Baku: An exciting place to explore

Veeramalla Anjaiah , The Jakarta Post , Baku Sun, 10/26/2008 10:59 AM Travel
Are you looking for a new exotic place to explore? Do you want to see features of both Asian and European cultures in one city? Do you want to see a city where Muslims, Jews and Christians live in harmony? Then Azerbaijan's capital Baku -- the pearl of the Caspian Sea -- is the place for you.
Azerbaijan, a small but oil-rich country in the South Caucasus, is the new kid on the block of the world tourism industry.
More than 90 percent of its population is Shiite Muslim. It is not, however, an orthodox country. It has one of the most modern, secular, liberal, tolerant and open societies in the Islamic world.
"We had a very difficult period of being unknown in the world tourism market due to the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh," Azerbaijan's Minister of Culture and Tourism, Abulfas Qarayev, told The Jakarta Post recently.
Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azerbaijan territory, was seized by Armenian troops in a 1990s war.
Azerbaijan's beauty, richness, culture and ultimately its geostrategic position -- a juncture on the Great Silk Road, between the Mediterranean, Caspian, Black and Azov seas -- has attracted various tribes, travelers, invaders, traders and missionaries throughout history. More recent patrons include oil companies and even film director Michael Apted, who shot parts of the 1999 Bond film The World is not Enough here.
In this former Soviet Union state of 8.7 million people, Baku has everything.
"It was a surprise for me. Baku looks like more an European city than an Asian one," Laura Shuurmans, a Jakarta-based free-lance writer, said recently.
A city rich in culture and history, Baku has unique and varied architecture -- ranging from grand mansions with Roman and Gothic themes to a walled old city complete with cobbled streets, narrow alleys, ancient buildings and interesting historical places.
As in any other ancient city, the best and easiest way is to explore Baku is on foot. While in Baku, there is one place you will go to, more than once. In Baku all roads lead to Fountain Square. If it is dining and shopping you're after, or simply looking to meet up with friends and enjoy the night life, head to Fountain Square. It's the most popular place in the city for locals and visitors alike.
Built in the 1860s by the famous Azerbaijani architect Hajibababeyov (1811-1874), Fountain Square is home to numerous Western-style shops, restaurants, cafes and bars. Here you can find street hawkers and a playground for children: It's the spot to hang out. It's on Sunday evenings however, that the square really comes alive. A parade of beautiful Azeri girls hit the town and everybody wants to be there.
Baku or Baki (which means a city of winds in the Azeri language) is in fact comprised of three cities -- the old town (Cheri Shekher), the boom town and the Soviet-built town.
Tourists will find the walled old town, a world heritage site, the most interesting as all the major attractions of Baku are found here.
Baku's landmark Maiden's Tower, a key shapped medieval tower, stands tall on the shore of Caspian Sea. The tower is a place worth seeing in Baku city. (JP/Veeramalla Ajaiah)
Every city has its landmark and for Baku it's Maiden's Tower, a medieval tower with a strange keyhole shape. Built as a guard tower and observatory in 12th century, Maiden's Tower or Kiz Kulesi is worth seeing. There are many stories to explain how it was named, the most accepted being that a maiden committed suicide by jumping from the top. Local people told us that distressed people still sometimes repeat maiden's act.
A set of stairs will take you to the top of the tower, which, at a height of more than 30 meters will provide good exercise. From the top you will find the best view of Baku and the Caspian Sea.
But beware of the biting wind, which comes rolling off the rough Caspian Sea and sweeps through the city's streets. The Shirvanshah's Palace, a 15th century royal palace, is a must see tourist site in Baku. (JP/Veeramalla Ajaiah)
Another of Baku's historical attractions is the Shirvanshah's Palace, a 15th century royal palace with a mosque, minaret and mausoleum.
On our way to Shirvanshah's Palace, there were numerous tempting artisan and carpet shops. But prices of these items are as high as the Maiden's Tower. Don't worry thought, if you have a local guide or bargaining skills developed from years of shopping at Tanah Abang market, the prices will come down by more than half.
It is easy to loose your way in the labyrinthine old city. But not to worry, just hail a cab and ask to go to the usual place: Fountain Square. The most surprising thing was that even the locals sometimes get lost. This is because Baku is changing very fast, due to the oil boom. Many Azeris, however, point out that they are not part of the boom.
The rapid influx of oil dollars means that the whole city looks as if it is in a beauty parlor. Multistory buildings are being constructed, old buildings and roads are undergoing renovations -- all over the city.
In the evening, one should not miss beautiful Boulevard. Running parallel to Baku's sea front, Azeri people enjoy leisurely strolls here. The 100-year-old Boulevard, now a national park, is also a popular spot for young lovers. The streets, decorated with lights, add to the ambiance.
Baku is also home to numerous museums. My favorite was the State Museum of Azerbaijani Carpets and Decorative Applied Arts (formerly the Lenin Museum), which has a very rich collection of centuries-old colorful carpets. The Azerbaijan State Museum of Art, State History Museum, Museum of Independence and the Museum of Musical Culture of Azerbaijan are also worth a visit.
The city also has a vibrant nightlife -- you can find music ranging from disco and jazz to operas and classical Azeri dances. One can even enjoy belly dancing at one of the caravansarai's (ancient inn) in the old town.
A picturesque view of Baku Bay. Baku city has been undergoing a complete modernization, thanks to its oil boom. (JP/Veeramalla Anjaiah)
On the outskirts of the city, you can explore not only numerous beaches, but also places like Gobustan, where 12,000-year-old rock carvings are preserved, and Ateshgah -- a Zoroastrian fire temple built in the 18th century.
Near Baku, the most interesting place in Azerbaijan is Oil Rocks, a town on the Caspian Sea. Built during the Soviet era, Oil Rocks has 200 kilometers of streets built on a former landfill. It is here that several scenes of The World is not Enough were shot. Further away from Baku you will find tourist places like Sheki, Ganja and Guba.
The most interesting part of the experience is the great Azeri cuisine, which is similar to Turkish food. Lamb kebabs, dolmas, caviar, yogurt soups, salads, bread, pillav and tomatoes, as well as many fresh fruits, will make your mouth water.
Baku and Azerbaijan in general are blessed with so many qualities that will provide fond memories for tourists. But it is above all, their warmness, generosity and hospitality that Azeri people are well known for. Last year around 1.3 million tourists visited Azerbaijan, a veritable leap from the 44,934 who came in 1995.
Baku has all the ingredients, and has invested billions of oil dollars, to ensure its spot as a popular international destination in the years to come. It might just be that one has to hurry up to see the original Baku, before it turns into a new star in global tourism industry.
Travel tips
Getting there: The United Arab Emirates' Emirates airlines flies daily from Jakarta to Dubai. From Dubai Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) flies to Baku six times in a week and from Baku to Dubai seven times a week. A two-way ticket may cost approximately US$1,800.
What to see
Fountain Square, Maiden's Tower, Shirvanshah's Palace, Old town (Cheri Shekher), Gobustan, Ateshgah fire temple, State Art Gallery, State Museum of Azerbaijani Carpets and Decorative Applied Arts, Boulevard, Oil Rocks in Baku and surrounding areas
Where to stay
Hyatt Regency, Holiday Inn, Absheron Hotel, Caspian Palace, and Radisson SAS Plaza and numerous budget hotels
Where to eat and what to eat
Karavanserai: An underground restaurant in the midst of walled city. The food is traditional Azeri with lots of lamb and Caspian fish. There are also regular Azeri music, magic shows and belly dance. Yacht Restaurant: This yacht-shaped expensive restaurant on Caspian Sea offers delicious Azeri food and drinks.
Currency
One can bring in unlimited foreign currency to Baku with proper declaration. But you can't take Azeri currency manats out of the country. Azeri manat might be stronger than U.S. dollar but it is not accepted outside Azerbaijan. All manats must be exchanged before we leave Baku.

Minister: Japan ready with money for IMF bailout

Yuri Kageyama , The Associated Press , Tokyo Fri, 10/31/2008 12:24 PM World
Japan is ready to provide some of its ample cash for any International Monetary Fund bailouts for struggling nations to help stabilize the growing gobal financial crisis, the finance minister said Friday.
Japan will make that offer along with proposals about accounting standards and other regulatory adjustments needed to fix the growing economic woes at a world summit in Washington Nov. 15, Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa told reporters.
Nakagaa did not say the acceptance of its proposals would be needed to get any of the money but he said Japan expects to play a greater international leadership role on the international stage.
He said the IMF has about $210 billion funds but that may not be enough.
"Japan is ready if that prove insufficient," he said, adding that Japan has $1 trillion in possible funding from its foreign currency reserves. "We see lending to the IMF basically as risk-free."
He did not give specifics of what Japan's proposals may be, stressing that Prime Minister Taro Aso was still hammering out details.
Nakagawa reiterated his earlier remarks and the views of other Japanese politicians that Japan wishes to exercise political leadership in offering its money and experience in wresting itself out of its bad debt woes of the 1990s.
He said Europe and the U.S. have historical experience with the Great Depression, but Japan has more recent experience and is in a better position to share its expertise.
"We were able to get ourselves out of our problems without help from any other nation," he said at the Japan Press Center.
Earlier this week British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the International Monetary Fund needs more money to bail out struggling countries.
Brown has called on countries such as China and the oil-rich Persian Gulf states to fund the bulk of an increase in the International Monetary Fund's bailout pot. The IMF is giving Hungary, Iceland and Ukraine loans and is in discussions with Belarus.
The International Monetary Fund said Wednesday it is creating a new program to get money quickly to developing countries with strong economies that are facing cash crunches in the global financial crisis.
Nakagawa said countries need to respond quickly and work together to get out of the financial problems that started with the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis and is now spreading around the world.
"Japan is taking leadership," he said.
He said Japan was also doing its part domestically with stimulus spending packages and regulatory changes to prevent a further plunge on the Tokyo stock market.
On Thursday, Tokyo unveiled a stimulus package worth 27 trillion yen ($275 billion) to shore up the world's No. 2 economy, including benefits to households, loans to small- and mid-sized businesses and discounts on highway tolls.

MANUEL GOING TO THE CHAPEL

Mon, 10/27/2008 11:38 PM World

Manuel "Meme" Uribe is pushed into the dance hall where he and Claudia Solis will get married in Monterrey, Mexico, on Sunday. Uribe, who tipped the scales in 2006 at 1,230 pounds (560 kilograms), earning him the Guinness Book of World Records' title for the world's heaviest man, lost 550 pounds (250 kilograms) with the help of Solis, whom he met four years ago. (AP/Monica Rueda)

Govt to destroy contaminated Chinese milk products

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta Tue, 10/28/2008 1:35 AM National
Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said Monday that the authorities had confiscated a total of over 478,000 packs of melamine-contaminated milk and milk products imported form China, and they would destroy all of them.
However, the minister said that the government would not publicize it "for reasons that I could not tell. But I assure you that they will all be destroyed."
Early in September melamine-contaminated milk formula was found in China, that had sickened thousands of babies and killed some of them.
In a belated response, the Indonesian government recalled all Chinese milk products from the markets and prohibited their importation and distribution.
The Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) then raided markets and confiscated products found to be contaminated with melamine.
The products found being distributed in the local markets included Guozhen (full cream milk powder), two kinds of Oreo Stick Wafer, two kinds of M&M's candies, Snickers biscuits, blue-packed White Rabbit candies, red-packed White Rabbit, Soybean Drink With Milk (yellow packs), Soyspring Instant Milk Cereal and Soyspring Instant Peanut Milk.
Meanwhile, BPOM said Monday it would continue to withdraw Snickers biscuits and M&M's chocolate candies despite latest tests showing low melamine contents.
BPOM chief Husniah Rubiana Thamrin acknowledged that results of repeat tests proved that both products contained low melamine contents, but the agency would continue with the withdrawal.
"Indeed there have been re-checks and the results show that the melamine content is low. But according to our standard operating procedures if a brand is already declared to contain melamine it has to be withdrawn and destroyed," Husniah Rubiana Thamrin was quoted by Antara as saying on Monday.
She said the policy was taken to assure consumers that all food products sold in the country are safe to consume.
"This will also be good for the companies concerned because it would convince the people that their products are safe to eat," she added.
The producer of Snickers and M&M's, PT Mars Symbioscience Indonesia, has said that all of its products are safe to eat.
The company's president Noel Janetski said in a statement that his side and BPOM had conducted a re-test on the products, and the results showed that the content of melamine in M&M's was below the tolerated limit, and Snickers did not contain any melamine. (rid)

Hasan Tiro and Aceh peace

The Jakarta Post Fri, 10/24/2008 1:35 PM Opinion
Hasan Tiro is not only a symbol of the Acehnese people's identity, but also a maker of and witness to history. Alongside Buya T. Daud Beureuh, Tiro is a promising figure for developing sustainable peace in Aceh. Tiro played a great role in Helsinki in August 2005 to help the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) achieve a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that contains a comprehensive and progressive agreement for embracing a peaceful future for Aceh.
Tiro's homecoming to Aceh this year on Saturday, Oct. 11, after several decades of living abroad, should be widely appreciated. He represents not only the Acehnese people's long journey through the peace-building process, but also that of all Indonesians.
The 2009 election has already raised some tensions in Aceh. Thirty-eight national political parties will be competing with six local ones. Research conducted by an early warning team from the SERAP program of CCA-CIDA has shown that from June to September 2008 several potential causes of conflict emerged. Political terror increased, as did negative media headlines. The lack of political knowledge in the community is challenging the emergence of local parties. Controversy between national and local parties occurred under the poor performance of the Independent Election Commission (KIP) and the Election Monitoring Team (Panwaslu).
Meanwhile, to achieve a peaceful election in Aceh, all functional actors are strongly expected to perform at their best from now on. The KIP must get accurate data on voters immediately. The police must carry out their tasks in dealing with political terrorism. Local governments must learn not to control, but to cooperate and collaborate with other institutions. Local political parties must seek some capacity-building support to increase their members' political knowledge.
After the Helsinki MoU in 2005, the House of Representatives passed a Law on the Government of Aceh (Law No. 11/2006). But to this day, there has been only one government regulation on local political parties (PP No. 20/2007).
Aceh still needs 11 regulations to support the implementation of the peace agreement, as cited in the Helsinki MoU and Law No. 11/2006, such as the regulation of law enforcement for human rights and the regulation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (KKR).
The latter is subject to different points of view. The first view is that the KKR Aceh could be established after a nationwide commission had been established. However, our Constitutional Court (MK) annulled the regulation on the national KKR. Another view states that the KKR Aceh could be established without the national one using local community mechanisms. A third view is that the KKR Aceh has already been established, via Articles 229 to 259 of Law No. 11/2006.
To this day, the Aceh Reconstruction Council (BRA) has not effectively contributed to the reintegration process. Held up by bureaucratic procedures in the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) and the Social Services Ministry, only 30 percent of the reintegration fund has been dispensed. Furthermore, instead of using the money to strengthen conflict victims' capacity, the council has dispensed it in a mostly charitable manner. With such an enormous allocation of funds, the BRA has been focusing only on physical activities or construction. It has not contributed to capacity-building activities toward the development of peace in Aceh.
Tiro's homecoming was a beautiful moment for the official leaders and elites to reunite in developing a sustainable peace in Aceh. There is still a lot of work to be done since the peace agreement; such work can easily be done collaboratively.
The establishment of a reconciliation council (KKR), to name one of the tasks, will come before the spoilers of peace can be detected. They could be individuals, or any programs that would lead to social envy, injustice, inadequate economic access for tsunami and conflict victims, and wealth and employment issues.
Other tasks are: 1) strengthening local democratic instruments by empowering ex-combatants to become politicians; 2) expanding marginal groups' access to political, economic, bureaucratic and other governmental institutions; and 3) accelerating the establishment of the Human Rights Court and the KKR to resolve former cases of conflict and maintain a sense of justice among conflict victims.
Moreover, for all of the people of Aceh, the upcoming election is the right time to vote for their best representatives and leaders. It is a breakthrough toward sustainable peace. We shall then put our focus and energy toward supporting Aceh in creating a peaceful democratic party in 2009.
The writer is chairman of the Titian Perdamaian Institute. He can be reached at ichsanmalik@gmail.com

Crowds at Games below expectations

Indah Setiawati and Matheos Viktor Messakh , The Jakarta Post , Denpasar, Bali Thu, 10/23/2008 11:05 AM Asian Beach Games
The dragon boat competition ending Tuesday gave visitors a spectacle because it was held with the nice scenery of Suwung Water Reservoir near Denpasar as its backdrop.
It was cleared from garbage ahead of the games.
In the racing lanes, it was a competition worth watching with Indonesia and Myanmar locked in the latest round of a rivalry in the men's races and Indonesia managing to come up on top over China in the women's.
However, the showcase, which delivered an overall collection of four gold and two silver medals for the hosts, fell short in the cheering gallery.
The so-called VIP seats, where spectators got the best view of the races, were largely occupied by organizers, media workers and officials from the seven participating teams. Few people were seen scattered along the banks of the man-made lake, located near Simpang Siur area.
Spectators were also sparse at Serangan Island, where the sailing and windsurfing competitions were taking place. The expectation of a huge crowd did not materialize either at the beach soccer venue in Mertasari and beach volleyball venue in Sanur.
Bodybuiding and surfing, which have already wrapped up competitions, should have drawn spectators with both events held in public places, where locals and tourists flock everyday.
"I asked some people why they were not coming to watch. Some say they cannot stand the heat,"Sony Subrata, a marketing and public relation officer with the Bali Asian Beach Games Organizing Committee (BABGOC), said.
He said the organizers had campaigned hard, promoting the Games extensively through print, electronic and broadcast media, including on foreign channels the BBC, CNN, ESPN, the Discovery Channel and CNBC, and local channels TV One, Trans 7, RCTI,TPI, SCTV and Indosiar.
Fliers and guidebooks containing competition schedules were distributed in shopping malls and hotels, he said.
"Around 100 volunteers distributed 10,000 fliers three days ahead of the opening ceremony. Twenty thousand flags were placed on the island's streets to alert people about the big event,"he said Still, it has not steered people's anxiety.
I Made Sudira, who works in a villa in Jimbaran, came to Suwung Water Reservoir, but thirty minutes after the competition was over.
"I'm coming to watch the dragon boat competition.You know... it refreshes my mind after work," he said. He was not alone. Some others came, but they just missed the races.
I Wayan Sudi said many were interested to watch, but they did not know the schedule or the venues.
"We should have encouraged hotels to promote this event to their guests. I hope the sport events can be merrier next time. The promotion effort should have been bigger," he said.
Reza Heryoga said his classmates wanted to watch the beach soccer but they were fazed by ticket prices of Rp 75,000 (US$7.6).
"We were disappointed to learn that the tickets were that expensive.We actually planned to watch it tomorrow."
Soccer, volleyball and pencak silat are the only three of 19 sports charging spectators entrance fees. The organizers have loosened up so that entry tickets are compulsory only for semifinals and finals.
The woodball competition does not attract many spectators except for guests at Ayodya Resort Bali. Indonesian team manager Dominicus Sutrisno said this was because the game was not popular in the country yet. Furthermore, people are reluctant to travel far to Nusa Dua, he said.
The hotel's compound was selected as it provides competition fields that meet international standards.
"We would like to play at a venue where many people could watch, but we couldn't because we needed a venue that had both grass and sand grounds.
"That's why the competition is held here, where we can set up five grass fairways and seven sand fairways."

Japan, China, SKorea to set up financial watchdog

Thursday, 23 October 2008 10:34 WIB
WASPADA ONLINETOKYO - Japan, China and South Korea will set up an Asian watchdog body to monitor the health of financial institutions in a bid to counter global economic chaos, reports said Wednesday.They hope to have the first meeting in Tokyo next month and also invite other Asian nations including the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Yomiuri Shimbun said.It would serve as a regional version of the Financial Stability Forum, a panel that advises the Group of Seven major economies and exchanges information among them, Kyodo News said, quoting unnamed sources.Japan also hopes the meeting would discuss enhancing controls on the financial system, Kyodo said.The move came as US and European leaders called for an emergency summit in November to discuss ways to restore the battered global financial sector.Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso is also sounding out whether the South Korean and Chinese leaders can travel to Japan by the end of the year for an inaugural three-way summit to tighten their relations.Japanese government officials declined to comment on the reports.(lnd/ann)

What role for returning Aceh rebel?

What role for returning Aceh rebel?
By Lucy Williamson BBC News, Banda Aceh

Hasan di Tiro returns to a much-changed Aceh. Photos: Fauzan Ijazah
It must have been a strange moment for Hasan di Tiro.
Looking down from the steps of the plane at Aceh's new international airport, what would he have seen?
Rows of dignitaries and TV cameras, here to mark the return of an exiled rebel; his family, frail and wilting in the morning heat; and lined up on the tarmac, waiting to greet him, his former guerrilla fighters, now name-tagged and in suits.
For a man who slipped away in secret 30 years ago, it was a statesman's return.
Of course, Aceh has changed a lot in that time too.
The fact that Indonesia has allowed him back at all is a sign of how much.
Three years ago, in the aftermath of the devastating Asian tsunami, and under the glare of international attention, his rebel group the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) gave up its bloody fight for Acehnese independence and settled instead for autonomy within Indonesia.
But Hasan di Tiro's image - part royalty, part rebel leader - has outlasted all those changes.
Almost royalty
Truckloads of supporters, most of them too young to remember the last time he was here, began arriving in the Acehnese capital, Banda Aceh, days before he returned.
Young men like Neh who talk about a very personal attachment to this remote, elderly rebel. "We miss him like a son to a father," he told me.
Or like Sayeed, just a few months old when Hasan di Tiro slipped out of Aceh.
"I miss him," he said. "I want to see his real face, not a picture in the internet or the newspaper. I'm happy he's coming back, because he's the one person who really cares about Aceh."
Not bad for a man who has lived in exile for three decades.
But then Hasan di Tiro has two things going for him.
Firstly, he founded GAM back in 1976 and led the 30-year fight for independence and control of Aceh's rich natural resources.
Secondly, he really is almost royalty here - he is a descendant of Aceh's old rulers.
Some people here would like to see him take on a similar role again, to speak up for Acehnese interests under the province's new autonomy deal.
But of course not everyone would welcome that. Others resent di Tiro for his absence during the long bloody years of conflict. Many suffered as a result of it, and not everyone here was in favour of independence anyway.
But his appearance at the main mosque in Banda Aceh can still draw several thousand people, neatly packed into its wide open spaces, all hoping for a glimpse.

Several thousand greeted Hasan di Tiro's appearance in Aceh
The question is, now that the separatist war has ended, what will Hasan di Tiro do with all his popularity?
This is being billed as a personal trip, the wish of an old man to revisit his homeland.
But the signs point elsewhere. It has been a highly organised event. And one organised by his former guerrilla colleagues - it is they who have largely managed his security, journalist access and crowd control.
Some of these men are now running for parliament under the banner of GAM's new political party - part of the terms agreed under the peace deal. Called the Aceh Party, it is expected to do very well indeed in elections due next year.
And its logo was everywhere during this trip; the hallmark of Hasan di Tiro's return.
Aceh Party flags peppered the crowds that came to see him - and the trucks that brought them. Party officials in party T-shirts helped with airport security as he arrived.
There had been some careful preparation of the crowds. Nobody who arrived in groups from the districts would talk about politics. But that couldn't hide the smell of it.
Powerful figure
For men like Sayeed and Neh - and some of their older neighbours - the independence fight wasn't just about splitting from Indonesia, it was fuelled by the desire to get a better deal for Acehnese; a greater share of the province's resources, prosperity and control over their own affairs.

Supporter are now looking ahead to elections next spring
Much of that was delivered in the peace agreement. Yet while GAM may have stopped fighting for a separate state, but the struggle to safeguard Aceh's interests in relations with Jakarta continues. And it's likely to be the battleground for next spring's elections.
In that sense, Hasan di Tiro has it all - nationalist credentials, a blood line to Aceh's old sultan and 30 years of exile that have kept him apart from the new party politics.
But it's doubtful how big a role he could actually play, even if he wanted to.
He's an old man now; too frail even to deliver his own speech at his welcome rally; more like an elder statesman than a campaigner.
Yet he's still a powerful figure, and as a poster boy for his former colleagues-turned- politicians, he's probably irresistible. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7665752.stm

Indonesia hopes Cambodia, Thailand to exercise restraint

Thursday, 16 October 2008 08:44 WIB
WASPADA ONLINEJAKARTA - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed the hope here on Tuesday that Cambodia and Thailand would exercise restraint and be able prevent an open conflict on the border in the spirit of Asean solidarity. He made the statement upon arrival at the Halim Perdanakusumah from visiting East Java after receiving a report from foreign minister Hassan Wirajuda that the situation on the border between Cambodia and Thailand was tense again and open to the possibility of a military conflict. "Soon after arriving here I immediately talked with Prime Minister Hun Sen on the latest situation on the border. I hoped no armed conflict would take place and dialogue could be continued in line with the peaceful spirit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)," he said.According to him Prime Minister Hun Sen said a worse situation could be prevented because Cambodia also wanted to settle the problem peacefully through bilateral negotiations with Thailand."It was also mentioned that tomorrow (15/10) there will be a working group meeting to discuss the conflict," he said.President Yudhoyono said Hun Sen had assured him he would prevent the situation from escalating and settle it peacefully with Thailand."I have also called Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat to convey my worries because if the conflict continues it will become worse. Moreover, now when we are still concerned with overcoming the financial crisis," he said.He said the Thai prime minister also said that he had a strong will to settle the conflict peacefully.On October 21, he said, the two countries would also hold a more substantive formal meeting to seek a peaceful solution of the problem."I will continue monitoring their good will, moreover Indonesia as one of the Asean founding fathers is expected to be able to help solve the conflict," he said. Minister Hassan Wirajuda had earlier talked with Asean secretary general Surin Pitsuwan who had also been concerned over the development on the border of the two Asean common member countries.Pitsuwan who was formerly Thai foreign minister hoped Indonesia could play a more role in preventing possible armed conflicts and would push the two countries to continue their bilateral talks.Due to the latest development Thai prime minister Sochai Wongsawat had cancelled his plan to visit Indonesia on October 22 and had assigned his foreign minister to come to Indonesia.On the cancellation President Yudhoyono said he could understand it and hoped the situation would be better.In the past few months Thailand and Cambodia had disputed an area around an old Khmer temple of Preah Vihear located on the border between the two countries.The tension escalated in July after the temple was declared a world heritage belonging to Cambodia by the UNESCO, angering Thai nationalists who still consider it their country`s.The situation led to a military tension with around 1,000 Cambodian and Thailand soldiers facing each other for six weeks before the two sides later in August promised to withdraw.Talks to discuss the withdrawal of the remaining soldiers from around Preah Vihear Temple scheduled last month were cancelled following a political upheaval in Thailand.(lnd/ann)

Thai-Cambodia border situation "back to normal": Thai P.M.

Wednesday, 15 October 2008 23:38 WIB
WASPADA ONLINEBANGKOK - Thailand`s premier said Wednesday the situation has returned to normal after fighting broke out on the border with Cambodia and insisted Thai troops did not start the exchange.Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat said fighting in disputed patches of land near the ancient Preah Vihear temple on the Thai-Cambodian border was "small scale", and said they had now subsided."We are not the ones who ignited the violence," Somchai told reporters."The situation has returned to normal now and this evening the foreign ministry will hand over an aide memoir to a Cambodian diplomat," he said."It is not serious and I am convinced there will be resolution," he added.Thailand`s army spokesman has said one Cambodian soldier was killed and four Thai troops were injured in Wednesday`s clashes, which came after a days of tension between the neighbours.Cambodian army officials have insisted that Thai troops fired first after they strayed into Cambodian territory.Tensions between the neighbours flared this week after failed talks on Monday aimed at cooling a months-long stand off over land near Preah Vihear.Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen then issued an ultimatum to the Thai side to leave or risk conflict after he accused more than 80 Thai soldiers of entering one of a handful of disputed areas.(lnd/ann)

Gunfire at the border

BangkokPost.com
Foreign Minister Sompong Amornvivat urged Thai nationals in Cambodia to leave for home immediately after a Wednesday afternoon military battle along the disputed border left two Cambodian soldiers dead and five Thai soldiers wounded.
"Thai businessmen who have no need to be in Cambodia now, please rush back to Thailand," Sompong told reporters.
"We have our evacuation plan ready," he added.
In the Northeast, officials told residents of the border to be ready to move out quickly in case hostilities resume and escalate.
Thai and Cambodian troops fired rockets and small arms at each other for about 10 minutes at the border of Kantalak district, Si Sa Ket province at around 2.30pm.
The incident reportedly occurred three kilometres from Phreah Vihear temple, and at the site of an Oct 3 clash which left two Thai soldiers and one Cambodian wounded. Thailand issued an official protest to the Cambodian government over that alleged border incursion.
Cambodian army commander Brig Gen Yim Pim said fighting had "paused" after the battle, as commanders tried to negotiate a cease-fire.
Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat said the two countries' foreign ministers were talking. Both sides said they wanted a peaceful resolution. "Cambodia is a good neighbor. We will use peaceful means. If there is violence, we have to negotiate," he said.
dpa reported from Phnom Penh
Cambodia said Wednesday that it was forced to bypass the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations as a mediator in a violent border dispute with neighbouring Thailand because Thailand is current chairman, thus making the group partial.
At a press conference broadcast on national television, and to which most foreign diplomats to Cambodia were summoned,Foreign Minister Hor Namhong again alleged Cambodia was being provoked and said it would seek an impartial international mediator.
"Thailand is the current chair of the Asean," Hor Namhong said, announcing that without drastic changes, Cambodia would go to a higher international body for a resolution because of that.
Cambodia’s Preah Vihear governor Prieb Tan claimed that Thailand started shooting at the Cambodian army first. Thai army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd, meanwhile, claimed that Cambodian soldiers started the shooting first by firing about seven to eight shots onto the Thai soil so Thai soldiers had to defend themselves by firing them back using small weapons.
According to Col Sansern, four Thai army rangers were wounded while one Cambodian soldier was killed in the incident.
On Tuesday, Col Sansern reiterated that Thailand would not shoot first, but warned that Thai troops were ready if Cambodian forces encroach into Thailand. The Thai army is ready to confront any incident to protect the country’s sovereignty, he said.
Meanwhile, Thailand put air force fighter jets and C-130 transport planes on alert. The C-130s have been used in a previous operation to bring Thais back home from Phnom Penh.
"Normally we have fighter jets on stand-by at various regional headquarters ready for operation within five minutes, but under the current circumstances we have increased our readiness," Grp Capt Montol Suchookorn was quoted by the AFP news agency.
"I do hope the use of force is the last resort," he added.

East Timor signs energy deal with SKorea, say officials

Tuesday, 14 October 2008 22:21 WIB
WASPADA ONLINESEOUL - East Timor has signed a deal allowing South Korea to import natural gas from its Greater Sunrise gasfield by 2013, officials here said Tuesday.The deal reached in Dili would also allow a South Korean consortium led by state-run Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS) to seek out other gasfields in the country, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said in a statement.The deal represents East Timor's first energy pact with a foreign country since it gained independence in 2002, the ministry said."We have yet to complete discussion on the annual amount of natural gas to be imported from East Timor," a ministry official told AFP.He said the Greater Sunrise field is believed to hold enough gas to meet South Korea's energy needs for seven years.The field is part of the Joint Petroleum Development Area, shared by East Timor and Australia.South Korea is the world's largest importer of natural gas.(lnd/ann)

Indonesia shares stable as trading resumes

Zakki Hakim , The Associated Press , Jakarta Mon, 10/13/2008 3:50 PM Business

Indonesian authorities announced fresh measures to prevent the global credit crisis from hitting localbanks Monday and stocks halted steep falls as trading resumed aftera three-day suspension.
The benchmark JSX index dropped more than 6 percent in theopening half-hour, the first trading since Wednesday when a 10percent drop prompted authorities to suspend trading mid-session.
The index later swung to a profit and was up 0.5 percent at1,458.18 points.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the government wouldguarantee private savings of up to US$210,000 (2 billion rupiah) andmake it easier for banks to obtain short-term loans from the centralbank.
"The global financial crisis has disrupted banking systems ...These conditions can have a negative impact to the stability ofnational banking" in Indonesia, she said.
More favorable lending terms at the central bank will remain inplace for as long as necessary to ensure liquidity, she said.
The market was closed Wednesday amid a freefall that drove downthe index 21 percent last week amid panic that the U.S. financialcrisis could trigger a global recession.
Responding to the turmoil, Indonesian authorities announcedinitial measures last week to secure capital flows, including easingregulations for share buybacks and corporate financial reservelimits.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urged state companies torepurchase shares, doubling to 20 percent a buying limit andscrapping compulsory shareholder approval.
Most Asian markets recovered from record loses last week,seemingly encouraged by government guarantees of bank transfers inEurope.
But the Indonesian measures didn't seem to be having the desiredeffect, and commodities stocks, banks and mining companies were downsharply Monday.
Leaders in Indonesia, which suffered a devastating financialmeltdown in the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, have sought toreassure investors that the country's fundamental economy remainsstrong

Hasan Tiro visits Aceh's hero graves

Ati Nurbaiti , The Jakarta Post , Banda Aceh Sun, 10/12/2008 11:16 AM National
Aceh's former resistance leader, Hassan Di Tiro, prayed briefly by the grave of Aceh hero Sultan Iskandar Muda on Sunday morning and is scheduled to visit the grave of another hero, respected ulema Syech Abdul Rauf, at Syiah Kuala cemetery.
Organizers say, after paying his respects, Tiro will visit Ule Lhee, the coastal area of Banda Aceh that was devastated in the 2004 tsunami.
"It's the tsunami which preceded the Helsinki memorandum of understanding (MoU)," said Muzakir A Hamid, an assistant of Tiro, referring to a peace agreement between the Free Aceh Movement (which Tiro had chaired) and the Indonesian government.
Later, in the tentative Sunday schedule was a visit to the grave of Tiro's ancestor Tengku Cik Di Tiro, a national hero in Indrapuri district, some 25 kilometers east of Banda Aceh.
Tiro arrived in his homeland Aceh on Saturday, after 29 years of living in exile, mainly in Sweden. Now, he is a Swedish citizen.
"The freedom and peace across Aceh today is a precious gift from Allah. Never before in Aceh's history of colonialism and occupation by foreign nations, have the people gained freedom and peace in general, as they have today," Tiro said in a statement read by his assistant, Malik Mahmud, in front of thousands of people at Baiturrahman Mosque in Banda Aceh on Saturday.
A former female combatant, Fatimah, was among the speakers who addressed the crowd on Saturday.
Fatimah said she and her group of female combatants (inong bale) were still trying to meet Tiro, who is considered by many Acehnese as wali nangroe (inheritor of Aceh).
"I am satisfied. I saw him up-close yesterday, but my friends said maybe our eyes were not yet blessed."
Fatimah conveyed her gratitude to Tiro who had "opened the eyes of the Acehenese," enabling them to understand "our history".

News focus: Hasan Tiro`s home coming expected to support peace in Aceh

By BustanuddinJakarta, (ANTARA News)- After about 30 years of living in exile, Tgk Muhammad Hasan Tiro, 83, former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) leader, who has become a Swedish citizen, now has an opportunity to return home in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) province.Hasan Tiro, who came from Tiro village in Pidie district, was expected to arrive at Sultan Iskandar Muda airport in Banda Aceh on Saturday (Oct.11, 2008). Report said that from Sultan Iskandar Muda airport, Hasan Tiro would proceed to Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf`s residence in Banda Aceh and later meet local people at the Baiturahman grand mosque.Hasan Tiro will spend most of his time in his birth place in Pidie district, Aceh Party spokesman Adnan Beuransyhah said here on Friday.Regarding his home coming, many people from various districts in Aceh have started to converge on the provincial capital of Banda Aceh to welcome Hasan Tiro.People from Aceh`s eastern coastal areas and other districts such as Pidie, Pidie Jaya, Bireuen, North Aceh, and East Aceh have started arriving here since Thursday in trucks, minibuses and motorcycles."We have come here at our own expense just to meet Hasan Tiro in person," said M Fakri, a resident of North Aceh district."To ensure security during Hasan Tiro`s visit, KPA will deploy a 60-man task force in uniform and 300 others with special identity cards," said Abu Razak, Aceh Transitional Committee (KPA) spokesman.He made the statement after a closed-door meeting to coordinate preparations for Hasan Tiro`s return to Aceh.The meeting was led by Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) provincial administration official Said Mustafa, and attended by Iskandar Muda Military Command officials, Aceh police officials, and a number of KPA officials.Abu Razak said he had coordinated the KPA`s security plan with Aceh police because special security arrangements were the responsibility of the law-enforcing agencies, including the police.In the meantime, National Police Headquarters spokesman Inspector General Abubakar Nataprawira said in Jakarta on Thursday,there would be no special security arrangements for the former Aceh separatist leader. "If he wishes to come, he is free to do so. For his security, well, there will be no special arrangements as we consider him to be an ordinary individual, not a state guest," Abubakar said.He said the police saw him not as a former GAM leader but as a foreign citizen making a visit to his home village."The GAM problem is already settled. So, there is no more GAM. If he wants to visit Aceh, he can do so freely," he said.While in Aceh, Tiro who is now a Swedish citizen would meet with the Aceh governor and members of the local community as well as his relatives.Hasan Tiro controlled GAM for almost 30 years from Sweden, aiming to establish a state in Aceh separated from the unitary state of Indonesia.The movement`s efforts to achieve its goal through armed struggle came to an end following the signing of a peace deal with the Indonesian government on August 15, 2005.Meanwhile, NAD police spokesman Senior Commissioner Ghufron said the police would not take special security precautions during Hasan Tiro`s visit."The police`s task is to ensure security, and special security arrangments are only meant for the president or head of state," Ghufron said.He also said the police were still uncertain which areas needed to be guarded during Hasan Tiro`s visit because the KPA had yet to give a written report about it.Earlier, on Monday, another Aceh police spokesman, Adjunct Senior Commissioner Farid Ahmad Saleh, said police had yet to receive a written report on the plan of Hasan Tiro to visit Aceh."We have not received any written report about Hasan Tiron`s planned visit to Aceh. We only know about it from the media," Saleh said.More than 100 journalists from 75 media including foreign ones have been registered to cover Tiro`s home visit, Adnan Beuransyah said. Meanwhile, Army chief of staff, Jend. Agustadi Sasongko Purnomo told the press in Surabaya on Thursday that Hasan Tiro`s planned visit to Aceh will not disturb security in the province.There is no special security guard for Tiro as he is an ordinary person, the Army chief said.On the other hand, Theo L Sambuaga, chairman of House of Representatives (DPR)`s commission I overseeing foreign, defense and information affairs said here on Friday that there was no problem with Hasan Tiro`s visit to his hometown in Aceh.Tiro`s visit to Aceh will be meaningful if as a respected figure he can affirm that Aceh is part of the Unitary State of the Indonesian Republic (NKRI). "We welcome his arrival here as a figure whom Aceh people look up to, even though he has not become an Indonesian citizen," Sambuaga said.Muzakkir Manaf, chairman of the Aceh Transnational Commission, said in Banda Aceh on Wednesday that Tiro`s return would help strengthen peace as recommended in the Helsinki Accord.(*)

Thousands descend on Banda Aceh to greet Hasan Tiro

Hotli Simanjuntak and Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Jakarta
"Wellcome to Acheh Veranda, Prof.DR.Muhammad Hasan Di Tiro. Kuta raja. From KPA/Masses of Pase."
This was the greeting in broken English splashed across banners attached to two large trucks on Friday, a day before the most senior leader of Aceh's former resistance leader was expected in the provincial capital.
Hasan Tiro, 83, a Swedish citizen, is expected to arrive on a chartered flight from Kuala Lumpur at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, on what he has called a long-delayed visit to his homeland. He will be accompanied by an entourage including more than 100 former combatants of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
On the trucks, some 60 members of a traditional rapaii percussion group were practicing to greet the man one well-wisher described as "the real Wali of Aceh", the grandson of resistance fighter Teungku Cik di Tiro historically entrusted by the ulema to lead Aceh.
"We can't wait to meet him," said a leader of the percussion group, Ibrahim M. Jali of Matang Kuli in North Aceh.
By late Friday afternoon, thousands more vehicles had streamed into the capital, having clogged the road all the way from North Aceh since morning.
Many honking vehicles carrying waving passengers on top were adorned or painted with the red-and-black flag of the Aceh Party (Partai Aceh), based on the colors of the GAM, the republic's former enemy.
"A soldier tossed a bottle of water at us on the way," one man said. "So what? Our party flag is legal, so if they don't like it that means they don't respect their own government."
Many also brought tents and stoves, and enjoyed simple hot meals of rice, noodles and a few meatballs each.
The well-wishers are currently concentrated in two other locations -- another park and the Unsyiah campus -- as well as in Ratu Safiatudin, which is nearest to the governor's office.
"It's easier to monitor them in these three areas," said Aceh Party spokesman Adnan Beuransyah.
"The 'Wali' will make a brief speech at the mosque, but this is still tentative," he added.
The supporters were all prepared to spend a night or two in the capital's parks, which have a number of buildings such as replicas of traditional structures, although sanitation facilities are limited.
Aceh Vice Governor M. Nazar said of the complaints that "party accessories are unnecessary. Hasan Tiro did not return for Partai Aceh but for peace and because he misses his homeland."
Governor Irwandi Yusuf, who has been receiving medical treatment in Singapore, is now well and will join Tiro from Kuala Lumpur, Nazar said.
On Friday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said his office had granted Hasan Tiro a social visit visa valid for 60 days and had worked with related ministries to facilitate his arrival in a chartered plane.
"(Former GAM leader) Malik Mahmud sent us a letter for help to facilitate the visit. Now all documents have been cleared, so there's no problem regarding his arrival," he said.
"However, we have to remind the agents managing the visit to make sure that everyone in the entourage is well-documented, including the foreigners."
Theo Sambuaga, chairman of the House of Representatives Commission I on international and defense affairs, said Friday he hoped Hasan's visit would send a strong message to the Aceh people to help sustain peace there.
"I urge him to emphasize three things while he's in Aceh," he said.
"He needs to urge the Aceh people to maintain reconciliation, to pursue development and to emphasize that Aceh is an integral part of Indonesia."

The overlooked attractions of Central Java's north coast

Tim Hannigan , Contributor , Semarang, Central Java Sun, 10/05/2008 10:40 AM Travel The gunpowder smell of fresh rain in the night air hit me as I climbed down from the train in Semarang. By the time I reached the station gates and had clambered into a waiting becak (pedicab), a thunderous -- and highly unseasonable downpour had begun.
I peered from beneath the becak's dripping hood as it rolled along the empty streets. This was an old city, and I caught glimpses of heavy Dutch rooflines, crumbling columns and arched windows. Shadowy figures sheltered beneath shuttered balconies, and other becaks rolled swiftly through the wet night, their drivers straining urgently at the peddles.
I stopped at the only place open on this dark street: a caf* in a high-ceilinged old building with slow-circling fans. The walls were decorated with photographs of Semarang in years past, and the caf* was known simply as "No. 29" (opposite Blenduk Church). I ordered a plate of juicy sate and a glass of iced tea, and sat peering out at the wet darkness. The rain continued to fall.
Semarang is not high on any must-see list for travelers. Overshadowed by its southern counterpart, the touristic behemoth of Yogyakarta, it's easy to forget that this coastal city of 1.5 million people is the capital of Central Java, and one of the oldest settlements in Indonesia.
With a couple of days to spare I had decided to eschew the more obvious attractions of Yogyakarta to see what this lesser-known place and its surrounds had to offer -- if only it would stop raining!
Colonial history, Chinese culture
To my relief, the dry season returned the following morning. I picked my way over the puddles back into the old part of the city -- still sometimes known by its Dutch name, the Outstadt.
While Yogyakarta is a truly Javanese city, Semarang is the archetypal port, built on colonialism and immigration.
Semarang's history can be traced back to the first millennium -- ancient by Indonesian standards -- but it was in the colonial era when trade networks spread from the harbors of Java that it came into its prime.
The ruler of the ailing Mataram kingdom, Amangkurat I, ceded Semarang to the Dutch in 1677 after they came to his aid against the Madurese renegade Trunajaya. Semarang soon developed into a seat of colonial government and commerce.
The loudest echoes from this era can be felt around Jl Jendral Suprapto, the street that my becak had rolled along through the rain the previous evening.
The atmospheric gloom had cleared with the dawn, but what had been ominous silhouettes in the wet darkness, now revealed themselves as fine 18th and 19th Century buildings.
This was an area of hipped roofs, stocky columns and some of the finest Dutch domestic architecture I had seen in Indonesia. Best of the colonial buildings was Gereja Blenduk, the domed Church of Immanuel opposite the caf* where I had eaten the night before. Built in 1753, it is still one of the most important Protestant churches in Semarang.
Its heavyset white clock towers and red brick dome were bright against a clear blue sky.
Wandering along narrower alleyways south of the church, I found my way to the edge of the river that once carried trading ships into the very heart of the city. This was an area of tiny doorways and outdoor kitchens. Fighting cocks preened themselves haughtily under wicker baskets and finches twittered in bamboo cages hanging from trees.
I followed the river south to the 18th Century Tay Kak Sie Chinese temple. It is an impressive building with dragons writhing along its bowed roofline. Inside, old ladies raised bunches of smoking joss sticks before the altars while old men with bony knees sprawled on benches outside. The air was thick with the heavy scent of incense.
Semarang has a large ethnic Chinese population. There is a suggestion that the name of the place may be a corruption of that of the famous Chinese Admiral Zheng He, who came here in the 15th Century and to whom another temple on the outskirts of the city is dedicated.
Across the river I wandered into Chinatown. Here there were old shop-houses and more temples at unexpected street corners. Flashes of red and gold showed above the counters of pharmacies and hardware stores.
Semarang's modern center lies to the south of all this history, focused on the broad expanse at the heart of Simpang Lima, a five-road intersection lined with hotels and malls.
Shopping is not my scene, so after tracking down an edible souvenir, the local speciality known as wingko babad -- small, sticky coconut-flavored cakes -- I retreated north and took refuge in another relic of the colonial age.
Toko Oen is a venerable institution, a restaurant that has hardly changed since it opened its doors in 1936. The heat and traffic noise seemed to stay respectfully outside and four superannuated Chinese women sat dabbing at homemade ice cream at a table near the door. I slipped into a creaking wooden chair and settled down to read the newspaper over coffee and cakes.
Hindu temples at high altitude
The next morning I headed for the hills. Yogyakarta may have Borobudur, but Semarang has its own classical temples within easy reach of the city.
A battered local bus carried me south. Ahead, the ghostly outline of Gunung Ungaran formed like a photograph from the haze, and soon we were rattling along a rising road through green forests. Just beyond the little hill resort of Bandungan, 45 minutes from Semarang, I left the bus and took a motorbike taxi up a narrow lane through fields of cabbage and potatoes, into the clouds.
It was a weekday afternoon and the cool hamlet of Duran, 1200 meters above the sizzling coastal plain, was deserted. I left my bag in a little caf* on the edge of an empty car park at the end of the road, and made my way uphill to the temples of Gedong Songo.
Strung out among the pine trees and terraces above Duran, these 8th Century Hindu temples have a truly stunning location. And as the light faded and skeins of damp mist crept down the high slopes, I was the only person there to enjoy it.
Gedong Songo means "nine buildings" in Javanese, something that may puzzle modern visitors: There are only six distinct temple groups. It is said that the name has its origins in the dubious counting skills of early Dutch surveyors who ignored the more evocative local name: Candi Banyukuning, Temples of the Yellow Water.
These finely decorated temples were dedicated to the worship of Shiva. Bug-eyed demons grimaced above entranceways and naga or dragons flanked the steps. In the wall, niches carvings of Ganesh (Shiva's elephant-headed son) and the goddess Durga had survived, all with swollen bellies and tilted hips.
Inside the empty inner chamber of one the buildings, a small pile of petals and a curl of incense ash showed that someone was still venerating these places.
I picked my way along the white stripe of the footpath, zigzagging through the forest. The valley below had disappeared under smears of bruised cloud and the pine trees hung limp in the damp air. There was a faint odor of sulfur. I found its source -- and that of the temples' old name -- at the bottom of a narrow ravine where smoke was issuing from the cracked rocks, and steaming water was bubbling in shallow, yellowish pools.
There was a small bathing pool here where the geothermally heated water was at perfect bath temperature for this cool climate. After a relaxing dip I hurried downhill and found a clean, quiet guesthouse in the village.
Mountain vistas at dawn
A crimson stain was seeping along the eastern edge of the morning as I hurried uphill at first light. The blue mist of the evening had gone and the only mark on the slopes was the sulphury smoke from the hot springs.
It was cold and I kept moving swiftly until I reached the temple on the highest ridge. Shards of sunlight were spilling across the mountainside now and a warming breeze was lifting from the valley.
A sea of pale cloud all but covered the landscape of fields and forests below, but I could just pick out the faded mirror of Rawa Pening Lake away to the south. Beyond it, rising in a smooth purple cone was the high summit of Gunung Merbabu, and peering over its western shoulder, trailing a smudge of pale smoke, was the belligerent peak of Merapi. To the west another pair of high volcanoes -- Sumbing and Sundoro near Wonosobo -- were slipping away into the rising morning.
Semarang might not have a kraton (palace) or endless reams of batik, but it has palpable relics of another side of Javanese history. And if the dignified remains of the Gedong Songo don't match the giddying splendor of Borobudur, they do occupy one of the most stunning locations in Java.
As I sat there, alone and untroubled, the warmth of the new sun on my face, the sound of insects creaking in the forest, I thought of the hordes of sweating sightseers that would already be swarming up the steps of Borobudur, just 50 kilometers to the south. I was glad that I had come here -- and it had stopped raining!

Dalai Lama's surgery ends successfully: aide

The Associated Press , New Delhi Fri, 10/10/2008 1:44 PM World Surgeons successfully removed a gallstone from the Dalai Lama on Friday, just days after doctors had cleared the Tibetan spiritual leader during a medical checkup, a spokesman said. Chhime R. Chhoekyapa called the surgery "a simple, routine procedure." The Nobel Prize-winning Buddhist elder, seen by many as the embodiment of Tibet's struggle for more freedom in China, was hospitalized in New Delhi on Thursday. He had arrived in New Delhi earlier in the week for a checkup, his second in as many months, and aides said afterward that the 73-year-old had been cleared to resume foreign travels. In August, the 73-year-old Dalai Lama was admitted to a Mumbai hospital and underwent tests for abdominal discomfort. His aides said then he was in good condition but doctors advised him to cancel a planned trip to Europe and rest, saying he was suffering from exhaustion. The Dalai Lama normally spends several months a year traveling the world to teach Buddhism and highlight the Tibetan struggle. He lives in the north Indian hill town of Dharmsala, where he set up his government-in-exile after fleeing Tibet following a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. He was originally scheduled to return to Dharmsala on Thursday. News of the surgery sparked worries in Dharmsala, where the Dalai Lama remains the central figure - both spiritually and politically - for thousands of exiles. While the exile community has become increasingly divided in recent years between followers who support his pacifist approach and a bitter younger generation demanding stronger action against China, he remains deeply revered. "I have been thinking about this for a long time. He is 73 and will not always be around," said Tenzin Ngodup, a 28-year-old exile who escaped from Tibet into India in 1997. "What would happen to us when he is not around? I get very worried. People in Tibet have a lot of hope and faith that since he is here, something good will happen in Tibet. If the Dalai Lama goes, they will lose all hope." After a March outbreak of violence in Tibet, China stepped up its campaign to vilify the Dalai Lama, blaming him for the unrest, which Beijing says was part of a campaign to split the Himalayan region from the rest of China. The Dalai Lama has denied the allegations, saying he is only seeking greater autonomy for Tibet to protect its unique Buddhist culture.

Finland's Martti Ahtisaari wins Nobel Peace Prize

The Associated Press , Oslo Fri, 10/10/2008 4:19 PM Headlines Finland's ex-president Martti Ahtisaari received the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for his efforts to build a lasting peace from Africa and Asia to Europe and the Middle East."The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2008 to Martti Ahtisaari for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts. These efforts have contributed to a more peaceful world and to 'fraternity between nations' in Alfred Nobel's spirit," the committee said in announcing the prize.Ahtisaari's efforts in Africa, Europe, Asia and the Middle East drew much praise from the five-member committee."For the past 20 years, he has figured prominently in endeavors to resolve several serious and long-lasting conflicts," the citation said, mentioning his work in conflicts from Namibia and Aceh to Kosovo and Iraq."He has also made constructive contributions to the resolution of conflicts in Northern Ireland, in Central Asia, and on the Horn of Africa," the citation said.Speaking to NRK Norwegian TV, Ahtisaari said he "was very pleased and grateful" at receiving the prize.Asked what he considered his greatest achievement, he spoke of peace talks in Namibia in 1989 and 1990, which the committee said "played a significant part in the establishment of Namibia's independence."By selecting Ahtisaari for the prize, the Nobel committee returned to traditional peace work after tapping climate campaigner Al Gore and the U.N. panel on climate change last year.Ahtisaari, 71, has had a broad career in politics and in peacemaking.A primary school teacher who joined Finland's Foreign Ministry in 1965, he spent 20 years abroad, first as ambassador to Tanzania and then to the United Nations in New York.He was U.N. undersecretary of state for administration and management from 1987 to 1991, heading the U.N. operation that brought independence to Namibia in 1990.In 2007, Ahtisaari's office - Crisis Management Initiative - started secret meetings in Finland between Iraqi Sunni and Shiite groups to agree on a road map to peace.He told NRK he hoped that winning the prize would make it easier to raise more money for his initiative.The talks, based on the format of peacemaking efforts in South Africa and Northern Ireland, included 16 delegates from the feuding groups. They "agreed to consult further" on a list of recommendations to begin reconciliation talks, including resolving political disputes through nonviolence and democracy.In August 2005, Ahtisaari helped end 30 years of fighting between Aceh rebels and the Indonesian government with peace talks in Finland, which he initiated and mediated with Crisis Management Initiative. A peace agreement, signed in Helsinki, followed seven months of negotiations between the two parties, which he initiated and mediated.Ahtisaari was also chairman of the Bosnia-Herzegovina working group in the international peace conference on former Yugoslavia from 1992 to 1993, and was special adviser to the U.N. secretary-general on former Yugoslavia in 1993.

Aceh’s Hasan Tiro arrives in Kuala Lumpur

The Jakarta Post Sun, 10/05/2008 3:01 PM National
Former supreme leader of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) Muhamad Hasan Di Tiro arrived in Kual Lumpur on Saturday where he met with several former GAM leaders, an activist said.
"The latest news we have is that he stays at the home of the Swedish ambassador to Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur," Sahdan, a non-governmental organization (NGO) activist in Aceh, said as quoted by state news agency Antara on Sunday.
Sahdan and a number of reporters from Aceh who have also been here tried to meet and interview the former GAM leader but they lost his trace and did not know where Hasan Di Tiro was.
"He is possibly staying at Concorde hotel in Kuala Lumpur, or Vistana hotel, Klang, Selangor where GAM leaders held a meeting, but latest rumors have it that he is staying at the Swedish ambassador's house," Sahdan said.
The Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur confirmed that the former GAM leader who lived in exile in Sweden had arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday morning.
Hasan Di Tiro planned to stay in Kuala Lumpur for several days to meet representatives of the Indonesian government. He would then be taken to Jakarta before being flown to Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, his home town.
"According to plan, there will be representatives of the Indonesian government who will meet him and take him to Jakarta before he returns to Aceh," the source said.
A spokesman of the Aceh Transitional Committee (KPA), Ibrahim Bin Syamsudin, said Hasan Di Tiro would be greeted by KPA officials and Ulemas from Aceh.
During his stay in Kuala Lumpur, Hasan Di Tiro will be accompanied by figures who were involved in the peace negotiations between the Indonesian government and GAM in Helsinki.
It was reported that former Indonesia's chief negotiator Hamid Awaluddin (now Indonesian ambassador to Russia) was accompanying the GAM former supreme leader, while leaders from GAM who accompanied him were Malik Mahmud and Zaini Abdullah.
Besides, peace initiator of the Interpeace Juha Christensen also accompanied him.
It was also reported that Hasan Di Tiro would fly directly from Subang Airport of Malaysia to Sultan Iskandar Muda International airport of Aceh. They have hired two airplanes with a capacity of 72 seats.
Whether or not Tiro would fly to Jakarta first before heading to Aceh will depend on Jakarta's lobby. (and)

China milk scandal spreads

SEOUL - SOUTH Korea, Australia and Japan on Saturday pulled melamine-contaminated sweets and drinks from supermarket shelves amid a widening scandal over Chinese milk products tainted with the toxic chemical.
Authorities in Seoul ordered Mars and Nestle to pull three products after melamine, which is usually used for making plastics, was detected in snacks made in China by the multinationals.
The industrial chemical had been found in M&M's milk chocolate snack and Snickers peanut Fun Size, both produced by Mars, and Kit Kat chocolate bars imported from Nestle Tianjin in China, Korea Food and Drug Administration said.
'Mars is recalling these products because it is legally obligated to do so following the announcement by the Korean Food and Drug Administration (KFDA),' Mars said in a statement.
Melamine has been blamed for making thousands of infants ill and killing four in mainland China after it tainted baby milk powder in one of the country's worst ever product safety scandals.
China is struggling to limit the damage to its food safety reputation as a growing number of countries have decided to suspend imports of Chinese milk products or withdraw them from sale over the scandal.
Mars said while it was complying with the South Korean request, the melamine levels detected were too small to pose a health risk, and called for a standard reporting limit of the industrial chemical across Asia.
'Minute traces of melamine are commonly found throughout the global food chain and melamine levels below 2.5 ppm are not deemed to indicate adulteration with melamine,' it said. There was no immediate comment from Nestle Korea.
A KFDA official said South Korea does not allow any level of melamine in food. 'No melamine in food is our standard,' he said.
World Health Organisation food safety expert Peter Ben Embarek said earlier this week that many countries had only recently fixed limits for melamine in food as 'melamine has nothing to do with the food chain'.
The chemical was added to milk before being sold to dairy manufacturers in a bid to falsely boost protein readings, Chinese authorities have said.
A fourth Chinese milk product has been withdrawn from sale in Australia after tests revealed it was tainted with melamine, Food Standards Australia New Zealand said in a statement.
'Consumers are advised not to consume Kirin milk tea made in China,' the organisation said.
The Australian food watchdog has already recalled White Rabbit sweets and Chinese-made Cadbury chocolate eclairs, while importers of Lotte Koala Biscuits have undertaken a precautionary withdrawal of the product.
A Japanese importer, meanwhile, began recalling Chinese chocolates suspected of being contaminated with melamine.
The western Japanese city of Osaka said a test showed the chemical had been detected in 'Chocolate Pillows' imported from China by Osaka-based NS International.
While there had been no reports of health problems, the city ordered the importer to recall some 86,000 packages of the chocolates on the grounds that the company may have violated the food sanitation law.
A growing number of countries throughout Asia as well as Africa are banning products over the scandal but it has also hit Europe.
The European Union recently banned all imports on Chinese milk-related products for children such as biscuits and chocolate on top of a long-standing embargo on Chinese dairy products like milk and yoghurt. -- AFP

Zahid to run for deputy president because it will be vacated once Najib becomes president

Saturday, 04 October 2008 00:57 zen

Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said that he has decided to run for the deputy president’s post in the upcoming party elections after coming to a conclusion that current deputy vice-president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will be taking over the president’s post. He said "I have no intention of stepping ahead of any leader. My decision is based on my conclusion that Najib will take over the president's post. Why should I delay the announcement? The divisions will start their nominations on that day... let the grassroots members decide," -Zen, MalaysiaToday

12 Indonesians drown in Malaysia boat accident: Police

Wednesday, 01 October 2008 01:51 WIB
WASPADA ONLINEKUALA LUMPUR - Twelve Indonesians heading home for the holidays drowned early Tuesday when their wooden boat overloaded with more than 100 people capsized off the coast of Malaysia, maritime officials said.The boat, believed to be carrying 130 mainly illegal migrant workers, sank 1.2 nautical miles off Port Klang on Malaysia's west coast en route to Indonesia's Sumatra island."We suspect the boat was overloaded. It is a wooden boat meant for carrying goods and not for ferrying people. But it is usually used to carry illegals," local marine police chief Marzuki Ismail told AFP.Eleven of the victims were women, including one who was pregnant, said local police chief Mohamad Mat Yusop."This has been certified after a hospital post mortem," he said.Police said they believed the Indonesians were heading home for the Eid al-Fitr holidays, marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.Survivor Nur Najihah, 22, said the boat capsized so quickly that she lost her grip on her 14-month-old son, Indra Putra Asli, the state Bernama news agency reported.She swam into the open sea to search for him before discovering that he had been rescued by other passengers.The bodies were found floating near where the boat capsized 10 minutes after setting sail from a forested area near Westport in Port Klang, heading for Tanjung Balai in northern Sumatra.Malaysia has launched a 60-strong search and rescue operation involving teams of divers and has recovered 112 survivors - 79 men, 30 women, two toddlers and an 8-month old infant.It is not known how many people remain in the water.Mohamad said the survivors would be brought to the local police station."We are investigating six of the survivors who are believed to have masterminded this operation of illegaly ferrying Indonesians across the borders," he said.There are an estimated 1.1 million legal foreign workers, mostly Indonesians, in neighbouring Malaysia, officials have said, and unknown number of illegal workers.(j01/ann)