Indonesia Tercinta: July 2008

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Indonesian police: Recently seized bombs more deadly than previous

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The nearly two dozen active bombs that were seized during a recent raids at a suspected terrorist safe house in Indonesia were more powerful than those found or used in previous deadly attacks, national police chief General Sutanto said Friday.

The bombs, which were found in South Sumatra province had the potential to cause deadlier attacks than previously experienced in the country, including the Bali bombings which killed more than 200 people, he said.

"The bombs were not only filled with ball bearings but also bullets. So when the bombs explode they will have a double impact and will easily kill people," Sutanto, was quoted by DPA as telling reporters.

"They (terrorists) have changed their technique."

Sutanto, who like many Indonesians goes only by one name, said during the interrogation of suspects, it came to light that the explosives were distributed from central Java to South Sumatra.

The state-run Antara news agency quoted Sutanto as giving details of an alleged plan for the seized bombs to be detonated at several locations around the country, including outside the capital, Jakarta.

Ten terrorist suspects, including a Singaporean, were arrested during raids by anti-terror police forces between Saturday and Wednesday. Twenty active bombs, 16 of which were ready to be detonated, and tens of kilograms of explosive materials.

Police believe the Singaporean and an Afghanistan-trained bomb-maker, identified only as MH, as the associate of Singaporean terror fugitive Mas Selamat Kastari, who escaped from the city-state's prison early this year.

Sutanto said he had been a student of Azahari Husin, a Malaysian master bomb-maker who was killed in a shootout with anti-terror police at his hideout in East Java province in late 2005.

The suspects have also been linked to leading regional al-Qaeda linked terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), including Noordin M Top - a Malaysian national considered a key figure behind a series of bomb attacks in Indonesia over the past few years.

Dozens of terrorist suspects and alleged JI members have been arrested at several locations in central Java in previous operations where explosive materials were seized.

JI has been blamed for the October 2002 bombings on the resort island of Bali, the 2003 and 2004 attacks on the JW Marriott Hotel and the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, and the 2005 triple suicide bombings on restaurants in Bali.

The first Bali attack killed at least 202 people, most of them Western tourists. (*)

Police yet to declare Kastari involved in Palembang bomb-making group

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian police have yet to declare terrorist Mas Slamet Kastari, a fugitive wanted by the Singapore police, involved in the assembling of illegal bombs discovered recently in Palembang, though the main suspect in the case is a member of Kastari`s terror network, National Police Chief General Sutanto said.

The police chief said that although Kastari was not declared involved in the case, the National Police would disseminate Kastari`s photos in Indonesia in order to narrow down the area in which could move frrely.

"In the past, we also disseminated Kastari`s photos. Now we are going to do it again," the National Police chief said here on Friday.

Kastari and the main suspect in the Palembang bomb discovery in South Sumatra are both Singapore nationals.

He said the Indonesian police would coordinate with their counterpart in Singapore to know whether Kastari was involved in Indonesian terror networks.

Kastari who was charged with terrorism and detained in Singapore since 2006 escaped from prison on January 27, 2008. He was arrested because Singapore suspected that he had planned attacks on government and foreign targets as well on airport in 2001.

He was also detained in Indonesia in 2003 for an immigration law violation. After walking free in 2006, he was extradited to Singapore.

On the bomb discovery case in Palembang, police arrested HM, a Singaporean national who was suspected to have assembled the bombs and provided training on how to produce bombs.

The police arrested MH after they obtained a tipoff from Singapore that he was involved in terrorist activities in that country.

During the investigation, police found that HM was a member of the Kastari terror network.

After obtaining information from MH, police arrested nine other suspects, identified only by their initials, among others AT alias M alias K alias I (35), SG alias S alias R (22), AM alias Z (26), W alias Y alias R (35), AG alias G (36), HP alias H (25), AS alias AH alias UG (42), SA alias AB and AMT alias AT. (*)

KPK hopes to recover Rp1 trillion from corrupters by year end

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) hopes to have recovered a total of Rp1 trillion worth of state assets from resolved corruption cases by year end, a spokesman said.

Until now, the amount of recovered state property had reached Rp 455 billion and all of it had been transferred to the state treasury immediately to prevent it from generating interest, KPK Vice Chairman (for prevention) M Yasin said here Friday.

Speaking at a public discussion at the parliament building, Yasin also said the commission`s budget for 2008 was Rp250 billion. "This amount is commensurate with our task to retrieve stolen state assets," he said.

Yasin explained KPK`s actions were never motivated by political interest. "Our actions against people are void of any political interest." he said.

The commission was always working with meticulous care, professionally, indiscriminately and without seeking popularity, he said.

"We are not allowed to issue a stop-investigation order (SP3) in any ongoing investigation so we cannot afford to make mistakes and must always have sufficient material evidence as the basis of our actions," he said.

About the possibility of a corruption suspect entering into a "bargain" with KPK investigators, Yasin said this never happned with KPK personnel.

Asked whether it could happen that KPK officers took personal advantage from or misused their authority, Yasin said KPK personnel were bound by a clearly defined code of ethics. Any kind of gifts they had received, especially from suspects, had to be reported to superiors.

"When we visit the regions, we are not allowed to be `welcomed` much less `entertained` by local officials. When we return to Jakarta, we do not accept `transport money` from the locals. So far, these rules are being consistently observed," he said.

He said the House of Representatives (DPR) should also have such a code of ethics. "It would be very good for its image, if the House implements such rules consistently," he added. (*)

As Mt Anak Krakatau is in alert status, tourists advised not to ascend it

Serang (ANTARA News) - After the Bandung-based Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has declared Mt Anak Krakatau in top alert status, tourists are strongly advised not to climb the volcano in the Sunda strait, because on certain times it was still spewing red-hot rocks and toxic gasses.

"We are still strongly advising tourists not to climb Mt Anak Krakatau," head of the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center Surono said in Bandung.

He said that after the activity of Mt Anak Agung has stopped recently, its status was lowered from alert III to alert II by the center in Bandung.

But tourists were still not allowed to ascend the volcano, except up to two kilometers from the cauldron which had been declared as top danger zone.

"We have also established coordination with the managers of tourist facilities, like hotels, in the area in warning guests not to ascend the mountain at all," he said.

There was a time, when the volcano was active, a French tourist tried to ascent the volcano, but later fainted after inhaling toxic gasses, and hit by flying red-hot rocks to his eventual death, Surono said. (*)

Indonesian teachers to join `profs en France` program

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Some 33 teachers from Indonesia, and their colleagues from China and India, will join a visit program called `Profs en France` organized by the French foreign ministry, from July 6 to 19, 2008.

"Some 33 Indonesian teachers and 67 others from China and India, will take part in the program," a press statement of the French embassy in Jakarta, said on Friday.

The teachers were invited to visit France to actualize their linguistic, pedagogic and cultural capabilities.

In the first phase of the program, they will visit Vichy and stay with local French families. And the second half of the program, they will visit Paris, among other things to see Sorbonne, Versailles Palace, and several museums, as well as to meet with officials of the French foreign ministry. (*)

Indonesian terror suspects linked with Singapore network

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The suspected terrorists who were arrested by the Indonesian anti-terror police in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Tuesday and Wednesday were said to have links with a terrorist network in Singapore.

According to National Police Chief Spokesman Insp. Gen. Abubakar Nataprawira, the suspected terrorists had links particularly with the group of Mas Slamet Kastari (45) in Singapore and wanted top Malaysian terrorist Noordin M Top.

Noordin is the most wanted terror suspect in Indonesia after Dr Azhari, a Malaysian bomb expert associated with Jemaah Islamiyah, who was killed in a police raid in Indonesia in 2005.

Abubakar said the South Sumatra networks were known to have links with the network in Singapore after police arrested suspect HM (35) in Sekayu sub district, Musi Banyuasin district, South Sumatra on June 28, 2008.

Kastari, a Singapore national, and escaped from a jail on Whitley Street in Singapore some time ago. He was put in the Singapore jail in 2006 and had been there until he escaped, on charges of planning terror attacks. He planned an attack on government buildings, airport and foreign representative offices in Singapore in 2001.

He was also once detained in Indonesia in 2003 for an immigration law violation. After walking free in 2006, he was extradited to Singapore.

"The police arrested MH after they obtained a tipoff from Singapore that he was involved in terrorist activities in that country," Abubakar said.

After obtaining information from MH, police arrested nine other suspects. Police until Thursday still refused to name the suspects, but made public their initials. They were among others AT alias M alias K alias I (35), SG alias S alias R (22), AM alias Z (26), W alias Y alias R (35), AG alias G (36), HP alias H (25), AS alias AH alias UG (42), SA alias AB and AMT alias AT.

Abubakar said in the investigation of the South Sumatra networks, police discovered links with members of Noordin M Top networks who were arrested in Semarang and Wonosobo (Central Java) in 2006.

In Central Java several years ago, police arrested a number of suspected terrorists who were believed to have hidden Noordin M Top.

MH, the police chief spokesman said, admitted he had assembled bombs and trained other suspects how to assemble them. AT was believed to have assembled bombs, planned to explode `Bedudel` Cafe in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra in 2005 and tortured clergyman Joshua in Bandung in 2005.

"He was found to be in possession of firearms of S and W colt types with six bullets," Abubakar said. SG and AM also had assembled bombs. Besides possessing home-made bombs, suspects W, AG and HP meanwhile had planned to explode the Bedudel cafe and maltreated Jushoa. AS and SA were also charged with helping MH to go into hiding.

Pieces of evidence seized from the South Sumatra network included four bombs, one colt revolver, 10 bullets of 28 mm caliber and 18 computers.

The exhibits were found and confiscated on July 1, 2008 in a house on Jl Papera, Palembang, South Sumatra. On July 2, the following day, police confiscated other evidence, among others, 10 home-made bombs, 9.1 kg of black powder and eight detonators.

Police also confiscated potassium nitrate, potassium chlorate, a mixture of carbon and potassium nitrate, home-made pistols and various types of cable rollers.

But police are not yet able to reveal their next targets. Abubakar said that police up to now were still studying the locations of targets where the terror suspects had planned to carry out bomb attacks.

In their efforts to uncover further evidence and suspects, police in South Sumatra are still detaining one suspect there for interrogation.

"In order to trace other suspects and evidence, police are still keeping one suspect in Palembang while others have been put in the Kelapa Dua Mobile Brigade detention house in Depok, a satellite town south of Jakarta," Abubakar said.

The nine terror suspects arrived at the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) Headquarters` detention center at 11 am Thursday under heavy guard.

With their heads covered in hoods, the nine men arrived in a bus guarded by members of the police`s anti-terror detachment riding in three other vehicles - one in front of, and two behind, the prisoners` bus.

After going through a checking-in procedure, the nine suspects were led to a cell located in the back part of a block housing the Mobile Brigade Headquarters` internal affairs unit.

None of the police officers at the Mobile Brigade Headquarters or the prisoners` guards was prepared to make any comments to reporters covering the happening. They only said they did not know anything about the prisoners. (*)

Indonesian police interrogate terror suspects

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesian police said Friday they were interrogating 10 suspects and examining some 20 improvised bombs after cracking a major cell of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) regional terror group.

They were also sifting through volumes of material gathered from an alleged safe house in the South Sumatra provincial capital of Palembang earlier this week, including the bombs and 18 computer hard drives.

"We are still investigating the terror suspects and examining all the explosives we found," national police spokesman Abubakar Nataprawira told AFP.

"Our team is still studying how powerful these bombs would have been. There are quite a lot of devices and we're still working on that."

He refused to confirm media reports that some of the bombs found in the safe house, including 10 that were primed to explode, were capable of unleashing the sort of blasts which killed 202 people in Bali six years ago.

Police have given very little information about the men who were rounded up in and around Palembang between Saturday and Wednesday, saying only that they formed a dangerous cell linked to some of the region's most wanted extremists.

The cell had staked out a backpacker cafe in the tourist town of Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, police said, and was reportedly eyeing Western targets in Jakarta.

Police said the leader, believed to be a Singaporean known as Abu Hazam, was connected to Malaysian extremist Noordin Mohammad Top, who allegedly masterminded the 2002 Bali bombings, the 2003 Marriott Hotel attack in Jakarta and the Australian embassy attack in 2004.

Noordin is the alleged chief of the most extreme JI faction and calls himself leader of Al-Qaeda for the Malay Archipelago, a loose network believed to include extremists in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.

Abu Hazam, also known as Omar and Taslim, is also an associate of Mas Selamat bin Kastari, the alleged leader of JI's Singapore branch who escaped from prison there in February and is still at large, reportedly in Indonesia.

Police said Hazam had received military training in Afghanistan but have not confirmed local media reports that he had met Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

They said Hazam was teaching bomb-making to other cell members in Palembang when he was arrested on Saturday.

Police were investigating reports that Kastari had fled to Indonesia after his escape from custody in Singapore on February 27.

"We still don't know whether Kastari has already entered Indonesia, we're still investigating that," Nataprawira said.

Being circumspect

National chief police Sutanto told reporters however that police were being circumspect about giving information on Kastari because they were afraid he would escape.

"We don't need to say anything. It's still under investigation. We're afraid that if we mention it he'll escape," he said.

The Singaporean government accuses Kastari of plotting to hijack a plane in order to crash it into Singapore's Changi Airport in 2001.

Police said the Singaporean detainee captured on Saturday, belived to be Abu Hazam, had been the subject of a "red note" from the Singapore government informing Jakarta that he was engaged in terrorist activity in Indonesia.

Sutanto said he would be prosecuted in Indonesia before any Jakarta considered any extradition request from Singapore. (*)

Indonesian embassy provides assistance for Zimbabwean HIV/AIDS patients

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian embassy in Harare provided humanitarian assistance to HIV/AIDS patients at Mashambanzou Msasa Care Trust in Harare, according to an embassy press statement on Friday.

The assistance , especially intended for HIV/AIDS-infected children, was handed over by Mrs. Djoko Sjarijono, wife of the Indonesian ambassador to Zimbabwe.

It was the second food donation provided by the embassy to the patients following the economic crisis hitting Zimbabwe and the cessation of assistance from international organizations to Mashambanzou Care Trust, Mrs. Sjarijono said.

The World Food Program (WFP) had stopped its assistance to the shelter which is accommodating nine children and 20 adults infected with the HIV/AIDS virus, following political turmoil in the African country.

Medicine San Frontier Zimbabwe reported that around 20 percent of Zimbabwe`s 15 million population had contracted HIV/AIDS. (*)

Jail for giving to beggars, Indonesian city says

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Residents in one Indonesian city who give in to the tug of guilt could face three months in jail under a law criminalising giving money to beggars and street children, the city's mayor said Friday.

The new regulation approved last month by the legislative council in Makassar, South Sulawesi, is aimed at reducing the city's swelling population of beggars, Mayor Ilham Arif Sirajuddin told AFP.

"Under the law, people who give money to beggars will be jailed up to three months or have to pay a maximum fine of 1.5 million rupiah (163 dollars)," he said.

"This is an important decision to clear beggars from the streets," Sirajuddin said, adding that beggars and street children face maximum sentences of three years in jail or fines up to five million rupiah.

The crackdown has been matched by a programme to train beggars for work, he said.

The population of beggars and street children in Makassar jumped from 870 in 2006 to 2,600 this year, he said. (*)

Indonesia to execute `black magic` serial killer: prosecutor

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - An Indonesian man who murdered 42 women in "black magic" rituals aimed at increasing his supernatural powers will soon be executed by firing squad, a prosecutor said Thursday.

Self-proclaimed shaman Ahmad Suraji was sentenced to death in 1998 after police found the women's bodies buried in a sugar cane field in North Sumatra.

Suraji confessed to police that he strangled most of the women and drank their saliva after they came to him for supernatural help with their finances and love life. He said the saliva improved his magical powers.

Indonesia is mainly Muslim but belief in black magic is widespread.

Suraji's execution was approved after his second application for clemency was rejected by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, senior prosecutor Abdul Hakim Ritonga told AFP .

"Based on that rejection, we decided to execute him. We have ordered local officials to carry out all the preparations," Ritonga said.

The serial killer is one of five Indonesians set to be executed "soon", Ritonga said, while declining to give specific dates.

A security officer at the North Sumatra prison where Suraji sits on death row, who identified himself as Budi, said no official order had been received for the execution.

Suraji's wife Tumini, the oldest of three sisters all married to the convicted serial killer, was also sentenced to death for her role in the killings. No date has been set for her execution.

Suraji told police before his 1998 trial he began his killing spree after his late father ordered him in a dream to murder 70 women as part of a black magic ritual.

Police said during Suraji's trial that he instructed his female clients to allow themselves to be buried naked up to the neck before he strangled them to death.

However, Suraji's lawyer said Thursday his client was innocent and had been tortured by police into confessing.

"If he really has black magic powers, why did he have wounds all over his body? Police must have tortured him. Someone who has black magic can't be wounded anywhere on his body," Legal Aid Institute lawyer Adi Mansar said.

The bodies found in the sugar cane plantation were actually those of victims of a brutal military-backed crackdown on communists in the 1960s that killed upwards of half a million people, Mansar said.

Pious Muslim in prison

A local journalist who interviewed Suraji earlier this week said the serial killer had become a pious Muslim while in prison, praying five times a day and doling out religious advice to his fellow inmates.

"The black magic came from God. I don't have it anymore, I have repented. I hope I have a chance to live," Suraji told Wadson Manalu.

Prison guard Budi said the serial killer was popular with other inmates and did not need to be isolated.

"He has no problem here and has many friends. He is not living in a special
cell, he shares a cell with several prisoners," Budi said.

Executions in Indonesia are by firing squad, usually carried out at night in isolated and undisclosed locations. The prisoner is notified of his execution date at least 72 hours beforehand. (*)

BI raises key rate to 8.75 pct

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Bank Indonesia (BI) on Thursday decided to raise its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 8.75 percent.

The central bank took the decision after considering the impact of the current situation on the domestic economic stability and financial system, and the prospects for the national economy this year and next year, BI Governor Boediono said in a press conference here on Thursday.

"Inflationary pressure in 2008 was particularly the result of fuel oil and food price hikes," he said.

BI also noted that the inflationary pressure also resulted from rising demands due to a rise in the amount of bank loans and money supplies until the second quarter of this year.

Therefore, BI considered it necessary to raise its key rate to prevent the second round effect of fuel oil and food price hikes on the prices of other commodities, he said.

He said BI would always use the available instruments in a flexible and measurable way to lower the inflation rate in 2009 to 6.5-7.5 percent. For its part, BI would coordinate with the government intensively.

On-year inflation rate reached 11.03 percent in June 2008 while the January-June 2008 inflation rate climbed to 7.37 percent compared to 2.08 in the same period last year.

The central bank predicted full-year inflation rate would soar to 11.5-12.5 percent.(*)

Palembang terror suspects linked with S`pore networks, Noordin M Top: Police

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - National Police Chief Spokesman Insp Gen Abubakar Nataprawira said on Thursday the nine teror suspects arrested in South Sumatra during the past two days had links with terror networks in Singapore and wanted top terror suspect Noordin M Top.

In Singapore, the networks included the group of Mas Slamet Kastari (Singapore national). Kastari (45) escaped from a jail on Whitley Street, Singapore, some time ago.

He had been held since 2006 on charges of terror offenses, namely planning an attack on government buildings, airport and foreign representative offices in Singapore in 2001.

Kastari was also once detained in Indonesia in 2003 for an immigration law violation. After walking free in 2006, he was extradited to Singapore.

Abubakar said the South Sumatra networks were known to have links with the Singapore rings after police arrested a suspect identfied as HM (35) in Sekayu sub district, Musi Banyuasin district, South Sumatra, on June 28, 2008.

"The police arrested MH after they obtained a tipoff from Singapore that he was involved in terror activities in that country," Abubakar said.

After obtaining information from MH, police arrested nine other suspects, namely AT alias M alias K alias I (35), SG alias S alias R (22), AM alias Z (26), W alias Y alias R (35), AG alias G (36), HP alias H (25), AS alias AH alias UG (42), SA alias AB and AMT alias AT.

The nine terror suspects who were arrested on Wednesday by anti-terror police in Palembang were at 9 am on Thursday flown to Jakarta.

Tightly escorted by police officers, the nine men were herded into a police aircraft at Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Airport in Palembang.

The nine were rounded up in anti-terror raids conducted in Palembang on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In a raid on a house on Jalan Papera, police discovered and seized eight partly-assembled bombs and 13 fully built-up bombs, and 50 kilogram of explosive materials.

The police left the house belonging to the late Rustam Alamsyah in a mess as they had to search the house intensively before finding the dangerous objects and materials hidden in the house`s loft.(*)

RI recognizes state but not govt of Zimbabwe : Spokesman

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government recognizes the state but not the government of Zimbabwe in light of the controversy that has arisen over Robert Mugabe`s reappointment as the country`s president in an election marred by violence and international criticism, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

"We are of the opinion that last week`s general election (in Zimbabwe) were undemocratic and Indonesia`s policy in this regard is to recognize the state rather than the government of Zimbabwe," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said here on Thursday.

He was commenting on Mugabe`s induction as Zimbabwe`s president.

The Indonesian government, he said, was concerned about the undemocratic general election process which was marred by intimidations.

"We have also noted the results of the African Union meeting in Egypt which gave a negative opinion on the Zimbabwe election," he said.

The foreign ministry spokesman said owing to the fact that the process in that country was still on-going, including a proposal for the formation of a national unity government, Indonesia would continue to keep abreast of developments there.

"We are looking at it as a development or an indication of the dynamics at play in the Zimbabwean crisis," he said.

Mugabe won a presidential re-run with a single presidential nominee. The election commission announced that Mugabe won 85.5 percent and his rival, Tsvangirai, 9.3 percent of the votes.(*)

Police yet to explain arrest of nine terror suspects

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - National Police Headquarters is not yet prepared to explain the arrest of nine terror suspects in Palembang, South Sumatra two days ago.

Chief of the Police Public Relations Affairs Insp. Gen. Abubakar Nataprawira here on Thursday only mentioned the initials of the suspects.

They were HR, alias K alias, M alias Y, SGD, SDC alias GG, AS, WYD alias MY alias HD, HY alias H, AZ, SA alias AR and AMT alias T.

"They have been taken from Palembang to Jakarta today for detention at the Police`s Mobile Brigade`s detention center in Kelapa Dua, Depok," he said.

Police also confiscated pieces of evidence such as 19 home-made bombs and potassium chlorate.

Abubakar was not prepared to answer reporters` questions on the possibility of the involvement of foreign nationals.

"We still do not know who they are and to what networks they belong because they were arrested only yesterday," he said.

The role of each suspect was also not yet known because the investigation was not yet finished, he added.

The nine terror suspects who were arrested on Wednesday by anti-terror police in Palembang were at 9 am on Thursday flown to Jakarta.

Tightly escorted by police officers, the nine men were herded into a police aircraft at Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Airport in Palembang.

The nine were rounded up in anti-terror raids conducted in Palembang on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In a raid on a house on Jalan Papera, police discovered and seized eight partly-assembled bombs and 13 fully built-up bombs, and 50 kilogram of explosive materials.

The police left the house belonging to the late Rustam Alamsyah in a mess as they had to search the house intensively before finding the dangerous objects and materials hidden in the house`s loft.(*)

Nine arrested terror suspects held at Brimob Hq`s detention center

Depok (ANTARA News) - The nine terror suspects arrested in Palembang, South Sumatra, during the past two days arrived at the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) Headquarters` detention center in Kelapa Dua, Depok, at 11 am Thursday under heavy guard.

With their heads covered in hoods, the nine men arrived in a bus guarded by members of the police`s anti-terror detachment riding in three other vehicles - one in front of, and two behind, the prisoners` bus.

After going through a checking-in procedure, the nine suspects were led to a cell located in the back part of a block housing the Mobile Brigade Headquarters` internal affairs unit.

None of the police officers at the Mobile Brigade Headquarters or the prisoners` guards was prepared to make any comments to reporters covering the happening. They only said they did not know anything about the prisoners.

Earlier in the day, at 08.25 West Indonesian Time, the nine men were put on a police plane at Palembang`s Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Airport and, at precisely 09.00, flown to Jakarta.

A National Police Headquarters` spokesman was on Thursday still unable to provide further explanations on the arrests which took place in Palembang over the past two days.

He could only give the initials of the nine men and disclose that a number of improvised explosive devices and a still undetermined volume of explosive material were confiscated during a raid on a house in South Sumatra`s provincial capital.(*)

Indonesia anti-terror unit brings suspects to capital

Palembang (ANTARA News) - Nine suspected terrorists, arrested on Wednesday by anti-terror police in Palembang, South Sumatra, were at 9 am on Thurday flown to Jakarta.

Tightly escorted by police officers, the nine men were
herded into a police aircraft at Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Airport in Palembang.

The nine were rounded up in anti-terror raids conducted in Palembang on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In a raid on a house on Jalan Papera, police discovered and seized eight partly-assembled bombs and 13 fully built-up bombs, and 50 kilogram of explosive materials.

The police left the house belonging to the late Rustam Alamsyah in a mess as they had to search the house intensively before finding the dangerous objects and materials hidden in the house`s loft. (*)

Indonesian Navy orders three aircrafts from PT DI

Surabaya3 (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Navy has ordered two maritime patrol aircraft and one CN 212-400 plane from the country`s aircraft industry PT Dirgantara Indonesia (DI).

"The number of naval aircraft we have is still small and therefore we will continue to increase it," Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Sumardjono said here on Thursday.

He said he would continue to improve the naval armament system including aircraft and warships through transfer-of-technology deals with other countries.

"The oldest aircraft we have at present were made in the 1980s but we will continue to rejuvenate our fleet," Sumardjono said, adding that only airworthy planes would be operated.

Meanwhile, the head of the Navy`s Aviation Center,Admiral Sumartono, said the Navy now had a total of 68 airplanes of various types but only 48 of them were serviceable. (*)

Indonesian police find bomb cache, arrest nine

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Nine men arrested in Indonesia's South Sumatra province in connection with a cache of homemade bombs were flown to Jakarta in blindfolds, shackles and under heavy security on Thursday.

The unidentified suspects were arrested in connection with the discovery of some 20 makeshift bombs in the attic of a rented house in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Tuesday, a police source said.

Members of the US and Australian-trained Special Detachment 88 anti-terrorism squad were involved in the raid on the house in the provincial capital, police said.

Several newspapers reported that one of the suspects was a Singaporean but police would not confirm rumours that he was Mas Selamat Kastari, the alleged leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militant group in Singapore.

Despite a massive police manhunt, the 47-year-old Kastari remains at large more than three months after his escape from a detention centre.

An AFP reporter saw the men -- wearing balaclavas, blindfolds and handcuffs -- being transferred from a plane onto police buses at a civilian airport in the capital.

One of the suspects wore a black T-shirt with a logo that said "Suicide."

They were escorted by masked and heavily armed plain-clothes officers and taken to a police headquarters on the southern outskirts of the city.

National police spokesman Abu Bakar Nataprawira confirmed that an unspecified number of arrests had been made in relation to the discovery of the bombs but he could not provide further details.

"The suspects will be brought to Jakarta (on Thursday) for questioning," he said.

"There have been arrests but the details about who they are and what they have done will be announced later today."

Local residents told the Antara news agency that the occupants of the house had moved in only two months ago and rarely socialised with neighbours.

The Singaporean government accuses Kastari of plotting to hijack a plane in order to crash it into Singapore's Changi Airport in 2001. He was never charged, but was being held under a law that allows for detention without
trial.

A committee of inquiry found that Kastari, who walks with a limp, escaped through the window of a bathroom where he was taken before a regular visit by his family.

Surveillance cameras that were not working, and a slow reaction from guards, contributed to Kastari's flight, Wong said.

Singaporean officials said in April they believed Kastari was still in Singapore but terrorism experts have said he is likely to have gone underground in the vast archipelago of Indonesia.

Authorities blame JI for a string of regional attacks including the 2002 bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali which killed 202 people.

The Kompas daily said 16 of the bombs found in the house were ready to be detonated. (*)

Indonesian police raid nets terror suspects, explosives

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesian police have captured several terrorist suspects, including a Singaporean, and seized dozens of assembled bombs and a cache of explosives, officials and local media reports said Thursday.

The nine terrorist suspects, believed to be members of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a regional terrorist network linked to al-Qaeda, were arrested during various raids since June 28 at several locations in South Sumatra province.

The latest arrest took place on Tuesday in the provincial capital of Palembang, national police spokesman Abubakar Nataprawira was quoted bu=y DPA as telling reporters on late Wednesday.

A Singaporean, identified as Alim, alias Omar or Taslim, was among the detained men, who was arrested last Saturday in South Sumatra district of Sekayu.

According to a report by the Kompas.com news portal the suspects were flown out of Palembang to Jakarta on Thursday morning for further interrogation.

In addition to 20 assembled bombs, 16 of them ready to be detonated, the counter-terror units also seized tens of kilograms of potassium chlorate and other explosive materials as well as several hand grenades, Nataprawira said.

Police believe Singaporean Alim, an Afghanistan-trained bomb-maker,was a close aide to Malaysian master bomb-maker Azahari bin Husin, who was killed in late 2005 in a shoot-out with anti-terror police at his East Java province's hideout.

Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population, has been hit by a string of terrorist attacks blamed on JI since 2000, including bombings on the resort island of Bali in 2002 and 2005 and the Australian Embassy in Jakarta in 2004.

The Indonesian government, after initially being in denial about its terrorism problem, has made tremendous strides against JI since the 2002 Bali bombings. Authorities have arrested more than 300 suspects and convicted most of them.

However, the country's counter-terrorism police are still on a nationwide manhunt for Malaysian bomb-maker Noordin M Top, who leads a breakaway faction of JI is believed to be the mastermind behind all the bombings since 2000. (*)

Australian Corby spotted in Indonesian beauty salon

Denpasar, Indonesia (ANTARA News) - Australian drug trafficker Schapelle Corby, who is serving 20 years in jail in Indonesia, was spotted Wednesday in a beauty salon on Bali where she is serving her time.

Corby, found guilty of trafficking 4.1 kilograms (nine pounds) of marijuana in 2005, was escorted by two armed police officers as she emerged from the Gardenia Salon on the resort island, an AFP correspondent saw.

Wearing jeans, a blue cap and matching tank top, the 30-year-old tried to hide her face from journalists as she left the salon and was escorted back to an adjacent hospital where she was admitted last month for depression.

She made no comment and prison authorities were unavailable to clarify why she was allowed to leave the hospital, where she is under constant guard. Staff at the salon also refused to talk to the media.

Friends of the salon staff however said Corby had had her hair done and enjoyed a soothing spa treatment.

An employee of a nearby market said she also did some shopping there on Tuesday afternoon, again with an escort of two police officers.

"She spent quite a long time here, almost two hours. She bought some snacks and clothes. She had a look out the door before she left," he told AFP.

The former beauty therapist is reported to have slumped into depression after Indonesia's Supreme Court rejected her final appeal in March.

Corby, who turns 31 next week, has always maintained her innocence and claims international drug smugglers placed the marijuana in her luggage.

It was seized from her unlocked surfboard bag when she arrived on the palm-fringed island for a holiday in October 2004.

Corby's sentence outraged many Australians, partly due to its severity and partly because many believed the photogenic beautician's claims of innocence.

She shares a prison on the island with the so-called Bali Nine, a gang of Australians convicted of smuggling heroin from Indonesia to Australia in 2005.

The gang's three ring-leaders, Scott Rush, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, are on death row, while the six other members are serving prison sentences ranging from life to 20 years. (*)

Police arrest terror suspect in Palembang

Palembang (ANTARA News) - Police have set up a police line in front of a house on Jalan Papera where on Tuesday (July 1) they arrested a terror suspect, identified by the initial W, and an associate.

According to eye-witnesses, members of the police`s Special Detachment 88 raided the house on Tuesday at around 15.00 and arrested W and a companion.

At 16:00, W and his friend were put in a police car and taken away under escort of plainclothes officers.

Until Wednesday, uniformed members of the bomb unit of the South Sumatra Mobile Brigade were still guarding the house which had been left empty.

A local resident, Sulaiman, related the police raid happened in a tense atmosphere, especially because W made an unsuccessful attempt to escape through a window of the house.

According to Suleiman, W had moved into the house only two months ago and almost never socialized with neigbors.

The police raid and W`s arrest caused quite a stir among local residents as their area had always been trouble-free and peaceful. Many of them were in fact struck by fear, particularly when on Tuesday evening police also took out goods, said to be tools and materials to make electronic explosive devices, from the house.

Meanwhile, the South Sumatra police`s chief infomration officer, Senior Commissioner Abu Sopah, said he could not give any information on W`s arrest as the entire operation was carried out by personnel from the National Police Headquarters.

"For information on this, please, contact National Police Headquarters," he said. (*)

Police investigating illegal sending of students to Egypt

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Police have began investigating the case of 39 Islamic boarding school students from Banten who were illegally sent to Egypt for further studies, a spokesman said.

So far, police have been questioning witnesses and not yet identified any suspects, a senior officer at the National Police`s criminal investigation department, Brig.Gen Badrootin Haiti, said here Wednesday.

"The victims are students of an Islamic boarding school in Banten who wanted to study in Cairo," he said.

Each of the students had paid Rp17 million to someone who guaranteed they could study at Al Ahzar University and receive a monthly allowance until they graduated.

"The person promised that they could study, get scholarships, and have part-time jobs," he said.

The scam was discovered in June 2008 by the Indonesian Embassy in Cairo. The 39 students were from Darul Qolam Islamic boarding school in Gintung, Banten province.

"They were given temporary accommodations in a Cairo suburb," said Teuku Faizasyah, a foreign ministry official.

The students were sent to Egypt via Malaysia using tourist visa which were later changed into student visa.
(*)

150 houses from Islamic Relief for Aceh`s tsunami victims

Banda Aceh (ANTARA News) - Britain-based Islamic Relief has donated 150 houses to victims of the 2004 tsunami in Aceh Besar, Aceh Jaya Districts, and Banda Aceh city, Aceh Province.

The houses were officially presented on Monday, according to acting Communication Director of the Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) Ridwan Muchtar here on Monday.

The Islamic Relief, Qatar`s Red Crescent, AmeriCares, Disaster Emergency Committee and BRR also officially handed a unit of clean water supply facility at Beuromae village.

Director of Islamic Relief Indonesia Ahmed Tosson said that the 150 houses were part of 1,100 houses which had been constructed by the humanitarian institution since January 2005 for tsunami victims.

"It`s recorded that 850 of the 1,100 houses which we have constructed, have been handed to tsunami victims in Aceh," Tosson said.

Deputy Governor of Aceh Muhammad Nazar expressed gratitude for the assistance and said that the provincial administration was committed to improving the economic condition of the local people.

A deadly tsunami devastated Aceh on December 26, 2004, killing more than 150,000 people and leaving around one million others homeless. (*)

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