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Terror suspects die in hail of police bullets
Five men linked to a terrorist cell have been shot in Indonesia.
The suspected terrorists were killed after police launched series of anti-terror operations throughout the country..
Police have said the men may have been planning to launch a terror attack over the next few weeks. One was identified as Mukhlis, who was shot as he was alighting from a taxi.
He had trained with Islamic separatists in the Philippines. Mukhlis was with two other terror suspects who were also shot.
Another two were killed in a later raid on a suspected hideout in the West Java city of Cikampek, about 80 kilometres from Jakarta.
One of the dead has been named as Saptono, who was involved in a suicide car bomb attack that killed ten people outside the Australian embassy in 2004.
All of the men were linked to a previous operation in February, when police raided a militant training camp in Aceh province.Those just eliminated were linked to the terrorist training facility in Aceh. (Indonesia News.net)
Obama's Jakarta childhood inspires movie
An Indonesian director plans to make a film about Barack Obama’s childhood in Jakarta in time for the US president’s scheduled visit there in June.
Damien Dematra says the film is to be based on his book, Obama Anak Menteng (Obama The Menteng Kid), but will be released internationally with the title Little Obama.
It will be shot in just two weeks in and around the capital, where Mr Obama lived with his mother and Indonesian stepfather from 1967 to 1971.
“The film is based on real events,” Dematra said.
“I hope youths in Indonesia and all over the world can be inspired by Obama and not be afraid of their differences.
“Obama is an icon of pluralism and he represents a triumph for minorities,” he added. (ABC News)
Bali Nine's Scott Rush circumcised in jail
BALI Nine death row prisoner Scott Rush has been circumcised in a secret jail ceremony in Bali and has told authorities he is learning about Islam.
Authorities at Kerobokan Jail confirmed that Rush had undergone a circumcision on Friday in the jail’s Muslim prayer area.
The jail’s doctor and other officials were not even aware the circumcision had taken place until the weekend and were angered that such a procedure had been conducted by someone who was not authorised by the jail.
They have since questioned Rush’s motives and whether he had really converted to Islam. Rush is a Catholic and his parents are staunchly religious.
As recently as a week ago Rush attending Christian church services at the jail.
The jail’s head of education and rehabilitation, Anang, said that Rush had told him he was still learning about Islam.
“His answers were complicated,” Anang said about his discussion with Rush, whom he has told to provide him with more answers today.
And the jail’s doctor, Agung Hartawan, who was only aware of the circumcision on the weekend said luckily it was a good job and not bleeding too much.
Dr Hartawan said he had asked Rush if he converted to Islam and that he said: “I want to learn Islam.”
And he said when he further questioned Rush about the secretive procedure and whether his parents were even aware of it, that Rush had told him: “This is my right and I just want to know about Islam, I want to learn about Islam.”
Rush is one of three members of the Bali Nine on death row for their role in the heroin trafficking gang. He is due to lodge his final appeal very soon. (news.com.au)
Tsunami warning after strong quake off Indonesia lifted
A tsunami warning in Indonesia issued after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck off the Sumatran coast of Aceh province Sunday has been lifted, an official said.
The quake was recorded at 0559 GMT with the epicentre 66 km southwest of Meulaboh in West Aceh district, according to the Meteorology, Geophysics and Climatology Agency.
There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
Fauzi, head of the Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System, said there was no threat of a major tsunami and the warning had been lifted.
Fauzi, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, earlier said sea buoys indicated a 20-cm tsunami in the sea off Meulaboh.
An official named Wandi in Meulaboh told Elshinta radio that he had not received reports of damage or casualties.
‘The situation is calm and we call on the people to remain calm,’ he told the radio station.
The quake was also felt strongly in the neighbouring provinces of North Sumatra and Riau. Local television showed residents in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra, scrambling out of shopping malls.
Indonesian Economy Probably Expanded at Fastest Pace Since 2008
May 7 (Bloomberg) — Indonesia’s economy probably expanded at the fastest pace in more than a year last quarter as record- low interest rates boosted consumer spending in Southeast Asia’s largest economy and exports and investment recovered.
Bank Indonesia has left its benchmark interest rate at 6.5 percent since August and urged lenders to expand credit as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono focuses on boosting growth after winning a second term last July. That’s lifted earnings at companies including PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia.
“Retail sales surged in the first quarter, supported by fiscal stimulus and high consumer confidence,” Nikhilesh Bhattacharyya, an economist at Moody’s Economy.com in Sydney, said in a note yesterday. “Business investment picked up, supported by easing credit standards, surging capital inflows and high capacity utilization. Exports grew rapidly on the back of strong demand from emerging markets.”
The Jakarta benchmark stock index has increased 11 percent this year and the rupiah gained 13 percent in the past 12 months to become the best performer in Asia, as foreign funds sought to take advantage of Indonesia’s strengthening economy and political stability.
Global Rebound
Growth in Asian economies from Malaysia to China is accelerating as the global recovery boosts demand for the region’s semiconductors, palm oil and televisions, after governments around the world boosted public spending and slashed interest rates to increase consumption.
Indonesia’s exports, which account for 29 percent of gross domestic product, surged 54 percent to $35.4 billion in the first quarter from $23.03 billion a year earlier, according to data from the statistics bureau.
“We have seen investment and exports start to pick up in the first quarter,” said Destry Damayanti, an economist at PT Mandiri Sekuritas, a unit of PT Bank Mandiri, in Jakarta. “More investment in big projects like in the airports and seaports should help boost the economy.”
Domestic and foreign investment totaled 42.1 trillion rupiah ($4.6 billion) in the first quarter, according to data from the Board of Capital Investment. Foreign direct investment accounted for 35.4 trillion rupiah.
Confidence Climbs
Economic growth has also been supported by rising confidence, buoyed by the most stable political climate since the ouster of the dictator, Suharto, in 1998. A central bank index measuring consumer sentiment rose to 107.4 in March from 98.6 a year earlier, bolstering demand for mobile phones and automobiles.
Car sales in Indonesia rose 74 percent to 174,042 units in the first three months of this year from a year earlier, according to the Association of Indonesian Automotive Industry. Cement consumption rose to 10.3 million tons in the first quarter from 8.98 million tons a year earlier, data from an industry group shows.
“A more and more positive story is coming from Indonesia,” said Rudyanto Somawihardja, president director of PT Sinar Mitra Sepadan Finance, a financing company in Jakarta. “Car sales are rising, cement sales are picking up, signaling an increase in purchasing power.”
Yudhoyono’s Plans
Sinar Mitra expects revenue to double to 3.7 trillion rupiah this year from 1.7 trillion rupiah in 2009, Somawihardja said this week.
Yudhoyono, 60, has pledged to double spending on roads, seaports and airports to $140 billion over the next five years to help deliver average growth of 6.6 percent over the remainder of his term ending in 2014.
“With ample liquidity now, banks are more than willing to finance infrastructure projects such seaports and toll roads,” said David E. Sumual, an economist at PT Bank Central Asia in Jakarta.
–Editors: Stephanie Phang, Greg Ahlstrand
To contact the reporter on this story: Aloysius Unditu in Jakarta at aunditu@bloomberg.net; Michael Munoz in Hong Kong at mjmunoz@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Anstey in Tokyo at canstey@bloomberg.net
Obama Praises Indonesia’s Intent to Ratify Test Ban Treaty
Washington — President Obama welcomed Indonesia’s announcement that it is initiating the process of ratifying the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), describing it as a signal that more countries are joining what he called “a renewed effort to reinforce global nonproliferation.”
Obama thanked Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Indonesian government for “responsible leadership in the global effort to reinforce the nuclear nonproliferation regime” in a May 4 statement.
Indonesia’s announcement “advances the vision I outlined in Prague in 2009, and advances the security of the United States, Indonesia and the world,” the president said.
“Reinforcing the norm against nuclear testing will help prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and support our efforts to pursue the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons,” Obama said.
The United States has signed the treaty, which prohibits nuclear explosions in all environments for military or civilian purposes. However, the U.S. Senate has not yet ratified the treaty. In his statement, President Obama said his administration is committed to its ratification and its “early entry into force,” and will work with U.S. lawmakers.
The United States has observed a moratorium on nuclear testing since 1992, and has no plans to resume testing, U.S. officials said in April.
President Obama said the United States “stands ready to work with all states and encourages them to ratify the treaty and to help bring it into force.”
The CTBT has 182 signatories and has been ratified by more than 150 countries. However, it cannot enter into force until it has been ratified by 44 designated countries. Of these 44, India, Pakistan and North Korea have not signed it, and China, the United States, Israel, Egypt, Iran and Indonesia have not ratified it.
In his prepared remarks for the May 3 opening of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference in New York, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said his government’s decision follows positive developments that show countries “appear awakened to the urgency for nuclear disarmament.”
He cited the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) signed by the United States and Russia in April, as well as “positive aspects” stemming from the revised U.S. Nuclear Posture Review.
“We welcome these developments, and what we expect will be the further marginalization of nuclear weapons,” Natalegawa said. “Every step forward, no matter how small, should give us new momentum toward the next step so that we advance inexorably to our final goal of complete nuclear disarmament.”
“It is our fervent hope that this further demonstration of our commitment to the nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation agenda will encourage other countries that have not ratified the treaty to do the same,” Natalegawa said.
(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)
Indonesia May Hold Rates as Rupiah’s Strength Tackles Inflation
By Aloysius Unditu and Michael Munoz
May 4 (Bloomberg) — Indonesia’s central bank may keep its benchmark interest rate at a record low this week as a strengthening currency and rising food supplies keep inflation at “moderate” levels.
Bank Indonesia will keep its reference rate unchanged at 6.5 percent for a ninth consecutive month tomorrow, according to all 20 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The measure is at the lowest level since it was introduced in 2005.
Inflation in Southeast Asia’s largest economy stayed below 4 percent last month as rice harvests boosted supplies and a 4 percent gain in the rupiah this year reduced import costs, a report showed yesterday. That makes Indonesia a standout in a region where inflation has accelerated and central banks from India to China are either raising interest rates or ordering banks to hold more assets in reserve.
“Moderate inflation is allowing Bank Indonesia to be patient,” said David Cohen, an economist at Action Economics in Singapore. Still, “a gradual rise in inflation from the current year-on-year pace will likely prompt them to begin raising rates before yearend in an effort to remain ahead of the inflation curve,” he said.
Bank Indonesia may keep its policy rate unchanged through the end of the year should inflation remain “within its expectations,” Senior Deputy Governor Darmin Nasution said in Jakarta yesterday.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is focused on boosting development in the world’s fourth most populous nation, urging banks to increase lending and raising spending to bolster growth.
‘Tame Inflation’
The rupiah is the best performing currency in Asia this year against the dollar after the Malaysian ringgit and the Indian rupee. The Jakarta main stock index has gained 17 percent this year.
“Given the tame inflation and the rupiah’s appreciation against the dollar, we think there will be no change in Bank Indonesia’s monetary stance,” Aldian Taloputra, an economist at PT Mandiri Sekuritas in Jakarta, wrote in a note yesterday.
Australia, India, Vietnam and Malaysia have increased borrowing costs to fight inflation and avert asset bubbles, and China on May 2 asked lenders to set aside more money as reserves for the third time this year.
Low borrowing costs have benefited Indonesian companies and banks including PT Bank Mandiri and PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia. Bank Rakyat, the country’s second-largest lender by assets, said last week first-quarter net income rose 25 percent to 2.15 trillion rupiah as lending increased.
Car sales may grow 10 percent this year, helped by low lending rates, the country’s biggest auto dealer, PT Astra International, said in March.
“Low inflation means people have more purchasing power and they will have more to spend, including buying cars and motorcycles,” said Juniman, an economist at PT Bank Internasional Indonesia in Jakarta.
To contact the reporter on this story: Aloysius Unditu in Jakarta at aunditu@bloomberg.net: Michael Munoz in Hong Kong at mjmunoz@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: May 3, 2010 13:00 EDT
Indonesian minister to attend nuclear treaty talks in New York
Jakarta (ANTARA News) – Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa will lead an Indonesian delegation to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Session to be held at the UN Headquarters in New York on May 3 to 28, 2010.
The Indonesian delegation will be composed of representatives from the foreign ministry, the Indonesian permanent representative mission in New York, Indonesian permanent representative office in Vienna and from several technical government agencies. According to the ministry of foreign affairs, the session which constituted the eighth of its kind since the establishment of the NPT, will evaluate the implementation of a number of regulations laid down in the treaty.
The NPT is basically built on three pillars, namely nuclear arms reduction, non-proliferation and nuclear energy development for peaceful purposes. It is expected that the foreign minister would make an Indonesian statement on Monday local time.
He will also make a statement on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement State Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Indonesia is the coordinator of the Working Group of the 118-member Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on Arms Reduction. Based the results of the preparatory meetings held in the 2007-2009 period, it was expected that all NPT member states will have comprehensive deliberations on such issues as arms reduction, additional protocols, security, the Middle East situation and membership withdrawals.(*)
