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September 2006

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  • September 15: Anif Solchanudin, a.k.a. ‘Shorty’, is sentenced to 15 years imprisonment because of his involvement in the 2005 Bali Bombings. Anif was proven to know about the bomb planning from the beginning and was even implicated in the preparation. (Tempointeraktif)
  • September 10: Bomb blasts in Poso, Sulawesi, killing a 20 year old woman. The bomb was hidden inside a flashlight and went off when the woman switched it on. It was the second blast in Poso in a week. Last Wednesday, a 50-year-old man died when a bomb exploded in an empty building. Poso was the scene of fighting between Muslims and Christians that killed around 2,000 people from 1998 to 2001 before a peace accord took effect. (Reuters)
  • September 7: Thousands of Christians rallied through the street on Sulawesi island, Indonesia. Christians are demanding the government not execute three men, Fabianus Tibo, Marinus Riwu and Dominggus da Silva, convicted in the killings of Muslims six years ago. Nearly 500 police officers were deployed to guard the demonstrators in the town of Tentena, 55 kilometers south of the provincial capital Poso. (IHT)
  • September 6: The Indonesian government may take over a natural gas field in the Natuna offshore area, in the South China Sea run by Exxon Mobil Corp., when its contract expires in January, Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said on Tuesday (09/05). The Natuna D-Alpha block contains around 222 trillion cubic feet of gas, but the field contains about 70% carbon dioxide, making it expensive to develop and difficult to sell. (Reuters)
  • September 5: The Indonesian navy is increasing its alertness following the escape of East Timor`s rebel leader Major Alfredo Reinado along with 56 other detainees from the Becore prison in East Timor recently. Navy spokesman Rear Admiral Sunarto Sjoekronoputro said "Indonesia must prevent Major Alfredo from coming into the country because if he managed to do this, it may leave a bad impression, as if Indonesia supported the rebellion." (ANTARA)
  • September 4: Hundreds of people rallied in Sidoarjo on eastern Java island to protest against an unending 3 months of flow of hot mud from PT Lapindo Brantas, an oil well company. More than 10,000 people have been displaced by the mud flow. (Reuters)
  • September 3: Indonesia president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, criticized western media as being biased against Muslims. "If non-Muslims are killed in fighting, then the Western media exaggerate the news. But this is not the case when Muslims are killed in Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon," President Yudhoyono said when opening a two-day dialog among journalists from 44 countries in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Saturday (09/03) morning. (ANTARA)
  • September 2: Newmont executive, Richard Ness, takes the stand in Indonesia pollution trial to deny that the company dumped dangerous levels of mercury and arsenic-laced waste into Buyat Bay on Sulawesi island, sickening villagers and causing fish stocks to plummet. Ness faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted and his company a possible fine of US$68,000. (IHT)
  • September 1: Signs of four new Javan Rhino babies, the rarest animal, are found in Indonesia. There are only 26 - 58 rhinos in Ujung Kulon National Park. "To discover that this population is breeding - and even slowly growing - gives us hope for the species' future," Arman Malolongan, director general of forest protection and nature conservation at Indonesia's forestry ministry said in a statement. (Reuters)

August 2006

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  • August 31: Greenpeace called on Indonesia to halt land clearing fires, warning that thick haze threatened the health of millions of people and contributed to climate change. "Forest clearing for acacia pulpwood and oil palm plantations are the leading causes of the fires and also a factor in creating environmental conditions that perpetuate the problem.", said Greenpeace campaigner Hapsoro. (ANTARA)
  • August 28: Thick haze from ground and forest fires shrouded the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan, causing air traffic disruption even as strong winds and rain cleared the air in other areas, officials said. In the provincial capital Pontianak, thick haze kept visibility below 300 meters in the morning. (ANTARA)
  • August 27: A mass culling of 2,000 fowls is planned in Garut, West Java to prevent the spreading of bird flu that has resulted 9 cases in that area. Two of them, a 17-year old man and a 9-year old girl have died recently. In total, 62 cases of bird flu have been reported, where 47 of them have died in Indonesia. (ANTARA)
  • August 26: Scores of Malaysian businessmen involves in forest fire in Indonesia's Riau province, which cause haze covers the province and neighboring Malaysia, Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said Friday. Kalla made the statement a day after his visit to the province. "Yesterday I got a report from the governor of Riau province, that they have arrested more than 20 people,...there are some Malaysian plantation businessmen," he told reporters here. (Xinhua)
  • August 25: Most Indonesians reject the implementation of Islamic law despite calls by radical groups to make a theocratic state, according to Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) survey, released on Thursday (24/08). Aceh province is the only region of Indonesia allowed to implement Sharia, and only because it was granted as part of a plan to end a decades-long civil war there. A few provincial districts on Java and Sumatra islands have adopted local regulations in the spirit of Sharia. (ANTARA)