Indonesia Tercinta

Saturday, July 5, 2008

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. (*)

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Government sets target of all areas in RI having broadband access in 2015

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government has set itself the target of making all areas in Indonesia have broadband access for connection to universal internet in 2015, a minister has said.

"At a meeting in Bangkok last week, APEC telecommunications and industry ministers set a target of making all countries in Asia and the Pacific including Indonesia have broadband access in 2015," Communications and Informatics Minister Muhammad Nuh said here Tuesday.

At their 7th meeting on 23-25 April, the telecommunications and industry ministers of APEC (the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) agreed to set a target of raising access to universal internet by three folds from the 2010 target set at a forum of its kind in Brunei Darussalam last year.

Thus, the Indonesian government would soon prepare a roadmap about major strategies and policies on broadband access in the country.

At the meeting, the ministers also touched on the use of sound and safe internet.

"An environ which is able to protect users, mainly children, and guarantee safety for individual and business users, was a main point in the conclusion of the Bangkok Declaration," Nuh said.

The Bangkok Declaration also agreed on global cooperation calling on governments, industries, business community and consumers to make a concerted effort which is universal in nature.

"Indonesia at the meeting presented efforts which have been made like the ID-SIRTII (the Indonesia Security Incident Response Team on Internet Infrastructure) and newly-approved ITE Law," Nuh said.

The Bangkok Declaration also mentioned the exchange of technology information, innovative services and technical cooperation.

"The US specially offered technical cooperation to improve our capability in information on communications and technology," he said.

On the sidelines of the forum, Indonesia held a bilateral meeting with the US Coordinator for International Telecommunications and Information Policy, David Gross. (*)

Indonesia, Australia host regional forum meeting on disaster

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Bill Farmer has welcomed the hosting by Indonesia and Australia of a desk-top exercise to enhance multinational disaster relief responses in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Australian embassy said here on Wednesday the two-day exercise commencing on Thursday aims to improve the speed and effectiveness of multinational, civil and military disaster response capabilities between the 27 participants of the ASEAN Regional Forum and will involve a range of government agencies and regional aid bodies.

Australia`s Minister for Defence Joel Fitzgibbon was quoted by the embassy as saying the initiative built on the valuable contributions the Australian Defence Force had made in regional disaster relief efforts and highlighted Australia`s commitment to its regional partners.

The last few years had seen an increase in multinational responses to regional disasters - most notably the successful international effort in responding to the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. It was important that the region works together to further improve and coordinate their efforts, Fitzgibbon said according to the embassy

"Holding the exercise in Jakarta also ensures regional countries gain maximum benefit from the lessons learned and experience of the Indonesian government and Armed Forces in responding to a range of natural disasters," he said.

"The exercise is an important step in coordinating expertise from across the region and focuses a very broad bank of resources to the critical task of rendering assistance to those who need it most during a natural disaster."

The exercise - a regional cooperation activity conducted through the ASEAN Regional Forum - is to be held at the Indonesian Naval Command and Staff College in Jakarta on May 1-2, 2008.
(*)

Thousands of Indonesian workers rally to mark May Day

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Thousands of workers from Jakarta and vicinity areas rallied here on Thursday to mark the International Workers` Day or May Day.

Before proceeding to the State Palace, the workers, who were coming among other things from Bekasi, Tangerang and Bogor, gathers in several spots such as the Banteng Square and the Proclamation Monument in central Jakarta.

Workers gathering in the Banteng Square were grouped by several labor unions including the Labor Union of Indonesian People (SPRI), the Labor Union of Indonesian Informal Workers (Serbiindo), the Labor Union of Indonesian National Maritime (SBMNI), the Labor Union of National Transportation (SBTN), and the Labor Union of Indonesian Automotive (SPOI).

Earlier Jakarta Metropolitan police chief Inspector Gen. Adang Firman said his office would mobilize at least 15 thousand security personnel and the military to control the mass rallies.

Meanwhile, in the Proclamation Monument, more than 200 workers demanded the improvement of their welfare when celebrating the May Day.

The workers were among others members of the Reform Tourism Labor Union Federation (FSP-PAR-Rev), the Indonesian Automotive Labor Union (SPO), the Indonesian Migrant Worker Union (SBMI), and the Demanding Worker Alliance.

They voiced their demands for the improvement of their welfare, the eradication of contract system and the payment of proper salaries for them.

Other spots in Jakarta where a number of workers gathered for the May Day were the Hotel Indonesia Circle, in front of the Parliament Building, and the Senayan sport stadium.

Around 50,000 workers were expected to gather in the Senayan stadium in the conclusion of the May Day celebration.

Similar rallies were also held in other Indonesian cities such as Yogyakarta, Medan (North Sumatra), Denpasar (Bali), Surabaya and Malang (East Java), Bandung (West Java) and Makassar (South Sulawesi). (*)

Indonesia stresses on every country`s rights to develop nuclear energy

London (ANTARA News) - Indonesia has highlighted the rights of every country to develop nuclear energy, but expressed their high concern over a slow process of the nuclear disarmament by countries which have modernized their nuclear fleet.

In the second preparatory committee meeting of Nuclear weapons non-proliferation treaty held in Geneva, Indonesian Charge d`Affairs to UN in Geneva I Gusti Agung on Wednesday said it was the right of every country to develop nuclear energy already guaranteed by the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT).

The double standard of nuclear weapons producing countries which often stressed on non-proliferation policy in one hand while ignoring the obligation of nuclear countries to dismantle their weapon on the other hands, had the potential to weaken the integrity of nuclear weapons non-proliferation treaty, he said.

A big worry about the proliferation of nuclear weapons should not be made as an excuse to block others` rights, he said.

Therefore Indonesia often encouraged the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as the relevant agency in dealing with the challenges in the context of preventing the proliferation and building international cooperation in making use of nuclear energy.

In the meeting, Indonesia also called on countries in possession of nuclear weapons to abide by the protocol on nuclear weapon-free zone.

At present, more than 100 countries have been part of nuclear weapons-free zone including ASEAN member countries known as the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (SEANFWZ).

Indonesia also stressed on the importance of creating nuclear free zone in the Middle East as already agreed in the review conference of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty in 1995.

As a NPT member country, Indonesia had actually met NPT provisions including forging cooperation with IAEA and ratifying comprehensive safeguard agreement and IAEA additional protocol.

Indonesia continued monitoring and learning the proposal on multilateral mechanism to guarantee the supply of nuclear raw materials.

The proposal was expected to be able to support the interest of whole countries wishing to make use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, Gusti Agung said. (*)

NAM calls for nuclear disarmament

London (ANTARA News) - Indonesia on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) called for the disarmament of nuclear weapons as the only guaranty to prevent the danger posed by nuclear weapons to the survival of human beings.

Such an appeal was extended in the second preparatory committee meeting of the nuclear weapons non-proliferation conference in Geneva which happened to be part of a review conference of the non-proliferation of nuclear weapon to be held in 2010.

The Third Secretary of the Indonesian permanent representative office in Geneva, Widya Sadnovic, in a press release made available to Antara News in London on Wednesday said Indonesia in the meeting reiterated the position of NAM on the nuclear disarmament and
non-proliferation as specified in the various documents of the conferences and NAM summits.

The meeting, which started on April 28 and would end on May 9, 2008, was attended by around 190 members countries of the nuclear weapons non-proliferation treaty (NPT) in which the objective was to review the provisions of the NPT implementation, decisions and agreements, thus assessing the adherence of member countries in implementing the NPT chapters.

NAM member countries in the NPT were committed to fulfilling the agreements produced in the review conferences in 1995 and 2000 with an aim to stop the proliferation of the whole nuclear weapons.

According to Widya Sadnovic, all NAM group expressed their agreement to the nuclear disarmament and the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes in a balanced manner.

NAM group also expressed their concern over the slow process of nuclear disarmament by countries having nuclear weapons as part of their defense system and they even continued to modernize their nuclear fleet.

In this context, NAM as the biggest group in NPT proposed that the next review conference of the non-proliferation treaty of nuclear weapons should be able to formulate the time frame of the chapter VI implementation and mechanism in a bid to verify the member