Megawati. Hours after the bombing in Kuta, the respected political commentator and former presidential spokesman for Wahid, Wimar Witoelar, said: "The plot is probably hatched by hardline military rogues as impatient as many are with Megawati, but coming from the right flank. This is certainly an excuse for the entry of a military takeover. Unless it is pre-empted." Witoelar, of course, might well be wrong and the military might very well have no link at all with the group responsible for the Sari Club attack. But even if he is wrong it is highly likely that elements of the political and military elite will exploit the opportunity afforded by the bombing to discredit the Megawati administration.

Even before the bombing, Akbar Tandjung, who is the speaker of Parliament and chairman of Golkar, the party of former president Soeharto, had been defiantly resisting all calls for his resignation despite having been recently found guilty of misusing millions of dollars of state funds during the 1999 election campaign. Tandjung, who appeared to be politically dead after the guilty verdict, could prove to be the one enemy that Megawati is unable to deal with. He does have links with Islamist radicals, and may be prepared to use them.

The outlook is grim. If Saturday's bombing was driven by domestic politics we can expect to see continued efforts to undermine Megawati's administration up until the 2004 general elections. If the attack was independent of elite-political machinations it is likely to be linked to a concern among radical Islamists around the globe about America's foreign policy.

If that is the case the bombers are likely to become more, rather than less, annoyed with Washington (and Canberra), especially if the push for regime change in Baghdad continues. Meanwhile, the Federal Government is probably set to enter the most challenging period of its relationship with Jakarta yet. The Kuta death toll will place enormous pressure on the Prime Minister, John Howard, to do something. Exactly what it is that he should do, however, is not at all clear.

[Dr Greg Barton is a senior lecturer in politics at Deakin University. His most recent book, Abdurrahman Wahid, Muslim Democrat, Indonesian President, was released by UNSW Press in May.]

In a tinderbox, Jihad warriors fan ethnic tension

Sydney Morning Herald - October 14, 2002

Louise Williams -- Radical Islam has long played a bit part on the fringes of Indonesia's murky domestic political scene. The crucial question raised by the Bali bombings is whether the same forces of Islamic extremism have now been recruited to play a similarly destructive role in the international arena; as terrorists.

Domestically, Indonesian adherents of radical Islam have, to date, been cast in the shadowy role of agents provocateurs, while moderate Islam has held centre stage. While several thousand Indonesians are thought to have trained with the mujahideen in Afghanistan in the 1980s, their concerns at home have been decidedly parochial. Indonesia's small bands of so-called "jihad" warriors have been largely supported and manipulated by Jakarta's politicians to fuel religious and ethnic tensions in the tinderbox of multicultural, religiously diverse Indonesia.

Such chaos has frequently been fomented for political gain; either to discredit the Government or strengthen the hand of the military in "securing" the nation. While such conflicts continue to cost numerous Indonesian lives, they have been generally dismissed as local disputes in security assessments of the global implications of radical Indonesian Islam. More recent attempts by the United States to define links between Islamic groups in Indonesia and the al-Qaeda network have also been vague.

Several important factors, however, have fuelled the recent rise of radical Islam in Indonesia. Domestically, the economic crisis of 1997 and the fall of the authoritarian President Soeharto the following year had a profound influence on the freedom of hardline Islamic groups to recruit and the willingness of the swelling ranks of poor, under-employed young men to follow.

The US "war on terrorism" added a potent global dimension to the domestic picture. When the bombing of Afghanistan began, many Indonesians saw the "war" as an attack on Islam and too many of the victims on the ground as innocent Muslim civilians.

Indonesia is only slowly recovering from the extraordinary economic collapse of 1997, which threw millions out of work. Poverty has disempowered young Muslim men, and the "jihad" offers them authority, arms and, in many cases, financial support for their families.

One international think tank warned late last year: "Involvement in radical organisations may become more widespread if grievances against the US strikes combine with the perceived benefits of joining such organisations, and possible coercion on the part of organisations."

Soeharto's Komando Jihad chickens come home to roost

Sydney Morning Herald - October 14, 2002

David Jenkins -- In 1980, five Indonesian members of a so-called Komando Jihad (Holy War Command) hijacked a Garuda jet and forced it to fly to Bangkok. The plane was stormed by Indonesian commandos who killed four of the hijackers and the fifth man died in mysterious circumstances while being taken back to Jakarta.

At the time, it was widely believed in Jakarta that the Komando Jihad had been set up by General Ali Moertopo, a senior army colleague of then president Soeharto, with the aim of discrediting Islamic political groups seen as a threat to the regime.

Abdurrahman Wahid, a conservative Muslim leader who later became president himself, was one of those who had his doubts about the Komando Jihad.

Indonesia has a deepening problem with radicalised Islam. And while it is too early to say who is behind the Bali bombing, two things seem clear.

First, analysts are bound to be looking closely at some of Indonesia's more radical Islamic groups, some of which have links with like-minded groups in Malaysia and the southern Philippines.

Second, it seems clear that some of Soeharto's Komando Jihad chickens seem to be coming home to roost.

Indonesia has had periodic problems with radical Islamic groups in the 52 years since the proclamation of independence.

Indeed, one such group, Hizbullah, predated the republic by the best part of a year, having been set up late in the war by Beppan, a special intelligence unit of Japan's occupying army.

The Japanese had hoped to marshall the power of Islam to oppose an expected Allied invasion and they trained 500 Muslim fighters, although not with the same commitment with which they had earlier trained the 37,000 men who formed the core of the future Indonesian Army.

Some of those young Muslim men played a central role in the Darul Islam (House of Islam) movement, which fought a bitter but unsuccessful 14-year (1948-62) campaign to establish an Islamic state in Indonesia.

In the 1970s, Moertopo went to the jails and persuaded some Islamic radicals to work with the army. "He was trying to use them," said Aristides Katoppo, chief editor of Sinar Harapan, a leading Indonesian daily. "But they were not just being passive. There was an imbalance of power but some of them worked within the constraints. They still had their ideological orientation." According to a recent study by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, the men directing current Islamic unrest in Indonesia draw their inspiration from the Darul Islam. They made contact with like-minded individuals when working for Moertopo or while serving time in jail. They have since gone on to forge more dangerous links.

"One network of militant Muslims has produced all the Indonesian nationals so far suspected of links to al-Qaeda." The network has as its hub a religious boarding school in Central Java, known as Pondok Ngruki.

Government & politics

Business calls for President to take urgent action

Radio Australia - October 14, 2002

[Business leaders have called for immediate action from the President to prove her leadership saying they fear social revolution if the government fails to unite to act decisively. The country's economy will be seriously set back by the bombings -- with the tourism industry the first and most obvious casualty.]

Presenter/Interviewer: Karon Snowdon, Finance correspondent

Speakers: Sofjan Wanandi, Head of the Committee for Economic Recovery in Jakarta; Peter Neilson, a butcher in Bali; Mr Ardono from the Bali Travel Centre

Snowdon: The immediate impact of the Bali tragedy will be felt on the tourism industry which earns the nation $US6-billion a year -- but many others will be caught in the shockwaves. Thousands of small businesses, which produce goods and services, will be affected adding to already high unemployment.

Sofjan Wanandi heads a consortium of 38 leading business groups called the Committee for Economic Recovery formed to advise the government on policy. An upset Mr Wanandi says he's angry at the Indonesian government for ignoring warnings about possible terrorists threats.

Wanandi: "I don't believe that we can stand [it] as it is because we have all these crisis already and you can imagine that you have so many unemployment is going on in Indonesia. And if you don't do anything in recovering our economy, I don't see -- I don't know what could happen and I didn't know whether we can go through, ... through all this bad things that I'm not willing to talk [about] now."

Snowdon: If things don't improve what's the outlook for Indonesia?

Wanandi: "We are not willing to go through a social revolution here or break this country but I think if the government is not serious this time I think there is no more time for them."

Snowdon: On Bali itself, the normally peaceful community could face unfamiliar social tensions.

Peter Neilson has spent five years running a butcher shop and restaurant and supplying Australian meat products to other restaurants close to Kuta. He's optimistic about the island's future but says people are shocked.

Neilson: "I'm just hoping we get through it and there's no ... because now there's a lot of anti-Islam talk, so I just hope that we don't see factions you know, problems between factions. I don't know what's going to happen."

Snowdon: Do you think the people of Bali might have been a bit complacent, considering themselves separate from the rest of Indonesia some parts of which have seen some significant unrest in recent years?

Neilson: "I believe so because I must admit I was complacent, I said well nothing's going to happen here, we're bullet proof. I was so wrong, and it was just so horrific."

Snowdon: This latest outrage could be more devastating than the 40 per cent contraction that Bali's tourism industry suffered after the September 11 attacks in the US.

But it had been recovering and meant Mr Ardono from the Bali Travel Centre could expand his business from one to two offices. Now he expects no recovery for at least a year and says there will be much suffering among locals dependent on the industry.

Ardono: "Very difficult because around 80 per cent of people in Bali live by tourism."

Snowdon: And do you think the Indonesian government can help Bali now?

Ardono: "I hope so but we have to trust the government to investigate."

Snowdon: There can be no overstating the impact of the weekend bombing on Indonesia's economic outlook. The currency the rupiah dived and the tiny stock market's composite index fell more than 9 per cent by midday.

Already low investor confidence both domestic and foreign will suffer further, while governments advise businesses as well as tourists to stay away.

Sofjan Wanandi says foreign business visitors are already cancelling planned conferences and like Ardono from Bali, he wants to see decisive leadership from Jakarta.

Wanandi: "What they have to do they have to be more firm in arresting all these people that are responsible for what is happening in Bali I think, not only discussions but we'd like to see the actions now."

Snowdon: Do you think the Indonesian community now will it strongly insist the government more strongly investigate?

Wanandi: "That's right, ... I think we can't postpone anymore this and the government has to be united also to take all the necessary actions, and not only in discussing and blaming each other like usual."

Snowdon: Do you think the government will now unite; there has been some divisive notes between the President and the Vice President?

Wanandi: "I hope they will be united after the cabinet meetings today, I think the government, and the President especially, has to show her leadership."

Corruption/collusion/nepotism

Witness protection to fight graft

Jakarta Post - October 18, 2002

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta -- Welcoming the agreement newly signed by law enforcers to combat mounting graft in the country, anticorruption activists called on Thursday for the establishment of a proper witness protection mechanism and of an independent commission to audit court decisions to support the fight against corruption.

Teten Masduki of Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) and Albert Hasibuan of the Movement of Concerned Citizens on State Assets (Gempita) said strong political will from the government and the legislature was strongly needed to make the new agreement workable.

"The agreement will be toothless if law enforcement institutions don't have the strong will to implement it," Teten told the Jakarta Post. Similarly, Albert said that the agreement especially needed endorsement from President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

The Office of the Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs and its subordinate ministries, including the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), as well as the Supreme Court, signed a joint agreement to mark their commitment to combating graft and carrying out legal reform during a meeting, Law Summit II, on October 16. Teten noted that the new deal among law enforcers would not produce maximum results unless it was supported by a proper witness protection law and an independent court decision- monitoring commission.

In the absence of witness protection law, Teten said, people with information on graft would not volunteer such information to law enforcers. Also, without an independent verdict-monitoring commission, corruption in the court would continue unimpeded, he said.

"The Supreme Court and the attorney general must issue a ruling to protect witnesses, including concealing witnesses' identities, before a witness protection law is passed. Otherwise, the corruption eradication effort will be useless," Teten said. The government and the House of Representatives are still deliberating the witness protection bill.

Teten said that the government ought also to set up an independent team, consisting of a number of independent persons, to examine any questionable court decisions. This way, courts would be monitored, and judges would be made accountable, and most of all, judges could not collude anymore with lawyers.

Teten also suggested that the central bank amend its banking law to give access to independent bodies to examine the bank accounts of state officials.

In addition, Albert demanded that the Attorney General's Office be separated from the government to assure its independence in investigating graft cases, often involving government officials.

"If it is still under the executive [the government], it would be liable to intervention from the government," he said.

Reversal of the burden of proof in corruption cases should also be implemented in the early stage of investigation, not only in the court, he said.

Akbar ready to lead Golkar from behind bars

Jakarta Post - October 14, 2002

Jakarta -- Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung has been anticipating the worst in his appeal of the Central Jakarta District Court's verdict wherein he was sentenced to three years for corruption.

During his trip to Balikpapan for party business, Akbar, who is also the House of Representatives speaker, said he was ready to lead the party from his prison cell if his appeal failed.

"If I serve my jail sentence because the Supreme Court upholds the lower court's verdict, I will manage the party from prison," Akbar said, to the cheers of hundreds of Golkar supporters attending the party function on Sunday, even though most of the nation was in a state of mourning due to the tragedy in Bali. When he was detained at the Attorney General's Office cell for more than one month earlier this year, Akbar kept his top position in Golkar intact.

The Central Jakarta District Court found Akbar guilty of embezzling Rp 40 billion from the State Logistics Agency when he, as the minister/state secretary, claimed he had used the money to feed poor people in 1999, but the project never took place.

The court apparently believed that the state funds were kept by the contractor who was working for the Raudatul Jannah foundation which Akbar had apparently appointed to organize the phantom humanitarian program. Although many believe the money went to Golkar for its 1999 election campaign, prosecutors refused to investigate such a possibility.

The court also failed to order Akbar to serve his jail term immediately, a decision critics said was against the principle of equality of all before the law.

Akbar has been facing mounting demands from both inside and outside Golkar to step down following the court sentence.

Commenting on several senior Golkar members who are now demanding his resignation as the party's chairman, Akbar said he respected their opinions but would not comply.

"Such a demand is normal in a democracy and I appreciate it," he said as quoted by Antara.

He said he was not worried about reports that opposition groups within Golkar were already discussing his successor. He expressed optimism that Golkar supporters would stay solidly behind him.

"Certain groups are hoping that Golkar will break up. Some of them have even committed violent acts against the party's offices in a number of regions. Golkar, however, remains as solid as ever," he claimed.

Akbar said on Friday that any dissenting Golkar members who opposed his chairmanship would face "stern measures" if they continued to voice their opinions. Golkar executives Marwah Daud Ibrahim, Agung Laksono, Theo Sambuaga and Fahmi Idris are among those who suggested that Akbar step down for the sake of the party's bid to win the 2004 elections.

Human rights/law

More protesters arrested in Indonesia

Green Left Weekly - October 16, 2002

Max Lane -- On October 5, Indonesian police arrested Ricky Tamba, secretary-general of the Popular Youth Movement (GPK), an urban poor youth organisation that acts in political solidarity with the Peoples Democratic Party (PRD).

Tamba was detained by police at a demonstration protesting the inauguration of retired general Sutiyoso as governor of Jakarta. Sutiyoso's appointment is opposed by a broad coalition of political and community organisations because of his role in state repression during the Suharto period and his alignment with the rich in his last period of governorship of Jakarta.

However, Tamba was arrested in relation to charges of "insulting the head of state" brought against two other members of the GPK arrested several weeks ago. The two, both street peddlers, were detained after stamping their feet on photographs of President Megawati Sukarnoputri and vice-president Hamzah Haz. It appears that as secretary-general of the GPK, Tamba is going to be charged with the same offence and to be held responsible for giving the orders to "defile" the photographs.

Tamba has repeatedly argued that the only thing that has brought President Megawati into disrepute is her own policies. Both Tamba and the two GPK members remain in jail. In fact, it is reported that there are between seven and 10 other activists who have been in prison for several weeks now, detained for stamping on photographs or burning effigies of the president.

The only comment to come from Megawati has been a statement, quoted by an aide, that people who defile such national symbols should be expelled from the country.

On October 9, more arrests took place in the aftermath of a student demonstration demanding the disbandment of Golkar, the ruling party under the Suharto dictatorship, following the conviction on corruption charges of Golkar chairperson Akbar Tanjung. He has been sentenced to seven years but remains speaker of the parliament.

About 300 students, from several student organisations including the National Students League for Democracy (LMND) and City Forum (Forkot) were attacked by a gang of about 100 thugs who had assembled outside the Golkar office where the demonstration was taking place. Other participating groups included University Indonesia Student Action Front (FAM-UI), Revolutionary Students League (LMR), 2002 Revolutionary Front, National Front (Fronnas), and the Joint Communique (Kober).

As the students scattered they were trapped outside the Christian University of Indonesia by waiting soldiers and police. Some students threw Molotov cocktails. More than 100 protesters were arrested and many were injured.

Focus on Jakarta

Entertainment spots want to open during Ramadhan

Jakarta Post - October 15, 2002

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta -- Thousands of demonstrators representing entertainment centers in the city staged a rally in front of the City Council building and the City Hall on Monday, demanding that the administration allow them to remain open during the Ramadhan fasting month for Muslims in a few weeks.

The secretary of the Entertainment Centers Owners Association Adrian Maelite urged the administration to allow the centers to operate after Tarawih prayer (about 9 p.m.) and before the Shubuh prayer (about 3 a.m).

"Do not close the centers totally during Ramadhan. As a metropolitan city, Jakarta needs them," Adrian told reporters. Otherwise, he said, thousands of people would suffer economically as the centers employ more than 250,000 workers.

He said that in addition to direct employees, thousands of people, including street traders and parking attendants, also were financially dependent on the centers.

The city has 2,887 licensed entertainment centers, including 1,228 bars/restaurants, 144 discotheques, 12 night clubs and 263 karaoke halls. Ramadhan will begin in the first week of November this year.

The demonstrators conducted a peaceful rally while listening to discotheque-style music pumping out of loud speakers that they had brought along.

Theresia, one of rally participants, urged the administration to allow the centers to operate during the Muslim's holy month so that she could pay her employees.

"My employees desperately need their salaries each and every month, and especially to celebrate the Muslim Idul Fitri holidays or Christmas," said Theresia, a mother of two children who works at the Cleopatra discotheque in Sunter, North Jakarta.

In recent years, the city administration, under pressure from Muslim fundamentalists, has increasingly curtailed the activities of entertainment centers, during the fasting month. Several places which remained open in the last two years were attacked by the white-robed operatives from the Islam Defender's Front (FPI) with almost total impunity.

Monday's protesters, who called themselves the Anti-Chaos Society, also urged the administration to dissolve the FPI as it had used violence to damage entertainment centers here.

Chairwoman of the Jakarta Women's Communication Forum (FKPJ) Chairun Nisa, who accompanied the demonstrators, also urged the authorities to give protection to the employees of the entertainment centers.

Separately City Governor Sutiyoso said the operational hours for the centers during Ramadhan was still being discussed by the administration. "As for the FPI, let the police handle the case," Sutiyoso told reporters.

Two weeks ago, several entertainment centers in West Jakarta were damaged by the militant group, which was reportedly set up by New Order-linked elements within the police and military over the past years. Recently, however, city police officers arrested at least eight FPI suspects over their most recent attacks.

Environment

Indonesia to build nuclear power plant

Xinhua News - October 19, 2002

Jakarta -- The Indonesian government is planning to build a nuclear power plant by the year 2015 at the latest to meet the country's mounting power needs.

Mr Yusri Henri, head of the Development of Nuclear Power Supervisory Agency, was quoted by local media here yesterday as saying that a nuclear power plant would generate cheap electricity although its development would be expensive and the risks would be high.

"As long as we follow the procedures properly to maintain the nuclear power plant, it will remain safe," he said.

The country has built a nuclear power laboratory in Jakarta.

The official was quoted as saying that there had only been one registered accident in the reactor before, which proves that this country is able to manage a nuclear power plant relatively safely.

In 1997, the country's national atomic energy agency, Batan, recommended that a nuclear power plant be built within two years but the plan never materialised.

According to reports, the then Batan chief Iyos Subki said the proposal for the nuclear plant was based on Indonesia's future energy needs.

"It is only a matter of time before we build such a plant. We cannot avoid going nuclear because the demand for energy is growing in Indonesia," he said in an interview.

He said research by Batan showed that by 2015 Indonesia was projected to require 35,000 additional megawatts of power to provide industries and homes in Java and Bali with electricity.

The planned nuclear plant on the slopes of the dormant Muria volcano on the northern coast of densely populated Central Java will provide around 7,000 MW of power.

Religion/Islam

Christian leaders says Laskar Jihad is still active

Radio Australia - October 17, 2002

[Despite claims that the Laskar Jihad, Indonesia's largest and most militant Islamic militia has disbanded, Christian leaders say the group is still active. Boat loads of militants have left the Malukus provincial capital Ambon, but local Christian leaders say over 1,000 Laskar Jihad members remain. And Christian Ministers in neighbouring Papua say they are being terrorised by Laskar Jihad vigilantes.]

Presenter/Interviewer: Tricia Fitzgerald

Speakers: Christian theologist Professor Nanere, from the Indonesian Maluku Islands; Pastor Terry Joku, of the Papuan provincial capital, Jayapura

Fitzgerald: Last Saturday night, just hours before the Bali bomb blast, the two year old Laskar Jihad militia announced it had disbanded. But in some of Indonesia's eastern Christian dominated islands the group is still very active.

In Papua, which was formerly known as Irian Jaya, Pastor Terry Joku, of the Papuan provincial capital Jayapura, says armed Laskar Jihad squads which have been sent into Papua with support from local military units, are attempting to assassinate him.

Joku: "They are operating in Jayapura here. They are always here; they are in operation here."

Fitzgerald: So what exactly are they doing?

Joku: "They have been killing a few of the West Papuan people here -- men and women here."

Fitzgerald: So they have killed several West Papuans?

Joku: "Yes ... several West Papuans. In August they killed 27 West Papuan people and now in October they are operating in Jayapura."

Fitzgerald: What about the Christian ministers like yourself? How are they treating you?

Joku: "The Jihad and Indonesian military Kopassus -- they need to kill me. They came to my house at 2 o'clock at night."

Fitzgerald: Pastor Joku says the death threats against him began last year, the day after Papua's independence leader Theys Eluay was murdered. He says it's only because he has security guards from the Papuan Satgas militia, young supporters and many guard dogs that he has been able to fend off repeated attempts on his life.

Joku: "And I was awake at 2 o'clock at night. At midnight I saw them, they were coming to kill me. The Jihad needs to kill me and every night they come to my house. Last night they came to my house at maybe 2 or 3 o'clock."

Fitzgerald: So do you have anyone to protect you?

Joku: "I have here West Papuan -- came from West Papuans own people. Yes, young people they came to save me here!"

Fitzgerald: In the neighbouring Maluku Islands, Professor Nanere -- a Christian theologist -- says hundreds of the militia's members left the provincial capital Ambon on Tuesday to return to Java but many of them remain in the Malukus.

Nanere: "Seven hundred left Ambon, and they still left here something like five hundred -- still five hundred."

Fitzgerald: And what about from other parts of the Maluku Islands such as the North Malukus?

Nanere: "Not yet ... not yet. It is still Ambon only Ambon, not yet Ternate."

Fitzgerald: And how many Laskar Jihad do you estimate could be in Ternate?

Nanere: "In Ternate, that is a very rough estimation -- it's around 500, 600"

Fitzgerald: And is there any plans for those 500 in Ambon and the 500 in Ternate to leave as the others did?

Nanere: "It is not so clear up to now -- it's not so clear."

Fitzgerald: Can you just tell us what sort of activities the Laskar Jihad have been involved in over the last six months or so?

Nanere: "You see a lot of bombs and killing have happened here. It's very sporadic that has happened here in Ambon Island -- very sporadic killing and bombs."

Fitzgerald: Just two months ago, Professor Nanere had his house and the Christian Technical College he is attempting to rebuild, destroyed in a bomb attack. I asked him how he felt about the departure of the Laskar Jihad.

Nanere: "I'm very happy, very happy. I hope the rest will leave soon. Laskar Jihad must leave all these conflict areas in Maluku and in Sulawesi because they are the source of the problems. We are really in a very difficult position here."

Armed forces/Police

Indonesian forces' corruption exposed

Asian Times - October 14, 2002

Kafil Yamin, Jakarta -- Before the full glare of television cameras this month, Indonesian army chief Gen Ryamizard Ryacudu walked toward a line of 20 soldiers and tore one-by-one the badges of rank from their uniforms.

These soldiers were stripped of their rank and dismissed at a ceremony in Medan in North Sumatra, northwestern Indonesia, on October 2 because they had attacked a police station after officers refused to release a civilian friend of theirs who had been detained for drug possession.

Late on September 29, more than 100 soldiers from an army airborne battalion attacked a police post in Binjai district in Medan, about 1,350 kilometers northwest of Jakarta, using rifles, grenades and mortars. The nine-hour shootout left six policemen, one soldier and one civilian dead, and 23 bystanders wounded.

"What you have done has had a disastrous impact on the army. It's not you alone who should be held responsible for this, but the military. You acted not as the army but as security disturbers. You embarrassed and sullied the face of the Indonesian armed forces," Ryamizard said at the ceremony.

The incident underscores the growing conflict between the police and military over what even military chief General Endriartono Sutarto concedes are rival criminal interests between the two forces.

Agus Mulya, a security expert working at a private security company in Jakarta, said it is widespread knowledge that the military and the police back dirty businesses, "but seeing that it has led to such a brutal gang war, it surprises many. Everybody is surprised. Now they cannot distinguish between the military, the police and criminal groups," he said.

The tussle between the police and the military has been growing in the years after Suharto was ousted in 1998, as the military searches for a new role in a more open society where its traditional power base has diminished from the Suharto decades. The military has had a political role listed in the constitution, but changes are under way that are reducing its representation in the legislature and undercutting their wide powers in local governments and restive territories.

The police, for their part, are flexing their muscles with new powers they got after being removed from the military command.

This erosion of the military's power has also meant fewer opportunities to indulge in various businesses and foundations that it has run for more than five decades, and an increase in illegal businesses from prostitution, poaching and logging to narcotics.

For instance, Binjai, the district in the Aceh-North Sumatra provincial border -- where the soldiers' attack took place last month to get a drug suspect freed -- is known as the first stop in the marijuana trade from Aceh province, where marijuana is traditionally used as a cooking spice. Officials say marijuana is trafficked by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) as a way of funding its insurgency, and by criminal groups -- invariably with the backing of the military or the police.

The September attack adds pressure on the military and the police to put an end to their business operations. "They should focus on security matters. Business is not their domain," said Agus.

Many of the business operations the military and the police have been running are legal, if questionable in the eyes of political critics. Often, however, the businesses -- for instance the military controls more than a million hectares of forest concessions in Kalimantan province -- do not always get fully audited. But these have been growing -- and stretching into dubious sectors such as prostitution and gambling -- as an independent way of funding their existence. Some officers who name themselves the foundations' directors are also "getting the windfall" from these foundations, according to a state audit body official.

General Endriartono said he does not support illegal businesses, but the military's presence in legitimate business on the side has its own justification: "The government is unable to meet the military budget, so we have to do something to deal with it."

The military's yearly budget stands at US$1.06 billion, less than one-fourth of the $4.4 billion military budget of Singapore, a city-state of 4 million people compared with Indonesia's 220 million population. The Indonesian military's budget also compares badly with such smaller nations as Thailand ($2 billion), the Philippines ($1.3 billion), and Malaysia ($1.6 billion).

The low funds mean that soldiers are paid poorly. The wages of mid-ranking soldiers range from Rp540,000-850,000 ($60-$95), while high-ranking officers earn Rp1.6 million to 4.5 million ($110-$350) a month. As a result, "many of our members have to do odd jobs. Some of them engage in ojek [motorbike taxi] jobs to cover their living," said Endriartono. "It is a breach of the rules, but we let them do the jobs as long as it is does not involve criminal behavior."

"I am a soldier. But I am not ashamed to be an ojek driver, because this is the only way I can support my family," said army Sergeant Rahmat in central Jakarta.

In a cabinet meeting this month, Endriartono turned down President Megawati Sukarnoputri's request to dissolve the foundations that allow the military to legally run businesses. "It is not realistic -- the government is only able to meet 30 percent of our budget and then they ask us to abandon our businesses," he said.

But analysts ask whether the military's businesses have really improved the soldiers' standard of living after all these decades. "The military has engaged in business for a long time. Where does the money go?" said Malik Haramain, a political- science lecturer at the University of Indonesia.

During Suharto's 32-year rule, he said, "The military enjoyed privileges and acquired various business concessions in construction, timber, hotels and transport. But the living standards of soldiers are just the same."

TNI accused of prolonging regional conflicts

Jakarta Post - October 15, 2002

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta -- Military personnel in conflict areas have worked to escalate violence there in order to maintain their control over business activities, experts said on Monday.

They said military personnel in conflict areas were often involved in weapon smuggling, illegal logging, and car smuggling.

Sri Yanuarti of the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI), Ichsan Malik of Conflict Resolution Baku Bae Maluku and analyst Otto Syamsuddin urged military personnel to stop their business activities and concentrate on their duties.

"The trend is that when clashes ease, unidentified military officers always try to escalate the conflict again to ensure they can continue their business activities," Sri Yanuarti said.

She said as an institution the military didn't directly promote such an escalation of conflict but it took no measures to prevent or stop it.

"High-ranking military officers in Jakarta know that their subordinates in Maluku have control over various business activities, but they don't stop them," Ichsan said at a seminar on military business interests in conflict areas. "This makes conflict resolution very difficult to achieve," Ichsan said.

Major businesses in Maluku controlled by the military are security services, weapon smuggling, illegal logging, spice trading, and the trade of endangered animals, according to Ichsan. Military personnel generally market their services to business firms or to people traveling to Ambon's Pattimura Airport, said Ichsan, adding that they charge between Rp 400,000 and Rp 80,000 per person. "The rate can double if you want to go to the airport by boat," he said.

Regarding gun smuggling, weapons like AK-47 rifles, Ruger rifles, SS1, SKS and M-16 rifles can be bought from the military for between Rp 15 million (US$1,660) and Rp 30 million, according to Ichsan. Pistols, he said, could be bought for between Rp 1 million and Rp 2 million. Military officers also brought endangered animals as gifts when they returned to their hometowns, he said.

The military had also forced coffee and spice producers to sell their produce to military personnel at low prices, Ichsan said. "They are enjoying the business, so there is no reason to pull out of the conflict areas," he said.

Meanwhile, Otto said military officers in Southeast Aceh were involved in illegal logging, which often sparked gun fights between the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police.

Military officers were also involved in automobile smuggling, he said, with smugglers charged between Rp 2 million and Rp 15 million to ensure the cars reach their buyers in Aceh.

Military officers also collect fees from vehicles passing by security posts, the amount of which could reach Rp 18 billion a year, according to Otto.

"Even dead bodies also have a price. If your family member is missing or dead, you must pay at least Rp 2 million to military officers to get the body," he said.

Sri urged the government to audit military foundations and cooperatives to find out the source of their funds.

According to Sri, military business entities should be put under the auspices of the Office of the State Minister for State Enterprises, and the profit should be distributed to the military through the state budget.

Security men involved in illicit businesses

Jakarta Post - October 14, 2002

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang -- It is no longer a secret that many police and military officers are involved in illicit businesses in many cities and towns across the country, and that would apparently include Tangerang.

The "businesses" are thriving thanks to the "protection" of corrupt officers even though the activities are against the law, they are sworn to uphold. Interviewed by The Jakarta Post separately over the weekend, employees of some massage and sauna parlors which allegedly offer prostitution, admitted that they are backed by the military and police.

A woman who works at the Bugar Garden massage parlor in the Green Garden shop complex near the Serpong highway exit, on Jl. Raya Serpong, said that her boss was backed by a high-ranking city police officer.

"Besides that, this parlor is also protected by an officer from the Cipondoh subprecinct police, who is responsible for daily security," Anita, not her real name, told the Post.

She added that an army officer, also her relative, also backed the establishment. She said she did not know the amount of money spent each month to pay the officers for their "protection", saying that it was her boss' business.

She was also quite sure that to maintain the one-year-old business, her boss had to have "a close relationship" with the Tangerang municipal public order and tourism agency officials.

Anita said that the parlor, employing dozens of young masseuses, was not exactly a brothel, as she explained that if customers wished to have sex with one of the girls, they simply had to negotiate a date with one of them and go out.

One employee with the Graha Sehat Family Health Massage parlor in the Lippo Pinangsia office complex in Karawaci also admitted that the parlor was protected by policemen and military officers.

He said that the establishment, which employs nine young attractive women, was backed by a middle-ranking officer from the city police headquarters.

The employee, who requested anonymity, said that the parlor's daily security was handled by a policemen from the Jatiuwung police station and an army officer.

Similarly, an employee at Dongne Sauna, a parlor belonging to a Korean man, said the business was backed by police and army officers.

The parlor, employing seven young women, is also located in the same complex. "Luckily, since this parlor opened in 1999, there has not been any significant security disturbances as officers from the Jatiuwung police, armed with their weapons, patrol this area every night," he said.

Graha Sehat, as well as Dongne Sauna, regularly give Rp 100,000 to the Jatiuwung policemen for their "monthly service" in maintaining security and order, according to the employees.

Jenny, who runs the Prima Sehat parlor in the Lippo Pinangsia office complex, however, said that her business was not backed by any policemen or military officers.

"Many parlors here hire policemen and military officers to protect them because they do illegal stuff," she said, referring mainly to prostitution.

She said that her parlor was legitimate, and only employed trained, professional masseurs, four male employees offering reflexive massage and seven middle-aged women who were traditional massage experts, and that it, therefore, did not require any protection from the police or military.

Meanwhile, the Tangerang police detective chief Insp. Kustanto claimed that none of his officers had such side jobs to protect nightspots or any other illegal business, but added that stern sanctions would be given to any found to be doing such things.

"To my knowledge, none of officers here back illegal business, but I don't know if they personally or secretly do so " he told the Post.

International relations

Paul Wolfowitz remarks on US-Indonesian military ties

Federal Document Clearing House - October 18, 2002

[The following are excerpts pertaining to Indonesia by Deputy Secretary Of Defense Paul Wolfowitz to the Defense Forum Foundation meeting about the war on terrorism on October 18, 2002.]

Question: In light of the heinous bombings in Bali this past weekend, I'd like to ask you a question about Indonesia, a country you know very well.

The thesis underlying it is that in decades past, overbearing and unaccountable Indonesian security forces have contributed in significant part to the radicalization of some segments of Indonesia society by making it, perhaps, more hospitable to terrorist organizations.

How do we balance in the short term our obvious [desire] in seeing Indonesia take a more proactive role in counterterrorism activities with a longer-term interest in not retarding democratization, professionalization and civilian control of Indonesian armed forces?

(crosstalk)

Wolfowitz: It's a great question, but I think you tried to bring it in by talking about terrorism. Let me first reject the premise of the question, but then answer what I think is a very serious question.

I just think there's no substance to the notion that the terrorists are in Indonesia because of the enormous and admittedly enormous past abuses of the Indonesian security forces.

Wolfowitz: If anything, unfortunately, one could make the argument that the reason the terrorists are successful in Indonesia is because the Suharto regime fell and the methods that were used to suppress them are gone. And the reason they are succeeding is because of outside money and outside influence.

We're talking about a tiny little sliver of Indonesian society. I mean, 200 million Indonesians were abused by the Indonesian military. Two hundred million Indonesians did not become terrorists, I guarantee you.

In fact, one of the heartwarming things to me was in reading the otherwise appalling poll taken, I think USA Today," published it in the fall of last year, about how many people in Muslim countries seem to think the World Trade Center attack was justified. Almost statistically insignificant, 4 percent of Indonesians thought so. I mean, this is a population that is just profoundly modern and tolerant in its outlook.

But the security force is a real problem, OK. Let's come to that. And it's no secret, at least to you, obviously, and maybe others in this room, that I have been pushing hard to restore US relations with the Indonesian military. I don't do so because I am under illusions about what their past record is, and I don't do so in the belief that all we need to do is just kind of get back in bed with the Indonesian military and everything will be fine.

I think there are real problems there, but I don't think those problems are solved by isolating them. And in fact, we've been isolating them for the last 10 years. One could hardly say that isolation has worked.

What I think isolation has helped to produce is a rogue military, a rogue military that does a lot of things that are bad and that does not come to the support of a democratic government that now needs it.

And I think for Indonesian democracy to succeed -- and in the long run this is connected to terrorism, because I believe fighting terrorists in Indonesia requires the success of Indonesian democratic institutions -- they need a military that is disciplined and where abuses are punished, but they also need a military and police that can be effective in dealing with some quite serious ethnic conflict.

Major source that the terrorists go after, they clearly are stimulating the Christian-Muslim conflict in Sulawesi and Maluku. And one of the reasons it goes on is when they send security forces to deal with the problem, they have about 20 percent of what they need to live off of. So they are adopted by one village or another. If they are adopted by a Christian village, they quickly become advocates of one side, or Muslim village the other.

In order to have effective peacekeeping forces, police or military in that situation, you've got to reform them, but you've also got to support them adequately.

So, we're trying -- short answer -- we're trying to develop a prudent course of developing relations with the Indonesian military based on reform, not based on opening the door to everything, but based also on the notion that isolating them is harmful to democracy in Indonesia and harmful to dealing with terrorists in Indonesia. And I think we've gotten support from the Congress on that. And for that I also thank you.

Question: Your comments on the string of bombings in Indonesia and the Philippines?

Wolfowitz: Just to say that, well, first of all, I mean, they're just horrible. And stop and think for a moment, as a proportion of its population, I believe Australia lost as many people in Bali as we lost on September 11.

It's a country that's not much more than what, a 20th or a 15th the size of ours. So do your multiplication. And so many young people in the prime of life. It's just horrible.

It's also horrible to think about what this means for Indonesia. And it's pretty striking, too, that this was done in the one province in Indonesia that is almost roughly 98 percent Hindu, non-Muslim. It's an incredible blow to Indonesia as a country. Their economy is struggling.

We talked about military reform.

Wolfowitz: That economy, if democracy is going to succeed in Indonesia, that economy has to succeed. And whoever planned that attack obviously dealt a body blow to the Indonesian economy and therefore, I think, also to Indonesian democracy.

And the Indonesians are going to have to decide what conclusions to draw from it, but I believe from what I'm reading in the newspapers that they are drawing the conclusion that as much distaste that they have for the bad practices of the Suharto era, they're going to have to find a democratic way to get tougher on terrorists, and I hope they will.

Question: I was just wondering what your comments would be on the meeting that you had with our prime minister a few months ago and the cooperation between the New Zealand government and the US government on the war on terror.

Wolfowitz: Well, it was a good meeting. We've had good cooperation. And I think the thing I'd most like to say is you have some very brave and capable soldiers who've been in difficult situations with us, and also who have taken on some difficult tasks in East Timor, where one of your people was killed.

In fact, we did discuss precisely the case of the New Zealander who was killed in East Timor and the relative success of your government in getting the Indonesians to deal properly with the perpetrators of that crime. I think you did better so far than we did. So we're trying to figure out how to copy your success.

Renewed links between Australia and Kopassus on the agenda

Radio Australia - October 17, 2002

Australia's defence minister Robert Hill has confirmed Australia is considering resuming military links with Indonesia's notorious Kopassus special forces.

Australia broke off all joint exercises with Kopassus in 1998, partly due to concerns about its support for militiamen operating in East Timor.

However it is understood the foreign minister will discuss renewing the link between the elite Inondesian troops and Australia's Special Air Services during talks in Jakarta this week.

Senator Hill thinks the move may be in Australia's interests. "We are aware of the role that Kopassus has in relation to counter- terrorism responsibilities in Indonesia, and therefore it it might well be in Australian interests to redevelop the relationship," Senator Hill says.

Economy & investment

Jakarta may see growth rate plunge to 3.1%

Agence France Presse - October 17, 2002

Jakarta -- Indonesia's economic growth is expected to be shaved to as low as 3.1 per cent this year after the deadly terrorist bombing in Bali, analysts say, citing rising risk premium and falling consumer confidence.

The government had forecast a 4.0 per cent growth figure for 2002 before the blast which had shaken investor confidence. The economy grew 3.3 per cent last year.

The analysts told AFX-Asia, an AFP subsidiary, that growth should drop to 3.1-3.3 per cent from their average projection of 3.4-3.8 per cent before the blast.

They said the government should maintain the current 'favourable' monetary policy to minimise the impact on the economy, which is likely to suffer from a drop in tourist arrivals and foreign investment.

According to the analysts, the impact, however, may not be as bad as some had feared due to Indonesia's reliance on domestic, rather than external, demand.

State-run Bahana Securities economist Budi Hikmat said the terrorist attack in Bali occurred "at a time right before the normal tourist peak season of the year as well as ahead of the year-end festive season in Indonesia".

"So, basically this event will have a negative impact but how bad it is, remains to be seen." He has revised downwards his 2002 gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast to 3.1 per cent from 3.8 per cent on the assumption that private consumption in the fourth quarter could be dampened.

Domestic consumption accounts for some 75 per cent of total GDP but had started slowing even before the Bali attack due to weaker consumer purchasing power resulting from government cuts to fuel and electricity subsidies.

The government has forecast fourth quarter growth of 5.76 per cent, up from a forecast 3.86 per cent in the third quarter on seasonal factors.