UN council to take up Thai-Cambodian dispute over territory surrounding ancient temple

The Associated Press , United Nations Thu, 07/24/2008 3:14 PM World
With some 4,000 troops massed along the Thai-Cambodian border, United Nations Security Council members say they will try to stop the military standoff from escalating into war.
Diplomats said Wednesday they expect to call a special council session, probably next week, to deal with the latest dispute over land near the ancient temple of Preah Vihear. Cambodia appealed to the U.N. Security Council to intervene, warning that the two sides were at "an imminent state of war."
The conflict focuses on an area less than 2 square miles (5.2 square kilometers) around the temple, that both nations claim as their own. The International Court of Justice awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but its listing this month as a UN World Heritage Site stirred tensions anew.
"We are worried by the situation and by the potential tension due to the situation raising around the temple," French UN Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert said Wednesday.
"Everybody was in favor of discussing the situation. When exactly? We do not yet."
Ripert said the 15-nation council "should meet as fast as possible" based on Cambodia's request.
"We are in charge of peace and security," he said. "So, if we can diffuse the tensions and if we can prevent any development that could be dramatic for the region and for peace and security, we will do it and we think we have to do it."
Thailand, whose troops killed Cambodian refugees there in 1979, sent troops to the border on July 15 after anti-government demonstrators attacked Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's government for supporting Cambodia's application to UNESCO, the UN agency that designates World Heritage Sites.
There are now 878 sites on the global list, which helps draw attention to efforts to conserve them.
They claim the temple's new status will undermine Thailand's claim to land around the temple. Cambodia responded with its own deployment. The carved stone temple and buildings from the first half of the 11th century were built by cliffs overlooking mountains.
As the dispute entered its second week Wednesday, Thailand accused Cambodia of eyeing even more of its land and leaflets appeared in the Cambodian capital calling for a boycott of Thai goods. Cambodian police were investigating the leaflets.
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said he had no choice but to appeal to the United Nations after discussions with Thailand on Monday failed to produce a breakthrough in the crisis.
Hor made a similar request to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, but the region's key bloc urged the two countries to continue bilateral negotiations.
In a countermove Wednesday, Thailand's UN Ambassador Don Pramudwinai, said Cambodia was bringing the quarrel before the Security Council because "the Cambodian target is not only Preah Vihear but the entire common border."
Don told Bangkok's Business Radio that Cambodia was trying to force Thailand to accept a French colonial map that favors Cambodia.
Thailand relies on a different map drawn up later with American technical assistance.
Pramudwinai also told the Security Council in a letter Monday that "the boundary line claimed by Cambodia has no legal status" from the 1962 ruling, because he said that case dealt only with "sovereignty" -- the question of who owns the temple.
Cambodia's UN Ambassador Sea Kosal wrote the council last Friday that "this Thai military provocation is aimed at creating a de facto 'overlapping area' that legally does not exist on Cambodia soil."
Th two nations have built up about 4,000 troops in the area, with both sides insisting they won't resort to force. The atmosphere remained calm Wednesday among Cambodian and Thai troops at the hilltop temple, despite the intense diplomatic rhetoric by the respective governments.
Troops from both sides "continued interacting cordially," said Cambodian Brig. Gen. Chea Keo, without elaborating.
The dispute has also shaken Thailand's domestic political scene. Its national anti-corruption commission has begun investigating the Thai prime minister and other top officials over accusations the government violated Thailand's constitution by not consulting its parliament before supporting Cambodia's application. (****)

Penang to help promote tourism in Aceh, Indonesia

Antara , Banda Aceh Thu, 07/24/2008 4:06 PM National
Malaysian state Penang will help promote tourism in Aceh to Malaysian and foreign tourists, says tourism council.
Penang Tourism Action Council (PTAC) Chairman Datuk Kee Phaik Cheen said here on Thursday that the PTAC would help promote Aceh so that foreign tourists visiting Penang would add Aceh to their itineraries.
Datuk Kee and his delegation consisting of representatives of 28 tourism agents, hotels and hospitals, were in Aceh to strengthen cooperation with their counterparts.
Aceh and Penang have close historical ties. Penang has an Aceh kampong and an Aceh mosque, Datuk Kee said.
Many Aceh people especially come to Penang for medical treatment, he said.
A lot of foreign tourists visiting Penang, continue their trip to Medan, North Sumatra, instead of Aceh, he said.
"We will try somehow to encourage foreign tourists visiting Penang to continue their travels to Aceh," he said.
He said Aceh had many good tourist sites such as Weh Isle which is known for its marine park and the freshwater lake in Central Aceh regency.
"They are huge potentials in the tourism sector here. They should be properly managed and well promoted," Kee Phaik Cheen said.(**)

Australia to give more aid to Myanmar, US says it's ready to donate despite rights issues

The Associated Press , Singapore Wed, 07/23/2008 5:33 PM World
Australia announced Wednesday an additional 30 million Australian dollars (US$29 million) in aid for survivors of Myanmar's May cyclone, as the U.S. said it will not hold back disaster relief despite the junta's poor democracy record.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said he informed his Myanmar counterpart, Nyan Win, of the aid Tuesday.
They met on the sidelines of an annual security conference of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its Asian and Western dialogue partners. Among those attending is U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
She said separately that the U.S. would always provide disaster relief despite political differences, which stem from the junta's slow progress in restoring democracy, and the jailingof political opponents including Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
"We believe that ASEAN has an important role to play in addressing the root cause of Burma's grave problem, the repression of the Burmese democracy movement," Rice said, using the former name for Myanmar.
She said it is in the interests of the people of Myanmar and of ASEAN to persuade the junta to free political prisoners and begin "a genuine, time-bound dialogue ... on a credible transition to democracy."
Smith called on the junta to ensure free and fair general elections in 2010 and to allow participation by the political opposition, including Suu Kyi.
"We want to see Myanmar return to respect for human rights, respect for the rule of law and we want to see democracy return to Myanmar," Smith said he told Win.
Nyan Win gave "the usual Myanmar reaction," Smith said, referring to the junta's customary explanation that it is fulfilling a promise to reform under a long announced roadmap to democracy.
Smith's remarks were the first of many expected against Myanmar's ruling generals at the meetings, which culminate Thursday with the ASEAN Regional Forum, Asia's largest securitygathering.
Smith said the new financial assistance to Myanmar follows A$25 million (US$24.27 million) in aid Canberra provided shortly after the May 2-3 Cyclone Nargis devastated a large area of theimpoverished Southeast Asian country, killing more than 84,000 people.
He said he repeated to Nyan Win widespread criticism of Myanmar for its slow response to the disaster and its initial refusal to accept international aid and bar relief workers.
Myanmar eventually cooperated with ASEAN and U.N. humanitarian operations, but it remains unclear how long that cooperation will last.
On Tuesday the U.S. Senate passed an embargo prohibiting imports of gemstones from Myanmar, closing a gap in current sanctions, which already bar the importation of gemstonesdirectly from Myanmar. It now goes to President George W. Bush to be signed into law.
ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.(**)

Persecutors prepare execution site for Bali bombers

Antara , Cilacap, Central Java Wed, 07/23/2008 9:10 PM National
Persecutors has prepared an execution site for the three militants convicted over the 2002 Bali bombings, as the Bali provincial prosecutor office and Denpasar district prosecutor office had completed the dossiers related to the execution, an official has said.
"We were just checking the location (for the execution)," said the Bali prosecutor office's assistant for general crime Ida Bagus Wiswantanu here on Wednesday, on the way back from a survey in Nusakambangan Island.
Wiswantanu, who was accompanied by section head of general crime at the Denpasar district prosecutor office Wayan Suwela, refused to reveal the location arguing that it would infringedthe law.
"I cant tell where exactly the location because it must a secret location according to the law," Wiswantanu told reporters.
He also refused to reveal the time of execution saying "it is not on my capacity to make a comment on the matter."
Attorney General Hendarman Supandji has previously said that the execution of the three militants convicted over the attacks that killed 202 people, might took place before the Islamic fasting month.
The three, Ali Ghufron, Imam Samudra and Amrozi Nurhasyim, have said they would not launched an appeal to the president for clemency -- their only remaining way to avoid the death sentence-- because such a request requires an admission of wrongdoing.(**)

Anwar Ibrahim arrested

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta Wed, 07/16/2008 6:10 PM Headlines

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was arrested outside his home in Kuala Lumpur at 1.05 p.m. Wednesday, according to his office.
Anwar Ibrahim was arrested upon returning home from the Anti Corruption Agency, after giving a statement in relation to a police report regarding the suppression of material facts in a case involving him in 1998, his office said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post.
"As he entered the neighborhood of his home, a contingent of ten police cars, half unmarked and half patrol, forced the two cars in Anwar Ibrahim's entourage to stop," the statement said.
"An officer approached Anwar Ibrahim and demanded that he accompany the police in an unmarked vehicle to the Kuala Lumpur Police Headquarters."
His lawyers were not permitted to travel with him to the police station.
His lawyer Sankara Nair told Malaysian The Star online service, that the police had told Anwar that he was being arrested for investigations for alleged "carnal intercourse against the orderof nature".
The Star reported that Anwar arrived at the city police headquarters in a white Pajero at 1.15 p.m. Wednesday after being arrested in front of his house in Bukit Segambut.
The arrest took place less than 15 hours after Anwar Ibrahim appeared live on Malaysian television for the first time since 1998, to announce to millions of viewers his intention to standfor election. He also promised that upon the formation of a new government, he would lower the domestic price of fuel by 50 sen.
"These events are deeply disturbing to us and indicate that this entire episode is a repeat of the actions taken against Anwar Ibrahim in 1998," the statement said.
On June 28, his 23-year-old former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan lodged a police report alleging that Anwar had sodomized him.
Anwar was due to issue a statement at Kuala Lumpur Police Contingent Headquarters (IPK KL) at 2.00 p.m based on an agreement reached with the police on Tuesday.
The statement also said that during the last few weeks the government-owned media had demonized and vilified the former deputy prime minister.
"His staff have been harassed and we see a conspiracy being hatched to thwart the political change that is imminent in Malaysia.
"Under no circumstance will the people of Malaysia and the international community tolerate any harm to Anwar Ibrahim. We remind Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi of the promise he made to ensure Anwar Ibrahim's protection."(**)

Study finds Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand face high risk from arsenic contamination

The Associated Press , Bangkok Fri, 07/11/2008 9:26 PM Headlines
Myanmar's cyclone-devastated Irrawaddy delta and Indonesia's Sumatra island face high risks of arsenic contamination in groundwater that could cause cancer and other diseases in residents, according to a study released Friday.
Using a digitalized model that examines geological features and soil chemistry in Southeast Asia, researchers writing in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Geoscience mapped several likely hotspots that had never been assessed for arsenic risks.
"Obviously, there is concern," said Michael Berg, one of the five authors, who is a senior scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology in Dubendor, Switzerland. "If you look at our data, there is risk of arsenic in the ground water."
Arsenic, especially in drinking water, is a global threat to health, affecting more than 70 countries and 137 million people. The country worst affected is Bangladesh, where hundreds of thousands of people are in danger of dying from cancers of the lung, bladder and skin.
Odorless and tasteless, arsenic enters water supplies from natural deposits in the ground or from agricultural and industrial practices. Arsenic is poisonous when consumed in high doses, but even smaller amounts can cause cancer, skin problems and abnormal heart rhythms.
Berg and the other authors determined a high risk of arsenic contamination exceeding World Health Organization guidelines in Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta, a low-lying area hit by a May cyclone that killed at least 84,537 people.
Their models also found that 38,610 square miles (100,000 square kilometers) of Sumatra's east coast was at risk as well as the Chao Phraya river basin in central Thailand - although the dangers in the Chao Phraya were lower because residents in the area tap deeper aquifers.
Researchers said regions with organic-rich sediment containing silt and clay have a higher likelihood of arsenic contamination.
"These are very young sediments. Only in young formation do we find that arsenic can be released from the sediment," Berg said, adding that arsenic in soil that is much older has been mostly washed away.
Berg said he hopes the maps they developed could serve as "a red flag" for authorities to take precautions before building wells or other water facilities in areas deemed at high risk of arseniccontamination. Until now, testing for arsenic has been rare in many regions because it is costly and time consuming, he said.
"Maps pinpointing areas vulnerable to arsenic contamination can guide households at risk of arsenic contamination, as well as scientists and policy makers to initiate early mitigation measures and protect populations from chronic arsenic poisoning," theauthors wrote.
Lex van Geen, a geochemist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory who has studied arsenic contamination in Bangladesh and did not participate in the study, said it should be lauded for drawing attention to areas where little research has been done on the arsenic threat, such as Myanmar. But he said the digital models do not identify areas well below the surface where water quality is good.
"Using the mapping based on surface geology will identify settings where arsenic could be high in shallow groundwater," van Geen said. "What it can't tell you is how deep you might have to go to reach the low arsenic water, which is really what matters from a mitigation point of view." (***) from http://www.thejakartapost.com

Authorities execute man who killed 42 women and girls in ritual slayings

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta Fri, 07/11/2008 4:58 PM National
Officials in North Sumatra have executed a man convicted of killing 42 women and girls in a series of ritual slayings he believed would give him magical powers, an official said Friday.
Ahmad Suradji, 57, was executed by firing squad late Thursday in Galang subdistrict, Deli Serdang regency, the head of the North Sumatra Prosecutor's Office, Gortap Marbun, told detik.com newswire on Friday.
Suradji was execute despite a last-minute appeal by Amnesty International, a UK-based human rights advocacy group that opposes capital punishment in all cases.
"He appeared resigned to his fate," Attorney General Office's spokesman Bonaventura Nainggolan told Elshinta radio on Friday. "We fulfilled his final wish to see his wife."
Suradji was arrested in May 1997 following the discovery of a body in a field near his house in Lubukpakan, a village in North Sumatra province. Forty-one other corpses were later found nearby.
Police have said the victims came to Suradji because they believed he had supernatural powers. The victims were believed to have been seeking his help in making their husbands or boyfriends faithful, find a partner or get rich.
He lured them to a field and buried them up to the waist, telling them it was part of the ritual. He then strangled them and buried their bodies with the heads pointing toward his house. He has told police he believed the 11-year killing spree would boost his magical powers.
Suradji's wife, Tumini, was also sentenced to death for assisting with the murders, but her sentence was later reduced to life in prison.
Elshinta reports said authorities were forced to cancel a plan to bury in a public cemetery because up to 100 relatives of his victims were waiting at the cemetery to disrupt the funeral.
As of Friday morning, his body remained at the morgue of Deli Serdang Public Hospital. Later in the day, the body was buried at a cemetery in Sei Semayang village, Sunggal subdistrict.
Indonesia resumed executions in June 2008 after a 14-month hiatus, when two Nigerians were put to death for drug trafficking.
Authorities do not release official statistics on the death penalty, but at least 112 people are known to be on death row in Indonesia. The time and place of executions are never made public before they occur.
The deputy attorney general for general crime, Abdul Hakim Ritonga, said previously that the authorities were preparing to execute five people in July, including Suradji. One of them isalso a sorcerer, who was convicted of killing eight people. The other three are Islamic militants.(**) from. www.thejakartapost.com

South Sumatra terrorist suspects linked to Noordin

South Sumatra terrorist suspects linked to Noordin
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta Fri, 07/04/2008 11:08 AM Headlines

Police said Thursday the nine terror suspects arrested in South Sumatra recently had connections to fugitive Jamaah Islamiyah figures Noordin Moh. Top and Mas Slamet Kastari.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Abubakar Nataprawira said the police's anti-terror squad captured nine people in the South Sumatra capital of Palembang during a series of raids Tuesday and Wednesday.
The raids followed the June 28 arrest of MH, who was wanted in Singapore for terrorism, in Sekayu district in the South Sumatra regency of Musi Banyuasin.
"We arrested MH following a tip-off from Singapore," Abubakar said as quoted by Antara news agency.
The police flew the nine suspects, identified only by their initials, from Palembang to Jakarta on Thursday.
Under tight police escort, the suspects, with their faces masked, arrived at the Mobile Brigade detention center in Depok, south of Jakarta, at about 11:10 a.m. local time.
In a raid on a house in Palembang on Wednesday, police discovered and seized eight partly assembled bombs and 13 fully built bombs, along with 50 kilograms of explosive materials.
Noordin was responsible for a series of bomb attacks in the country between 2002 and 2005, along with his Malaysian partner Dr. Azahari bin Husin, who was killed in a raid in Malang, East Java, in 2006. Kastari is a Singapore-based JI leader who escaped from a maximum security prison in the country last February.
Abubakar said MH admitted he had assembled the bombs and trained the other suspects to make them.
Suspects AT, SG and AM were also allegedly involved in assembling the explosives.
Police found during questioning that the South Sumatra terror network was connected with members of the Noordin-led group, which was captured in Semarang and Wonosobo in Central Java in 2006.
Terrorism analyst Noor Huda Ismail of Sekurindo Global Consultants said the South Sumatra group was made of old faces who had built a new network.
He suspected the group had found new sources of explosive supplies in Thailand and the Philippines as the traditional ones had come under police watch.
"The arrests only reveal that the Indonesian, Thai and Philippine borders are porous enough that the terrorists can easily bring explosives into Indonesia," he said.
The fact that the suspected terrorists operated in Palembang, which is not a JI stronghold, should serve as a warning that terrorism remains a real danger, he added.
Riau Islands Police chief Brig. Gen. Sutarman said the recent arrests indicated that the terrorist network had moved its base from Java to Sumatra.
He said Batam Island could be the next target of an act of terrorism, due to the communications network in place there.
Fadli contributed to the story from Batam. from www.thejakatapost.com