President holds meeting on religious conflict

The Jakarta Post | Thu, 02/17/2011 10:00 PM | National

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono held a meeting with ministers, religious figures and human rights activists Thursday to find a solution to the problem of violence related to religion.

“Relevant ministers are requested to find solutions [to the problem],” Law and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar said as quoted by Tempointeraktif.com.

The impromptu meeting was attended by Vice President Boediono, Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi, Attorney General Basrief Arief, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto, National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo, Military chief Adm. Agus Suhartono and Cabinet secretary Dipo Alam.

Patrialis said that meeting participants discussed recent violent incidents.

This month has seen a number of violent incidents, such as the attack on Ahmadiyah in Banten that killed three, the church burnings in Temanggung, Central Java, and an attack on an Islamic boarding school said to be related with teachings different from mainstream Islam in East Java.

Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali said the possibility of disbanding the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) was not discussed.

The FPI recently threatened to overthrow the government if it attempted to disband any mass organizations, itself included.

Euro plunges after ECB holds steady on inflation

Associated Press, New York | Fri, 02/04/2011 8:26 AM | Business

The euro plunged Thursday after the head of the European Central Bank said long-term inflation in the 17-nation euro region was still in check. Stronger economic data in the U.S. also supported the dollar.

Investors had expected ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet to toughen up his warning on rising prices, which would signal that the ECB was closer to lifting interest rates than the other major central banks. The ECB left rates at 1 percent for the 21st straight month. Higher rates tend to support a currency.

The euro fell to $1.3639 late Thursday from $1.3798 Wednesday, retreating from a three-month high of $1.3861 struck on Wednesday. The euro has moved higher since early January after a long decline sparked by Europe's debt crisis. Previous comments from Trichet warning about inflation and investors' hopes that European Union policymakers will announce a better plan to counter the debt crisis has buoyed the shared currency.

EU leaders are meeting Friday, and may announce a plan then.

The dollar also rose broadly against other currencies after a slew of positive economic reports. The data showed that the U.S. service sector expanded at the fastest pace in five years in January, according to the Institute for Supply Management trade group, while orders to factories increased in December and retailers posted better-than-expected sales gains in January.

The positive economic news comes a day before the U.S. government releases a key jobs report. Economists expect it to show that employers added 146,000 jobs in January. A significantly stronger reading could catapult the dollar.

In other trading Thursday, the U.S. dollar was higher against most currencies.

The British pound dropped to $1.6148 from $1.6166, retreating from a three-month high of $1.6277 earlier in the day. The U.S. currency rose to 99.02 Canadian cents from 98.84 Canadian cents, and gained to 0.9450 Swiss franc from 0.9420 Swiss franc.

Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar remained flat at 81.63 Japanese yen Thursday.

Malaysia holds 7 Somali pirates after saving ship

The Associated Press, Kuala Lumpur | Sat, 01/22/2011 9:38 AM | World

Malaysia's leadersays the country's navy is holding at least seven Somali pirates after thwarting an attempt to hijack a chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden.

The Royal Malaysian Navy says its commandos injured three pirates in a gunbattle and rescued 23 crew members of the Malaysian-owned MT Bunga Laurel late Thursday.

The navy said in a statement that the rescue was carried out within less than two hours after pirates stormed the vessel with pistols and assault rifles. Crew members had locked themselves in a safe room and activated a distress call.

Prime Minister Najib Razak told a news conference late Friday that autorities are considering whether the pirates should be brought to Malaysia to face trial for the hijack attempt.

VP holds impromptu meeting on Gayus case.

The Jakarta Post | Wed, 01/19/2011 9:39 PM | National

Vice President Boediono held a coordination meeting to discuss Gayus H. Tambunan, just a few hours after the former low-level tax official was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for graft.
The meeting at the Vice Presidential Office in Jakarta was attended by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto, National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo and Attorney General Basrief Arief, as reported by tempointeraktif.com online news portal.

“The Vice President has become the national coordinator, as per the President’s instructions. Of course, he will often meet with law enforcement chiefs….I think this is just a preliminary meeting,” Boediono’s spokesman, Yopie Hidayat, said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued 12 orders for handling the Gayus case earlier this week, one of which named Boediono point person for implementing Yudhoyono’s orders.

Other orders require performance evaluations and audited financial reports for all institutions connected to Gayus’ case and sanctioning officers found guilty wrongdoing in the case’s many investigations.

SKorea holds massive new drills after North attack

The Jakarta Post | Thu, 12/23/2010 8:10 AM | National

South Korea on Thursday mobilized hundreds of troops, tanks, helicopters and jet fighters for a massive military exercise aimed at sending North Korea a message of strength amid high tensions on the peninsula.

The firing drills set for later in the day near the Koreas' heavily armed land border signaled that South Korea is willing to risk further escalating tensions with North Korea, which shelled a southern island off the Koreas' western coast on Nov. 23, killing four South Koreans and stirring fears of war.

The attack was portrayed by Pyongyang as a retaliation for southern military exercises on Yeonpyeong island that day.

South Korea has conducted 47 military drills this year similar to the one planned for Thursday, which was scheduled in response to the North Korean attack, an army officer said on condition of anonymity citing department rules. Thursday's drill will be the biggest-ever wintertime joint firing exercise that South Korea's army and air force have staged, an army statement said.

"We will completely punish the enemy if it provokes us again like the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island," Brig. Gen. Ju Eun-sik, chief of the army's 1st armored brigade, said separately.

South Korean forces are on high alert even though the North backed down from its threat to again retaliate over a separate firing drill the South held Monday on Yeonpyeong in disputed western waters.

The two Koreas remain technically at war since their 1950s conflict ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty. The past month's military tension, however, has been the worst in several years.

The North has made conciliatory remarks in recent days - telling a visiting U.S. governor it might allow international inspections of its nuclear programs - but Seoul is mindful of past surprise attacks and still is bracing for possible aggression.

The White House dismissed concern that South Korea's exercises could lead to any escalation of the situation.

"I think exercises that have been announced well in advance, that are transparent, that are defensive in nature, should in no way engender a response from the North Koreans," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a briefing on Wednesday.

South Korea's navy also began annual four-day firing and anti-submarine exercises Wednesday off the country's eastern coast. That area has been less tnse recently but in the past, the North has used eastern waters as a submarine route for communist agents to infiltrate South Korea.

The Koreas' recent military skirmishes, including last month's artillery bombardment, have been in the tense western waters, where Pyongyang does not recognize the U.N.-drawborder.

Thursday's air force and army drills will involve 800 troops, F-15K and KF-16 jet fighters, K-1 tanks, AH-1S attack helicopters and K-9 self-propelled guns. They will take place in Pocheon, about 30 miles (45 kilometers) north of Seoul and about 21 miles (33 kilometers) south of the North Korean brder.

Seoul has relocated more artillery on Yeonpyeong island following last month's shelling and plans to deploy Israeli-made Spike missiles there soon, Yonhap news agency reported, citing an unidentified military official. The Joint Chiefs of Staff declined to confirm the report.

North Korea, meanwhle, indicated to visiting New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson that it was prepared to consider ways to work with the South on restoring security along the border.

Richardson praised Pyongyang for refraining from retaliation and said his visit to the North provided an opening for a resumption of negotiations aied at dismantling North Korea's nuclear program. North Korea pulled out of six-nation talks to provide Pyongyang with aid in exchange for disarmament in April 2009, but since has said it is willing to resume them.

The White House, however, rejected the idea, saying Pyongyang needed to change its "belligerent" behavior first and was not "even remotely ready" for negotiations.

In Seoul, a senior South Korean government official said the military would remain prepared for the possibility of a "surprise" attack in coming days. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Separately, about 200 South Koreans attended a candlelight vigil Wednesday evening for the four South Koreans killed by North Korea's attack on the Yeonpyeong.

They observed a moment of silence and placed flowers on a makeshift mourning site in central Seoul. "We, the survivors, should remember their sacrifice and make efforts to ensure that their sacrifice will not be in vain," said Choi Hong-jae, a 42-year-old executive.