How US Sees Terrorism in Indonesia

How US Sees Terrorism in Indonesia

US ambassador to Indonesia Scot Marciel said terrorism issue in Indonesia would not affect cooperation between the two countries’ governments.

"Every country has problems and so do the US and Indonesia," he said after visitign the Pabelan Islamic boarding school in Magelang, Central Java, here on Thursday.

He said Indonesia as a developing country is facing a terrorism problem but the US will continue to develop cooperation with Indonesia in fundamental areas such as education, healthcare, environment and welfare improvement. During a meeting with board members and students of the boarding school Marciel said Moslem community in the US is an inseparable part of the US community.

He admitted that some of the US citizens have not yet known Islam and therefore they are afraid of it. He said Muslims in the US have not informed the people much about Islam.

"But in the last 10 years however some US Muslims have started to know that Islam is a good religion that needs to be respected," he said.

He said the US is a diverse country with people from various backgrounds including in terms of culture and origins. He said Muslims in the US are not a separated community but integrated.

"We have no problems although it is not perfect we are improving. Muslims are also our brothers," he said. Before being assigned to Indonesia, Marciel lived in Virginia and his children also have Muslim friends from Indonesia and Iran.

"They played together and had no problems. They came to our home and we also visited them," he said.

He said in the US there are also schools like the Islamic boarding schools managed by community members or churches but basically the students are the same namely studying math, natural and social sciences.

"Religion is not taught at public schools in the US but it is in private schools," he said.

Ahmadinejad Holds Koran and Bible at UN General Assembly

Ahmadinejad Holds Koran and Bible at UN General Assembly

The U.S. delegation has walked out of the U.N. speech of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after he said some in the world have speculated that Americans were actually behind the September 11 terror attacks.

The Iranian president said some believe the attacks were staged in an attempt to assure Israel's survival. He did not explain the logic behind the belief. Mr Ahmadinejad made the claim as he attacked the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And he declared that threats by U.S. religious groups to burn the Koran were an act of 'evil'. He held up a copy of the Muslim holy book, saying 'the truth cannot be burned'.

The leaders of more than 192 nations are gathered at the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan - near where the 9/11 attacks took place - for the annual General Assembly.

President Barack Obama also addressed the summit today. He challenged the UN to push for peace in the Middle East in order to create an independent Palestine and secure Israel within a year.

Exhorting world leaders to push past years of cynicism and pessimism, the U.S. President urged them to press forward with renewed determination. In a speech to the U.N. General Assembly, he admitted the peace process had encountered 'few peaks and many valleys'.

But he warned that without an agreement, 'more blood will be shed' and 'this Holy Land will remain a symbol of our differences, instead of our common humanity'.

As Obama spoke, Israel's seat in the hall sat empty because it was a Jewish holiday. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was present, listening to the president through a translator's earphone.

Obama's call for a Palestinian state drew a burst of applause from throughout the hall but his one-year timeline is hugely ambitious. He made no mention of the militant Hamas movement, which controls the Gaza Strip and refuses to accept Israel's right to exist.

The failure of past peace efforts has left both sides with rigid demands and public ambivalence about the value of a negotiated settlement. Obama spoke with resolve of the need to address trouble spots around the world, but he tended first to the economic concerns that abound both at home and abroad.

'There is much to show for our efforts,' he said, recalling the economic turmoil of years past. 'We cannot - and will not - rest until these seeds of progress grow into a broader prosperity for all Americans and for people around the globe.'

Obama also defended his administration's approach to engaging Iran in negotiations over its nuclear programme - an effort that has failed thus far. In July, the administration imposed a new set of sanctions on Iran but he said: 'The door remains open to diplomacy should Iran choose to walk through it.

'But the Iranian government must demonstrate a clear and credible commitment and confirm to the world the peaceful intent of its nuclear programme.'

Iran recently has indicated interest in restarting talks with the West, and on Wednesday the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany offered Iran another chance to enter negotiations.

Obama also spoke to the promotion of human rights, open government and democracy - familiar themes from a president who has pushed for international cooperation against repression and tyranny.

'Make no mistake: The ultimate success of democracy in the world won't come because the United States dictates it. It will come because individual citizens demand a say in how they are governed,' he said. 'There is no soil where this cannot take root.'

Obama drew applause in mentioning U.N. efforts to protect the rights of women, and he urged all nations to act against oppression.

'Do no stand idly by, don't be silent when dissidents everywhere are imprisoned and protesters are beaten,' he said.

The president devoted his greatest attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, underscoring the urgency of overcoming the hurdles that he has met less than a month after relaunching direct negotiations between the parties.

Abbas is threatening to walk out of the talks if Israel does not extend a slowdown on construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank that is set to expire next week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will not extend that partial freeze.

The looming expiration appears to have stalled the negotiations, which got under way in early September in Washington between Abbas and Netanyahu and then moved to a second round in Egypt and in Jerusalem last week.

That second round ended inconclusively with little visible progress and without the expected announcement of a third session. Obama underscored the administration's position that the settlement moratorium should be extended, saying it 'has made a difference on the ground, and improved the atmosphere for talks.'

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the administration's special Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell have been meeting with officials from both sides and other interested parties this week in New York but seem to have made little headway.

Faced with the real possibility of the collapse of negotiations, Obama implored the international community to get behind the idea of peace and forget favoritism to one side or the other.

'Those of us who are friends of Israel must understand that true security for the Jewish state requires an independent Palestine,' he said.

'And those of us who are friends of the Palestinians must understand that the rights of the Palestinian people will be won only through peaceful means - including genuine reconciliation with a secure Israel.'

Obama urged the U.N. in its 60th year to look beyond past Middle East peace failures and get on with the task at hand.

'We can come back here, next year, as we have for the last 60, and make long speeches about it,' he said. 'We can read familiar lists of grievances. We can table the same resolutions. We can further empower the forces of rejectionism and hate.'

'Or we can say that this time will be different, that this time we will not let terror or turbulence or posturing or petty politics stand in the way.'

US Considers Papua Integral Part of Indonesia

US Considers Papua Integral Part of Indonesia

Joe Yan, deputy assistant secretary at the US Department of State, said Papua is an integral part of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), according to Indonesian Ambassador to the US Dino Patti Djalal.

"The US position is recognizing Papua as an integral part of NKRI and hopes that the special autonomy status (for Papua) could be fully implemented soon," Ambassador Dino Djalal said here Thursday.

The ambassador made the statement during a press conference by Vice President Boediono for Indonesian media. Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa, Chairman of the National Investment Coordinating Board Gita Wirjawan and Head of the Development Control and Supervision Working Unit Kuntoro Mangkusubroto were also present in the press conference.

The US government had made the confirmation as the country was always following the developments in Papua and West Papua, including reports on alleged human rights violation in the region. A similar statement was also made by Robert Scher, deputy assistant of the US Secretary of Defense.

According to Dino, Scher acknowledged the significance of the Indonesia-US bilateral relations for Indonesia, the world’s third largest democratic country, had carried out reform process in the defense sector and the military professionalism.

"The US government is convinced about the Indonesian government’s seriousness in reforming the Indonesian Defense Force (TNI) organization to become a professional military organization. The inclusion of human rights in the curricula of the TNI education is a concrete proof of the reform process," the ambassador said.

The US government’s statements were made following a hearing on Papua at the US Congress on September 2, 2010, at the initiative of Eni Faleomavaega, chairman of the Sub Committee on Asia, the Pacific, and Global Environment, from the Democrat Party. Ambassador Dino Patti Djalal believed that the Papua issue would not affect the Indonesia-US bilateral relations.

Malaysia's Anwar Loses Bid to Strike out Sodomy Charges

Malaysia's Anwar Loses Bid to Strike out Sodomy Charges

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on Monday lost another bid to have sodomy charges against him thrown out, on the grounds his accuser allegedly had an affair with a prosecutor. Anwar, a 63-year-old former deputy prime minister who was sacked and jailed on separate sex and corruption counts a decade ago, has argued that the relationship undermines the entire case against him.

The High Court in August conceded the allegations that 25-year-old Saiful Bukhari Azlan and lawyer Farah Azlina Latif were romantically involved were presumably true as the prosecution had not denied them. But it refused the defence request to strike out the sodomy charges, saying there was no proof of its argument that Saiful could have been passed confidential trial information by the junior prosecutor.

In another blow for Anwar on Monday, Court of Appeal judge Ahmad Maarop said it could not hear the case because the High Court order in August was not a formal decision which could be reviewed.

“We have no jurisdiction to hear and determine this appeal. We dismiss the appellant’s appeal,” he said, drawing an angry response from Anwar whose counsel said they would appeal to the nation’s highest court.

“Justice was not served in this case. The right to be heard was not there. It was an absurd judgement,” he told reporters.

“This is a sorry state of affairs of the judiciary in the country.”

Defence counsel Karpal Singh bitterly criticised the decision, saying it merely rested on a technicality, and that the defence had had no opportunity to put forward its arguments.

“The decision given by the Court of Appeal is unsupportable, illogical, against common sense. Unfortunately, we are bound by it,” he said.

“This court, in my view, has abdicated from its duty to do justice.”

Anwar has repeatedly said he is the victim of a political conspiracy and that he fears he will not receive justice on the charges which carry a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment.

The trial, which opened in February but which has been punctuated by lengthy delays and made little progress, will now resume and the High Court will on Tuesday fix a date for the next hearing.

Israel to Allow Cars into Gaza for First Time since 2007

Israel to Allow Cars into Gaza for First Time since 2007

Israeli authorities were to allow some 20 cars to be transported into Gaza on Monday, the first such shipment in more than three years, the military said. The decision to allow some 20 passenger vehicles to enter was taken in June amid international outrage over the deadly seizure of a Gaza-bound aid fleet but was held up by red tape and rocket attacks, a spokesman said.

Major Guy Inbar of the military’s Gaza liaison office said there had been “several problems” in coordinating the shipment with the Western-backed Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, without providing further details. The delivery was also held up by near-daily rocket and mortar attacks last week, he added.

The cars were to be loaded from 0700 GMT and delivered between 0900 and 1000 GMT. Israel and Egypt shut down Gaza’s border crossings after Palestinian militants captured an Israeli soldier in June 2006 and tightened the blockade a year later when the Islamic Hamas movement seized power.

Since then Israel has coordinated all imports into Gaza with the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority, which has been confined to the occupied West Bank since its forces were ousted from Gaza. In June, Israel eased the blockade to allow in all purely civilian goods as international outrage soared over the May 31 seizure of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in which Israeli commandos shot dead nine Turkish activists.

However, it has kept a complete naval blockade in place and only allows in desperately needed construction materials for projects supervised by international organisations. An official at the International Monetary Fund said earlier this month that the Gaza economy had grown 16 percent since the easing, but cautioned that the rate was measured against a “very low base.”

Unemployment has remained at 35 percent, one of the highest rates in the world, and four out of five of the territory’s 1.5 million residents rely on foreign aid.

President already has name of Mulyani's successor: Anas

President already has name of Mulyani's successor: Anas

A senior Democratic Party politician expressed confidence Saturday that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono already held the name of the person he would appoint to replace outgoing Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

"I am certain the President already knows who will replace outgoing Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati," Anas Urbaningrum, chairman of the PD faction at the House of Representatives (DPR), said in Jakarta as quoted by Antara news agency.

Speaking at a discussion on Sri Mulyani's resignation from the Cabinet organized by a private radio station, Anas explained that it was the President's prerogative right to appoint a candidate to replace Sri Mulyani, although other parties could also propose a name.

Anas said the Democratic Party had suggested that the President pick Sri Mulyani's successor not from a political party but from professionals who had competence, honesty, and ability to maintain good political communication with parliament and political parties.

"If we are asked to name a candidate, we would say we do not have any particular name to propose because we leave it entirely to the President," Anas said.

He added that the resignation of Sri Mulyani from the Cabinet as finance minister would not have a significant impact on politics.

KPK meets with Century monitoring team

KPK meets with Century monitoring team

One of the KPK deputy chairmen, Chandra M. Hamzah, said Wednesday's meeting had been made open to the public.

All four KPK leaders were attending the meeting.

Other than Chandra, Bibit Samad Riyanto, Haryono and M. Jasin were also present at the meeting, which was led by Priyo Budi Santoso from the Golkar Party.

The team intended to discuss the development of the antigraft body's investigation into the case, which revolves around a bailout that increase to ten times its original estimate, to Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million).

The bailout was authorized in November 2008 by Vice President Boediono in his capacity as the then Bank Indonesia governor and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

Golkar favors Anggito, Darmin to replace Mulyani

Golkar favors Anggito, Darmin to replace Mulyani

The Golkar Party has tipped either Anggito Abimanyu or Darmin Nasution as a replacement for Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who is set to begin her tenure as one of the World Bank’s managing directors in June.

Anggito is the current head of the finance ministry fiscal policy department and has been appointed the deputy finance minister, while Darmin is the interim Bank Indonesia governor.

"We need a credible replacement. Anggito Abimanyu and Darmin Nasution ... these two names have the needed credibility," Golkar senior politician Priyo Budi Santoso told reporters at the House of Representatives on Thursday.

Priyo added that Golkar had yet to propose any name to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono concerning Mulyani’s successor.

SBY approves Mulyani’s new assignment

SBY approves Mulyani’s new assignment

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has approved Finance Minister Sri Mulyani’s resignation that will allow her to take the World Bank managing director post.

Speaking in a televised media conference at the State Palace on Wednesday, Yudhoyono said Mulyani’s departure was “a big loss” but ensured that her successor would carry on the financial and tax reforms she had initiated during her tenure.

“As a finance minister Ibu Sri Mulyani has worked very hard to develop an appropriate fiscal policy and reform our financial system to discipline the use of the state budget and improve accountability. She kick-started tax reform which has resulted in a steady increase in state revenue from taxes over the last few years.

“She has been our vanguard of diplomacy in international forums, particularly the G20 and during a time of global crisis she worked hard along with the government to shield Indonesia from the adverse impacts of the crisis,” Yudhoyono said.

The President said he received a letter of request from World Bank president Robert Zoellick on Mulyani’s appointment on Friday last week and met with him to discuss the matter further.

Yudhoyono said he had received Mulyani’s resignation earlier on Wednesday.

The World Bank’s move came on the heels of a political crisis which centers on the House of Representatives’ demand for legal measures against Mulyani and Vice President Boediono in connection with the Bank Century bailout in November 2008.

Judge accepted bribe for haj pilgrimage

Tangerang District Court chief Judge Muhtadi Asnun accepted Rp 50 million in bribe from defendant Gayus Tambunan to cover his minor haj pilgrimage, an investigation has found.

Chairman of the Judicial Commission Busryo Muqodas said Saturday Muhtadi confessed to the commission members he used the money to add his budget for the pilgrimage, which he performed after acquitting junior tax official Gayus of corruption charges on March 12.

Judicial Commission member Soekotjo added that Gayus handed over the money to Muhtadi at his home one day before the court’s verdict was delivered.

Busyro said the commission would question Haran Tarigan and Bambang Widyatmoko,
two other members of the panel of judges that cleared Gayus of charges, on Monday.

Gayus amassed suspicious funds amounting to Rp 28 billion in his personal bank account, but the bulk of the money is believed to have gone to police investigators, prosecutors and judges in exchange for his acquittal.

Thai army chief takes charge of restoring order

Thailand's prime minister talked tough and handed more law and order powers to the army after security forces were humiliated when an anti-government protest leader escaped a police raid by clambering down a rope from a hotel balcony in broad daylight with the help of supporters.

The escape by Arisman Pongruangrong - and the temporary hostage-takings of two senior police officers to secure his getaway - was the latest demonstration of the government's inability to rein in the so-called Red Shirt protesters, who have been blocking Bangkok's streets for more than a month demanding a change in government.

The Red Shirts are supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and pro-democracy activists who opposed the bloodless military coup that ousted him in 2006. Thaksin is living in overseas exile to avoid a two-year prison term for corruption.

They believe Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva heads an illegitimate government because it came to power in December 2008 through parliamentary procedure, replacing an elected pro-Thaksin administration.

Abhisit, speaking Friday night in a special television broadcast, placed army commander Gen. Anupong Paochinda in charge of the peacekeeping force meant to stop violence by the increasingly aggressive Red Shirts, formally known as the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship.

Last weekend, a major attempt to clear one of the two main protest sites ended in fierce clashes, 24 deaths and hundreds of injuries. It also failed to dislodge the protesters, although they since moved out and consolidated at their second camp in an upscale shopping and hotel district.

Violence was largely absent the first month of the protest. But the stalemate over the protesters' demand for Abhisit to dissolve Parliament and call new elections he has offered to do so only at the end of the year - has ratcheted up tension, especially as some of Abhisit's own supporters have pushed him to sweep the protesters from the street at any cost.

"I wouldn't be at all surprised to see another attempt to break the red camp," said Andrew Brown, a political scientist at Australia's University of New England. "I think we are in a period where the shock of the violence has forced everyone to step back and take stock of things. But both sides have cause for outrage and opponents of the Red Shirts are certainly calling on the government to crackdown in more decisive fashion."

Abhisit's latest move seemed intended to demonstrate his resolve in ending the crisis, by taking away command of the Center for the Resolution of Emergency Situations from Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban and handing it over to Anupong.

The move could also be seen as a way of shoring up both men's positions. Abhisit and Anupong have come under increasing criticism for failing to take a harder line against the demonstrators. Thai media have reported widespread rumors that junior commanders are itching to crush the protesters and may seek to push Anupong aside, and Abhisit as well, by a coup if necessary.

With the appointment, Abhisit could be sending a message that he backs Anupong over his hotheaded subordinates, and Anupong -willingly or not - ends up endorsing Abhisit's approach.

Abhisit also spoke several times of cracking down on "terrorists," a frequent theme of government propaganda since last weekend's street battles, in which several unidentified masked men using heavy weapons and acting with military precision fired back on soldiers who were trying to sweep the protesters from the streets.

Abhisit said the peacekeeping center will be able to "call in forces in a more united and integrated way, so that they can handle the terrorism-related activities specifically." He also said authorities would go after those behind the violence, meaning those who they believe finance and aid the protest movement.

"Given the potential for increased state use of violence signaled by Abhisit's pervasive use of the term 'terrorist' to refer to the red-shirted ... protesters, this shake-up should be a cause of concern," said Tyrell Haberkorn, a researcher at The Australian National University in Canberra.

Thaksin's policies of cheap health care and low-interest village loans benefited Thailand's rural poor from which many of the Red Shirt protesters are drawn. But his six years in office were riddled by accusations of nepotism and an erosion of democratic institutions.

Protests from the Red Shirts or the rival Yellow Shirts have targeted each government formed since the coup that ousted Thaksin, sometimes sparking violence.

The Yellow Shirts represent Thailand's traditional royalist and military elite and are popular with Bangkok's middle class. They occupied Government House for three months in 2008 and then shut Bangkok's airports for two weeks.

Susno Duadji Arrested without Any Notice

Susno Duadji Arrested without Any Notice

Former National Police detective chief Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji was arrested at the Soekarno-Jakarta international airport, Monday. According to one of his members of legal team, Henry Yosodiningrat, on phone interview with TVOne, Susno leaving for Singapore on medical check-up arrested by officers of National Police internal affairs division.

Susno was sent to local police office at the airport before driven by the officers to National Police headquarters. Susno was reported apprehended without any notice as he did not make any report to his corps on his plan to go abroad.

The Mastermind behind The Arrest of Susno Duadji

The Mastermind behind The Arrest of Susno Duadji

Coordinator of Clean Indonesian Movement (GIB) Adhi Masardhi says the arrest of former National Police detective chief Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji shows that National Police headquarters is in panic.

"The arrest shows it and reflects the Police's attitude of being authoritarian instead of being protective," said him on Monday. According to Adhi Masardhi, Susno's revealation about tax mafia involving some high-rank officers in the corps causes panic in them.

The shocking fact, added him, is the HQ's action of arresting Susno Duadji as it indicates that the institution needs to be reformed soon.

"That's why GBI urges House of Representatives to revise the constitution on National Police."

Thai FM blasts former PM as terrorist

Thailand's foreign minister on Monday lashed out at former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, accusing him of personally instigating the country's deadliest political clashes in nearly two decades.

In heated comments on the sidelines of a global nuclear summit, Kasit Piromya compared Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 coup, to 20th century dictators Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin and to the terror group al-Qaida.

"He's a bloody terrorist," Kasit told a small group of academics and reporters.

Kasit urged the United States to pressure Thaksin's supporters to turn away from violence and enter into negotiations with the government. He said that if anti-Thaksin protesters respond to the street violence, Thailand could see a military coup. The army has not hesitated to stage coups during previous political strife.

More than 20 people died Saturday in clashes that are part of a larger power struggle between rural supporters of Thaksin and members of the country's traditional ruling elite. Protesters in recent years have taken to the streets each time their rivals have come to power. The exiled Thaksin was sentenced to two years in jail in 2008 for breaking a conflict-of-interest law.

The pro-Thaksin forces want Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who canceled his trip to Washington because of the chaos, to dissolve parliament immediately and call new elections. They feel their votes were ignored after Thaksin was ousted from power in 2006. Thaksin's party is popular among the country's rural majority for nitiating social and economic welfare programs.

Despite his anger, Kasit said that while the government won't allow the protests to force it to dissolve, it is ready to enter into negotiations.

Earlier, Kasit said the clashes are part of the traumatic and messy democratic process of giving a voice to rdinary farmers and workers after years of rule by the elite.

Thailand has seen three governments in the four years since the 2006 coup, and Kasit acknowledged that his country has "not found the right formula. We have not found the compromise."

"Thailand cannot go on behaving like a banana republic... and become a problem child," Kasit said at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. "This is an unfinished symphony."

"As longtime friends of Thailand, President Obama and I are deeply saddened by the recent violence and loss of life in Bangkok," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a statement. "We believe firmly that a negotiated solution is possible."

She noted that Tuesday is Songkran day, the final day of the year in Thailand's system.

"We are hopeful that this New Year will be a time of renewal and reconciliation, and an opportunity to gather with family friends, and neighbors to honor Thailand[s rich traditions and culture. While you continue on the path to resolve your political differences, we remain confident in the strong, enduring bonds between the United States and Thailand."

Kasit said the exiled Thaksin must serve his jail term before he could articipate in efforts to set up negotiations.

Kasit's comments came as Thailand's Election Commission ordered the ruling party be dissolved for allegedly misusing campaign donations. The decision is a potential victory for protesters who paraded slain comrades through Bangkok on Monday to demand the prime inister's resignation.

The United States urged a peaceful negotiated settlement and appealed to both the opposition and the government to find a solution that would strengthen Thai democracy and the rule of law.

The decision must be endorsed by the Constitutional Court to take effect. It came soon aft Thailand's influential army chief said new elections might be needed to resolve the political crisis.

Kasit said ruling officials would respect the final decision, even if it means the government is dissolved. "We go by the rules of the game," he said. "We will not interfere."

China orders reporters trained in Marxist theory

The Associated Press

China will toughen requirements for reporters by launching a new certificatio system that requires training in Marxist and communist theories of news, a media official said, citing problems with the current crop of mainland journalists.

The South China Morning Post reported Thursday that Li Dongdong, deputy director of the General Administration of Press and Publication, said some eporters were giving Chinese journalism a bad name because they hadn't been properly trained. She didn't give any specific examples.

Similar comments by Li were posted on the Web site of the official Xinhua News Agency. It was not clear how such training would be administered, but foreign journalists are exempt.

Communist theories of journalism say media should serve the leadership and not undermine its initiatives - a stark contrast to the independent government wahdog role many democracies embrace.

Government censors keep a tight grip on news content and routinely ban reporting on issues deemed too politically sensitive or destabilizing, and many media outlets in China serve as mouthpieces for the state.

But recently some have become more freewheeling since newspapers and broadcasters began relying increasingly on advertising instead of just Communist Party patronage for their survival. Some have run afoul of the government for reporting accurately on stories that officials didn't want publicized.

There have been also problems with reporters demanding payment for positive news coverage or to bury a story, and instances of reporters fabricating news.

"Comrades who are going to be working on journalism's front lines must learn theories of socialism with Chinese characteristics and be taught Marx's view on news, plus media ethics and Communist Party discipline on news and propaganda," Li told Xinhua on Monday.

A senior editor with the Beijing-based Economic Observer said this week he had been punished for co-authoring an editorial that urged the government to scrap an unpopular household registration system, saying it discriminated against the poor.

8 Cases Worth of Being Bartered with Century

8 Cases Worth of Being Bartered with Century

Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) listed at least eight cases most likely to be bartered to settle the Century Bank scandal. These eight cases implicate upper echelon politicians from parties whose views are on the direct opposite of the Democratic Party's regarding Century Bank's scandal.

"ICW listed eight major cases, whether of corruption, tax manipulation, banking crime such as fictive letters of credit, murder, or even cases from long ago such as suspicions of human rights violations in East Timor," stated ICW agency worker, Febridiansyah, Jakarta, Sunday.

According to Febri, these eight cases can potentially be drawn to the non-legal corridor and become bargaining chips if the government and law enforcers intentions aren't built upon the realization of the supremacy of the law. "The police, AGO, directorate general on taxation, or even the judicial mafia task force shouldn't be used as political tools to pressure and hamper the root problem of Century Bank's scandal from being exposed."

At least three cases threaten Golkar party, among which are tax crimes suspected of implicating Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie. There is also the case that might implicate Golkar fraction chief, who's suspected to be involved in the Association of Village Unit Cooperatives case, and a taxation case worth RP. 122 billion. In regards to these cases, the legislature's inquiry committee chief on Century Bank, Idrus Marham, is also insinuated to have known thoroughly about the rice transaction.

Besides with the party bearing the banyan tree, there's also the potential of case bartering with PDI-P, especially one politician, initialed ZEM, who's suspected to have received part of the Century Case disbursement.

The ICW also mentioned the case of the release and discharge (R&D) issued during the time of Megawati Soekarnoputri as being a potential bartering chip.

There are also cases about the suspected fictive L/C implicating a PKS cadre and regarding the prosecutor case-review plan for Munir's murder which implicates Muchdi PR. The latter might deter the Gerindra party. "Until now, the AGO's plan to submit a case-review is still on hold," Febri stated.

China's economic promises focus on creating jobs

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has pledged to extend job-creation programs and keep bank-credit flowing as Beijing tries to keep its factories humming and its workers employed at a time of growing trade tensions with the West.

Although the Chinese action is helping to keep the world's economy afloat, the budget plan Wen outlined Friday showed that Beijing is sticking with a course that has driven exports and piled up huge foreign exchange reserves rather than buy up more products made outside China.

Wen made his announcement in the government's annual report to China's legislature, pledging that government spending will grow, albeit at half the rate of last year during the economic downturn, because the basis of the global recovery remains weak. He set a traditional 8 percent economic growth target for what he called a "crucial year" and warned of continuing economic turbulence from the global financial crisis.

"We still face a very complex situation," Wen said in a nationally televised two-hour speech to nearly 3,000 deputies gathered in the Great Hall of the People for the opening of the National People's Congress. "Many destabilizing factors and uncertainties remain in our external environment."

Wen said China needed to cool inflation, cope with banking risks and boost consumer spending to ease the world's third-largest economy's reliance on exports and investment to drive growth.

Much of his address, however, dealt with problems stirring unease among China's 1.3 billion people that could potentially threaten social stability - the communist leadership's overwhelming concern. Wen pledged to narrow a yawning wealth gap, increase the stock of affordable housing, boost the moribund rural economy and fight rampant corruption.

"Everything we do, we do to ensure that the people live a happier life with more dignity and to make our society fairer and more harmonious," Wen said.

Washington is worried about its trade deficit with China, which totaled $226.83 billion in 2009. That's the largest U.S. imbalance with any nation but down 15.4 percent from the record of $268.04 billion set in 2008.

The deficit with China is expected to resume rising in 2010 as the U.S. economy recovers and triggers more orders for Chinese manufacturers of shoes, toys and other low-cost items in high demand by American consumers.

Derek Scissors, a specialist on Asian economies at The Heritage Foundation think tank, said there's no reason for American manufacturers to think that more of their products will be getting into China because of Wen's speech. He said China is still committed to investment in its own companies so that strong sales to foreign countries continue.

Wen's focus on jobs, Scissors said, is "a sign that we're going to get quick Chinese growth of the same kind that we've seen before, which doesn't reduce the trade imbalance and doesn't provide any spark to the American economy."

Michael Green, former President George W. Bush's top Asia adviser, said this will create disappointment and frustration among world leaders that China is not doing enough to encourage local demand for other countries' products.

Few initiatives in Wen's speech were new. The cautious government prefers incremental policymaking to bold shifts. Wen and President Hu Jintao began boosting social spending earlier this decade, recognizing the threat that unrest poses to Communist Party rule. Now in the last three years of an expected 10-year term, they have less incentive and political support to strike out in new directions.

The annual session - the most public event the authoritarian government holds - is shrouded in heavy security to prevent disruptions. More than two dozen people who hoped to petition officials for redress of grievances or who raised suspicion were bundled into a police bus and driven away.

Away from the meetings, police have warned and detained political activists, even forcing the cancellation of a seminar hosted by an AIDS awareness group.

The measures reflect leaders' fears of rising dissent and independent voices that could challenge their grip on power.

Across China, protests - some violent - have grown common among farmers and workers angered by land seizures, unpaid wages and other acts of unfairness. In recent years, even members of the urban middle class have taken to the streets in opposition to some policies, while concern is rising over the future of millions of jobless college graduates.

The government has avoided more serious discontent by focusing on economic growth, and the country escaped the wort of the global downturn by way of a flood of $1.4 trillion in bank lending and government stimulus.

China is now the world's largest auto market, its Internet users outnumber the U.S. population and its economy is on track to replace Japan as the globe's second largest. Many Chinese take pride in the country's prosperity and global respect.

However, Wen said the increase in government spending would fall to 11.4 percent this year, half of what it was in 2009. A leaner budget has forced down the increase in defense spending to 7.5 percent, the lowest level in more than 20 years.

The Concern on Radicalism in Indonesian High Schools

The Concern on Radicalism in Indonesian High Schools

The Nahdlatul Ulama Schoolers Association (IPNU) has expressed concern that the intra-student organization Rokhani Islam (Rokhis) at public high schools in the country will become a breeding ground of religious radicalism, a spokesperson said. Therefore, IPNU would urge the National Education Ministry to change its policy of allowing only Rokhis to exist as an Islamic schoolers’ club at public high schools in the country, IPNU chairman Ahmad Syauqi said here Saturday.

Speaking at an IPNU national conference to mark the oragnization’s 58th anniversary at the University of Indonesia (UI) campus in Depok, Ahmad Syauqi said IPNU would also ask the Nahdlatul Ulama national congress to be held in Makassar on March 22-27 to exert pressure on the national education minister to reconsider the ministry’s decision regarding Rokhis or dissolve it as the only Muslim high schoolers’ organization for religious activity. Rokhis which was first set up based on an education ministry decision issued in 1980 at first only engaged in cultural activities such as helping make arrangements for the celebration of Islamic holy days.

"But since the 90s it gradually turned into a religious organization that increasingly tended to become ideological in both thinking and actions," he said.

The shift from cultural to ideological was perceptible in the views and attitude of Rokhis activists which were tending to become exclusivist and to consider pluralism as anathema, he said. The inclination toward radicalism in Rokhis, according Achmad Syauqi, was the beginning of Islamic revivalism in schools.

"Revivalism will grow along with the belief that the state’s economic, political and social systems have failed and the only viable alternative is Islam," Syauqi said.

Therefore, he said, IPNU was stressing the need "to review the education ministry’s policy on religious organizations in schools to prevent radicalism from taking root among school students."

Clashes in Athens as Greek PM seeks EU debt help

The Greek parliament approved new spending cuts and taxes Friday aimed at defusing the country's debt crisis, while protesters opposed to the measures fought with police outside. Prime Minister George Papandreou headed abroad to seek European leaders' support for his efforts.

Riot police used tear gas and baton charges to disperse rioters who chased the ceremonial guards in 19th-century kilts and tasseled garters away from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside the parliament, while a top trade union leader was roughed up by left-wing protesters.

It was the biggest outburst of violence since Greece's debt crisis escalated late last year.

Police say they arrested 5 people, and seven officers were injured.

Up to 7,000 demonstrators gathered outside as lawmakers debated the austerity package, which aims to save euro4.8 billion (US$6.5 billion) with measures including higher consumer taxes and cuts to public sector workers' pay of up to 8 percent.

Papandreou met in Luxembourg with Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the group of eurozone finance ministers. Later Friday, he will hold talks in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Demonstrators attacked the two military guards and their escorting officers, smashing windows and kicking the guard posts. Earlier, leftwing protesters attacked the head of Greece's largest trade union who was addressing the crowd.

GSEE head Yiannis Panagopoulos traded blows with his assailants before being whisked away bloodied and with torn clothes.

Singapore bolsters security over terrorist threat

Singapore raised its security alert and bolstered its defenses Friday after receiving information of a terrorist plot to attack vessels off the coast of the city-state in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, a Cabinet minister said.

Malaysia and Indonesia have also stepped up maritime and air patrols in the Malacca Strait, where millions of barrels of oil pass daily. Singapore's navy warned Thursday that a terrorist group was planning attacks on oil tankers and other vessels but provided no details.

"All alert levels have been raised," Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng told Parliament, saying that the government has increased security at border crossings, airports, sea ports and at high-risk targets such as two new casino resorts.

Wong did not say which terrorist group was planning the reported attack.

"We received intelligence from our liaison partners about this possible plot to go and attack vessels coming through Singapore waters through the Malacca Strait," Wong said. "As a result, the various security agencies have been working very closely with one another."

A Singapore-based terrorism expert said al-Qaida and the Southeast Asian militant group Jamaah Islamiyah - blamed for twin bombings last year on hotels in Jakarta - would be the most likely to carry out such an attack.

"Certainly we know that in the past al-Qaida has had not only the intentions, but the capabilities to operate in the maritime environment," said John Harrison, assistant professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

Suspected JI operatives have been previously been arrested in Singapore.

Also Friday, Indonesia's police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said authorities were investigating whether 14 suspected Islamic militants captured in a raid in Aceh province the previous day were linked to the threat.

The raid came amid a police crackdown on militants in Aceh suspected of ties to Jamaah Islamiyah. Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Friday the group had set up in the western province believing that Indonesian security forces had lost interest in Aceh since a violent separatist movement ended in 2005.

Indonesian police have blamed JI for suicide bombings of the J.W. Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels in Jakarta in July 2009 that killed seven people and bombings on the island of Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people.

Harrison said Singapore's warning likely reflects a credible threat.