Bali Bomber Testifies About Muslim Cleric
An Indonesian militant awaiting execution for his role in
the 2002 Bali bombings testified Wednesday (19/4) that he
was tortured into implicating a Muslim cleric alleged by Washington
to be Southeast Asia's terror chief. Amrozi Nurhasyim made
the remarks during an appeal of Abu Bakar Bashir's conviction
and 2-year sentence for conspiring in the blasts, which killed
202 people, mostly foreigners on vacation. The attacks were
blamed on the al-Qaida linked Jemaah Islamiyah network. Bashir,
70, who was not in court, is scheduled to be released from
prison in June when his sentence ends, and his lawyers have
acknowledged that it is unlikely that judges will rule in
the appeal before that date. Bashir was first arrested in
2002 shortly after the Bali bombings amid intense pressure
on Indonesia to detain suspects in the blasts. In the trial
that followed, he was acquitted of heading Jemaah Islamiyah,
but sentenced to 18-months in prison for minor immigration
violations. As his release date approached, U.S. and Australian
officials both publicly called on Indonesia not to free him,
saying he was a key terrorist leader. Denying they were acting
on the orders of foreigners, police arrested Bashir as he
left jail in 2003 and charged him with several terror crimes
based on new evidence. But judges only convicted him in the
Bali attacks and sentenced him to a relatively short prison
term. (April 20th 2006, AFP)
Indonesian Police Arrest Singaporean Terror Suspect
Police on the eastern Indonesian island of Sumbawa have arrested
a Singaporean suspected of being part of a terror group led
by one of Southeast Asia's most wanted
militants, a report said Thursday (20/4). Abdul Rasyid, also
known as Hamdan, was arrested in Tongo village on Tuesday
(18/4) and may be part of Malaysian militant Noordin Muhammad
Top's Islamic extremist group, the Jakarta Post daily said.
Noordin and his Malaysian
compatriot Azahari Husin, who was killed in a police raid
last November, were key members of the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah
Islamiyah (JI) Islamic extremist network. Analysts have said
that Hamdan and Noordin may now have split from JI to set
up a more militant organization. JI has been blamed for a
series of deadly attacks in Indonesia, including the 2002
Bali bombings that left 202 people dead. Some 270 suspected
militants have been arrested in the country since that attack.
National police spokesman Anton Bahrul Alam confirmed the
arrest but said it was based on suspicion of immigration violations.
(April 20th 2006, AFP)
Bali to Host Asia Beach Volleyball Event
Teams from eight countries will compete at the LA Menthol
Asia Beach Volleyball Tournament at Kuta beach, Bali, from
May 4 to 7, which is hoped will lure more foreign tourists
to the resort island. "At least eight countries will
participate in the 20,000 US dollars tournament, including
strong teams from China and Thailand," the Indonesian
Volleyball Association (PBVSI) secretary-general Nyoman Sukesna
was quoted as saying here on Thursday (27/4). The eight countries
are China (two men's teams and one women's team), Thailand
(one men's team and one's women's team), Malaysia (two men's
teams and one women's team), Australia
(one men's team), New Zealand (one men's team), Vietnam (two
men's teams), the Philippines (one men's team) and host Indonesia
(two men's teams and two women's teams). "We are proud
that the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) trusts us to
host such a prestigious event. Hopefully, this event will
bring back tourists to the island and to other areas in Indonesia,"
Nyoman said. The tourist industry, the largest contributor
to the province's economy, is struggling to recover after
terrorist bomb attacks in October 2002, which killed 202 people
mostly Australians, and in October 2005 that claimed the lives
of 22 people. (April 27th 2006, Kerala News)
Air New Zealand / Thai Airways to Increase Air Fares
Air New Zealand Ltd announced that it will increase all
domestic and international airfares by 10 percent in response
to rising jet fuel prices. The airline said the airfare hike
will be effective from May 1. Chief financial officer Rob
McDonald said fuel was now the airline’s number one
cost. The airline said recent falls in the value of the New
Zealand dollar against the US dollar and additional fuel costs
over Air New Zealand’s hedging program meant that the
surcharge had to be addressed. In the last month alone, fuel
prices have increased by nearly US$10 a barrel. The airline
said it had made extensive efforts recently to reduce costs
across its business, including restructuring its wide body
maintenance and reviewing its corporate head office staff
levels. Thai Airways also said that it would have to raise
fuel surcharges by up to 40 % on both their domestic and international
flights. This would represent an average increase of USD $25
–$35 on domestic flights and up to $65 on International
flights. (April 21st 2006, Antara News)
Indonesian Volcano Could Erupt Any Day
Indonesia's rumbling Mount Merapi is spewing volcanic ash,
magma has fully covered its crater, and a powerful eruption
could come any day, a scientist said Thursday (27/4).
Authorities said, however, they were not ready to raise the
alert to the highest level, which requires immediate evacuation
of villagers living on the slopes of the 9,700-foot peak.
The mountain, one of the most active in Indonesia, is still
in phase two, they said. "It's close to eruption,"
said Dewi Sri, a vulcanologist at a monitoring post near Merapi's
peak. "The crater is fully covered by magma," she
said, predicting "an enormous and dreadful eruption"
within days. Indonesia's official Antara news agency, meanwhile,
reported that volcanic debris has begun pouring into Ngargomulyo
village in the nearby Central Java district of Magelang. Local
officials contacted by The Associated Press were still trying
to confirm the reports. Merapi is one of at least 129 active
volcanoes in Indonesia, which is part of the Pacific "Ring
of Fire" - a series of fault lines stretching from the
Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia. It last
erupted in 1994, sending out a searing cloud of gas that burned
60 people to death. About 1,300 people were killed when it
erupted in 1930. (April 27th 2006, AEST)
Bali Bomb II Victim Returns Home Able to Walk Again
After 6 months of intensive therapy in Australia, Putu Swadesi
has returned to Bali and is now able to walk again despite
being told by doctors in Bali that she would be a cripple
for life. Desi has returned to Bali to celebrate Galungan
and Kuningan with her family, but will return to Australia
in September for further surgery to her ears which were damaged
by the powerful bomb blast. Desi now has partial hearing only
in her left ear and is completely deaf in the right. Desi’s
father Widiana said he was very thankful to the Australian
government and to medical teams for all their support for
his daughter. He said the cost of Desi’s treatment had
been approximately AUD $1,600.00 a day, and yet they had been
charged nothing. He was however disappointed with the Indonesian
immigration department who presented them with an unpaid FISKAL
bill on return to Bali. (April 26th 2006, Bali Post)
Bird Flu Outbreak in Gianyar, Bali
Indonesian officials say they have slaughtered more than 400
birds on the island of Bali after tests showed some were infected
with bird flu. Most of the birds were ducks brought from neighboring
Java Island. Police say the man who sold and delivered the
ducks has been arrested. At least 24 people in Indonesia have
died of the H5N1 strain of bird flu, but no human cases have
been reported on the island of Bali. The Indonesian government
has been carrying out limited culls of birds rather than mass
slaughters to stop the spread of the virus. (April 26th 2006,
AEST)
Man Bitten By Snake, No Anti-venom Available
Nyoman Kediri was bitten by a snake in the kitchen of his
Abiansemal home on Sunday (30/4), however was unaware of the
cause of the pain in his foot until doctors found the fang
of the snake embedded in the wound while he was undergoing
treatment in the emergency room. The man is still undergoing
treatment for the envenomation, and has received one vial
of anti-venom; however hospital authorities say there is no
further stock to continue the
treatment. (May 2nd 2006, Denpost)
Elephants Run Amuck in Aceh
Sumatra`s elephants (Elephans Maximus Sumatranus) ran amuck
in North Aceh, damaging houses, a mosque and farms, a local
official said here on Monday (17/4). The
provincial Natural Resources Conservation Office (BKSDA) would
soon send a team to the locations to drive away the elephants,
BKSDA Head Andi Basrul said. "The BKSDA team will be
accompanied by several tamed elephants," he said. Three
villages in Simpang Keuramat Sub-district, North Aceh District,
are damaged by the rampage of the giant animals. They ransacked
tens of hectares of oil palm plantations in the villages.
In the past week, elephants running
amuck were also reported in Aceh Besar, South Aceh, West Aceh
and Aceh Jaya districts, he said. The Indonesian Island of
Sumatra is the habitat of Elephans Maximus Sumatranus. However,
the animals often disturb the villagers living near their
habitat, which have been under pressure due to illegal logging
and human encroachment. WWF Indonesia recently urged the Indonesian
Government to investigate irregularities in elephant hunting
procedures which have caused the death of a number of elephants
in the past few years. According to World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
Indonesia, Sumatra`s Riau Administration had caught 201 wild
elephants since 2000, and at least 46 of them had been killed
as the result of inappropriate procedures in relocating them.
"Hunting them down should have been the last resort in
dealing with clashes between the elephants and villagers.
And it should have been done by professional hunters accompanied
by medical and related monitoring teams," Wardana of
WWF Indonesia said recently. (April 20th 2006, Antara News)
Earthquake Strikes Bali
A strong earthquake jolted southwest of the Indonesian island
of Sumba and the resort island of Bali at 11.06 am local time
on Friday (28/4). The earthquake was measured at 5.9 on the
Richter scale which struck the Indian Ocean. The quake was
also felt on islands to the east of Bali, but there were no
reports of damage or casualties, the meteorology and geophysics
office said. The earthquake was centered 18km (11.178 miles)
under the floor of the Indian Ocean some 298km (185.058 miles)
southwest of the town of Waingapu on Sumba, the office said.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where
the meeting of continental
plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity. (April
29th 2006, AHN)
Indonesian Police Find 'Bali Size' Bomb
Indonesian police say they have found a bomb in a house used
by a man who helped attack Australia's embassy in Jakarta
in 2004. The man has been identified only as Jabir. Jabir
is believed to have helped Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohammed
Top organise the suicide bombing of the embassy in September
of 2004. Jabir was killed on Saturday in an Indonesian police
raid in Wonosobo, that was conducted with the assistance of
Australian Federal Police agents who were nearby in Central
Java. Indonesian police have now confirmed that a bomb, described
as being as "powerful as the Bali bomb," has been
found in a house which was rented by Jabir near Temanggung
in East Java. In the Wonosobo house, police found weapons,
a bomb detonator, computers, mobile phone SIM cards and documents.
(May 2nd 2006, AEST)
