Tunisians Wait in Hope For Return of Tourists

Inside the walls of the medina market, a top draw in Tunisia’s Hammamet seaside resort, Hafedh Alouini arranges his shop in hopes of a customer.

“I haven’t made a sale in nearly three weeks,” he says, as a handful of other souk sellers lean against the stone walls of the medina, smoking cigarettes and soaking up sun. “There are no tourists. We’re just waiting.”

Tunisia’s tourism industry, the North African country’s top foreign currency earner, has ground to a halt since a popular uprising last month forced President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to flee and touched off further revolts through the Arab world.

Thousands of tourists were evacuated from resort towns as protests reached a head, gutting the tourism sector by 40 percent in January and leading the government to launch an advertising campaign to draw people back, dubbed, “I love Tunisia, the place to be … now!”

The drop-off is no small problem for Tunisia — long a darling vacation destination thanks to its 1,410 kilometers of Mediterranean coastline, its ancient Roman architecture and vast picturesque desert.

Tourism employs roughly 400,000 of the country’s 10 million people, and brought in nearly $2.5 billion last year — more than 6 percent of its gross national product.

But as Tunisia struggles to find its footing — with sporadic protests choking the capital and the interim government wrestling with a surge in crime — the question now is, “Will they return?”

Tunisia’s peak tourist months run from April to July. The government is hopeful, and says charter flights from Europe started to resume over the weekend to the scenic seaside town of Bizerte.

Earlier this month, Tourism Minister Mehdi Houass said the popular overthrow of Ben Ali was “a good promotion” that could turn out to be good for the sector. “The revolution has made our country known to the whole world,” he said. “We want to tell all our friends that they can come to Tunisia in a atmosphere of peace and freedom.”

But ongoing demonstrations and worries about rising religious tension could be a setback, as could violence unfolding elsewhere in the Arab world, including in neighboring Libya, where scores of protesters have been shot dead.

“Security is everything,” said Kate Davis, director of the Saphir Palace hotel in Hammamet — one of more than a dozen big hotels on the edge of the sea, but among just a few still operating.

“For people who are not here to see that it is calm and beautiful, the news about what is going on around the Arab world may be discouraging,” she said. “On the other hand, I’m very optimistic that tourism will return in the coming months.”

At the nearby Chich Khan hotel, German tourist Susie Voege was checking in with her husband. “The security is fine, and we have this place to ourselves,” she said.

Dozens of other hotels, however, stand empty. 

Reuters

Arab League Calls for Peace As Protests Spread in Tripoli

Cairo. The head of the Arab League called for an end to violence in Libya on Monday, saying the demands of Arab people for change are legitimate.

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said the bloodshed in Libya, where violent unrest has spread to the capital Tripoli, must stop, Egyptian state news agency MENA reported.

“The demands of the Arab peoples for reform, development and change are legitimate and the feelings of all the Arab nations are joined in this decisive moment in history,” MENA cited Moussa as saying.

Meanwhile, protesters stormed Libya’s state broadcaster and torched police stations in Tripoli as Muammar el-Qaddafi’s son warned on Monday that the Arab world’s longest ruling leader would fight to the death to retain power.

Barely a week after Hosni Mubarak was forced out of the presidency in Cairo, the challenge to Qaddafi’s 41-year rule reached the Libyan capital with witnesses reporting several mainstays of the regime had been overrun.

The president of Yemen, another ruler who has chalked up more than three decades in power, faced growing calls to quit despite his insistence that he would only exit via the ballot box.

And a top exiled opposition figure said he planned to return to Bahrain, providing fresh impetus to the pressure for the island’s ruling family to implement wide-ranging reform.

While there was fresh violence in several Arab cities, the most dramatic events were in Tripoli where the sound of heavy gunfire broke out in downtown areas for the first time since the uprising began in eastern Libya last week.

Although government restrictions have complicated the task of counting casualties, Human Rights Watch said the death toll was at least 233 since Thursday.

Libya’s Al-Jamahiriya Two television and Al-Shababia radio were both forced to halt broadcasts on Sunday evening after their offices were ransacked and looted, according to witnesses.

Although they did manage to resume broadcasts on Monday, a number of witnesses said protesters had torched other public buildings in the capital overnight, including police stations and offices of the governing People’s Committee.

The People’s Conference Center in Tripoli’s residential neighbourhood of Hay Al-Andalous — which regularly hosts pro-regime demonstrations and official meetings — was also set alight, a resident who lives nearby said.

Al-Jamahiriya 2, the second state television channel, and Al-Shababia were launched by the Libyan leader’s influential son Saif al-Islam in 2008 and later nationalized when broadcasting was declared a state monopoly.

While his 68-year-old father has yet to address the nation since the unrest erupted, Saif al-Islam took to the airwaves on Monday to condemn the uprising as a foreign plot that would be crushed.

“Libya is at a crossroads. If we do not agree today on reforms … rivers of blood will run through Libya,” he said in a fiery but rambling speech.

“We will take up arms. We will fight to the last bullet. We will destroy seditious elements. If everybody is armed, it is civil war, we will kill each other. Libya is not Egypt, it is not Tunisia.”

But his insistence that the regime would not be the next in north Africa to crumble in the face of a popular revolt did not convince those in Tripoli.

“We can hear gunfire outside. It hasn’t stopped all day,” a resident of a suburb east of Tripoli said.

“When we heard the unrest was approaching, we stocked up on flour and tomatoes. It’s definitely the end of the regime. This has never happened in Libya before. We are praying that it ends quickly,” the resident added.

Foreigners were taking flight from the unrest, with Norwegian energy giant Statoil saying it had begun evacuating non-Libyan staff working in the country.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, head of the region’s second longest-running regime, also struck a note of defiance in a press conference which was held against a backdrop of a growing clamor for his departure.

“If they want me to quit, I will only leave through the ballot box,” Saleh said as protesters, including opposition MPs, gathered outside Sanaa University.

Reuters, AFP 

After Deadly Police Violence, Bahrainis Show No Sign of Yieldin

Protesters carrying food and tents poured into Manama’s Pearl Square on Monday, intensifying their calls for an end to the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty that has ruled the strategic Gulf kingdom for centuries.

The mainly Shiite protesters have called a massive demonstration for today in the hope that tens of thousands of people will converge on Pearl Square and those already there have vowed not to leave until their demands are met.

“We will stay here for as long as it takes and will continue to offer food to all those here in the square,” said Qassem Hassan, a university student who was passing out fruit and water to passers-by. “We are determined to see our demands met.”

The heir to Bahrain’s throne, Crown Prince Salman, has been tasked by his father, King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, with launching a wide-reaching dialogue with the opposition. But emboldened by Arab uprisings which have toppled the strongmen of Tunisia and Egypt since last month, the opposition has raised the stakes, demanding a “real constitutional monarchy” and the government’s resignation.

Pearl Square has been the focal point of demonstrations that have since Feb. 14 rocked Bahrain, prompting foreign governments to issue travel warnings and casting doubt on next month’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

Last Thursday, police stormed the square firing tear gas, rubber bullets and hollow-point bullets which killed four people and injured scores. An attempt on Friday to return to the square was met with more gunfire and on Monday a Shiite demonstrator shot in the head during the crackdown died of his wounds, an opposition official said.

His death brings to seven the number of demonstrators killed since anti-regime protests began, according to a tally based on relatives of victims and opposition officials.

Protesters flocked back to the square on Saturday after the army was ordered back to base. After their first night since returning to the square passed peacefully, protesters erected more tents on Sunday afternoon.

Shouts of “Sit-in, sit-in, until the regime falls” broke out among hundreds of student protesters on Monday morning at the square.

Laborers and students have joined the protests to demand a better quality of life in the kingdom, where oil reserves are dwindling.

“We want our living conditions to change once and for all,” said Ahmed, a manual laborer who had brought his three children to camp out in the square.

“I want to live on my own, without having to depend on my parents for housing,” he said.

Seated on the grass in Pearl Square — renamed “Independence square” and “Martyrs’ square” by protesters — one woman said the shock of the killings has not yet subsided.

“What happened on Thursday shocked us and broke our hearts,” said Um Alawi, clad in full niqab and flanked by her daughters. “No mother can keep her children from coming here,” she said. “Sacrifice is today the duty of all Bahrainis.”

“Hamad does not deserve to be our king as he does not defend his people,” added Um Salman, who had just spent her second night in the square with a group of other Bahraini mothers. “We will stay here, in the square, come what may.”

Their feelings were echoed by hundreds of women who have turned out to demand the resignation of the government.

“King Hamad is a war criminal,” said Sharifa, a young woman in black hijab, referring to the military attack on protesters Thursday. “We no longer want the rule of the Khalifa monarchy.”

Hassan Mashaima, exiled leader of Bahrain’s opposition Haq movement, meanwhile said he would return to Manama on Tuesday but said he had “no guarantees” he would not be arrested on arrival. “I have decided to return to my country,” said Mashaima, a Shiite based in London who faces charges of terrorism along with 25 others in his native Bahrain. 

Nini/thejakartaglobe 

Iranian Leader Labels Israel a ‘Tumor’ Hours Before Warships Enter Suez Canal

Tehran. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blasted “cancerous” Israel on Monday, a day after its premier Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the planned passage of Iranian warships through the Suez Canal.

“The fake Zionist government is a cancerous tumor and the cause of different diseases and political, economic calamity in the region,” the commander-in-chief of Iran told officials while marking the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Mohammed, which in the Shiite calendar fell on Monday.

“The arrogance” — Iran’s standard term of abuse for the United States — “is doing its best to preserve this warmongering tumor, but today the hatred of regional nations towards this cancerous tumor is more evident,” state television quoted him as saying.

Khamenei’s remarks come as two Iranian warships are waiting to pass through the Suez Canal for the first time since the 1979 Islamic revolution, raising fears in Israel, Iran’s archfoe. Netanyahu denounced the deployment on Sunday, saying: “Today we are witnessing the instability of the region in which we live and in which Iran is trying to profit by extending its influence by dispatching two warships to cross the Suez Canal.

“Israel views with gravity this Iranian initiative and other developments that reinforce what we have said in past years about Israel’s security needs,” he added.

The passage of ships has been put back to Wednesday. Egypt gave its green light on Friday for patrol frigate Alvand and support ship Khard to transit the canal into the Mediterranean headed for Syria.

Permission came a week after the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a long-standing US ally in the region.

The 1,500-metric-ton Alvand is normally armed with torpedoes and anti-ship missiles, while the larger 33,000-metric-ton Kharg has a crew of 250 and facilities for up to three helicopters, Iran’s Fars news agency has said.

Both ships were built in Britain during the 1970s for Iran, which ordered them before the Islamic revolution.

Earlier this week, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called the transiting of the ships a “provocation.” But an Iranian diplomat said it was a routine visit in line with cooperation between Iran and Syria.

Nini/thejakartaglobe

Indonesian President Outlines `Illnesses` Behind Development Program's FailureBogor. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono conceded on Monday that the country’s development program had failed at the national and regional levels, outlining five reasons for the deficiency. Speaking prior to a meeting at the Bogor Palace to draw up a master plan for the acceleration and extension of the country’s economic development, Yudhoyono said that after evaluating his time in office, he found certain “illnesses” had caused the development program to fail. He singled out an inefficient bureaucracy, which he said was resistant to implementing government decisions, with lower-level officials often disagreeing and arguing with each other instead of carrying out their duties. “Once it has been decided, there should not be any more discourse at the lower levels,” he said. “It causes us losses.” Administrations at the district and municipal level, he said, also bickered over development plans prepared by governors, often for no justifiable reasons. Yudhoyono has often complained about divisions and acrimony between the central and regional governments. Although his Democratic Party comfortably secured the most votes at the national level in 2009, the majority of regional heads elected to office are from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the loosely aligned Golkar Party. Yudhoyono identified the third hindrance to development as investors who failed to follow through on their commitments. Fourth was national and regional regulations that he said hindered development but were been resolved, while fifth was regular political interference. “Politics should be the solution and should not translate into mere narrow interests,” the president said. “The ones that end up with nothing are the people.”

Bogor. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono conceded on Monday that the country’s development program had failed at the national and regional levels, outlining five reasons for the deficiency.

Speaking prior to a meeting at the Bogor Palace to draw up a master plan for the acceleration and extension of the country’s economic development, Yudhoyono said that after evaluating his time in office, he found certain “illnesses” had caused the development program to fail.

He singled out an inefficient bureaucracy, which he said was resistant to implementing government decisions, with lower-level officials often disagreeing and arguing with each other instead of carrying out their duties.

“Once it has been decided, there should not be any more discourse at the lower levels,” he said. “It causes us losses.”

Administrations at the district and municipal level, he said, also bickered over development plans prepared by governors, often for no justifiable reasons.

Yudhoyono has often complained about divisions and acrimony between the central and regional governments.

Although his Democratic Party comfortably secured the most votes at the national level in 2009, the majority of regional heads elected to office are from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the loosely aligned Golkar Party.

Yudhoyono identified the third hindrance to development as investors who failed to follow through on their commitments.

Fourth was national and regional regulations that he said hindered development but were been resolved, while fifth was regular political interference.

“Politics should be the solution and should not translate into mere narrow interests,” the president said. “The ones that end up with nothing are the people.”

PDI-P Politicians Arrive at KPK to Question Summons for Megawati

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) says the Corruption Eradication Commission's summons for party chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri, pictured, to testify in connection to the Miranda Goeltom bribery case is "completely irrelevant." (Antara Photo)

Former President Megawati Sukarnoputri was indeed a no-show at the Corruption Eradication Commission on Monday, but two senior politicians from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) showed up instead.

"We came because we honor the legal process. However, the summon is completely irrelevant," Trimedya Pandjaitan, who arrived with Tjahyo Kumolo, told reporters as he arrived at the office of the commission also known as the KPK.

The KPK had summoned Megawati, the PDI-P chairwoman, in relation to the Rp 24 billion bribery scandal linked to the appointment of Miranda Goeltom as a senior deputy central bank governor in 2004.

But Trimedya, the legal affairs head of the party, said on Friday that it was the party’s position that Megawati had nothing to do with the case and had nothing to tell the KPK.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi said the two politicians came to ask about the urgency of summoning Megawati.

"The summon is in accordance to article 65 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Kuhap). Megawati's status is a witness for the defense,” Johan said.

PDI-P politicians arrested in the bribery case have claimed the money they received were campaign contributions, principally for Megawati’s failed 2004 re-election bid.

On Sunday, Johan had said that the KPK would respect Megawati’s decision if she decided not to appear and testify.

“She has no relevance to the case, she was only summoned by suspect Max Moein to testify as a witness,” he said. “If she believes that she has no relevance in the case and refuses to answer the summons, that’s her right.”

Outside the KPK building, at least 50 people from the 'Relawan Perjuangan Demokrasi' ('Democratic Struggle Volunteers')  held a rally urging the KPK to stop criminalizing oppositions and solve Bank Century and tax mafia cases instead.

Nini/thejakartaglobe

Misunderstanding Over Film Tax: Indonesian Govt

Foreign movie posters at a cinema in Jakarta. JG Photo/Afriadi Hikmal

Foreign-film fans in Indonesia may still have reason to hope after a Finance Ministry official on Monday said the controversy over the tax on imported films was all a misunderstanding.

Thomas Sugijata, director of excise at the ministry, said there was in fact no new tax policy on imported films.

Foreign distributors on Thursday said they were halting the supply of imported films, believing the government was imposing a hefty additional tax.

The boycott meant that Indonesian fans would be denied seeing imported films, including the top overseas blockbusters.

“What there actually is,” Sugijata said, “is a reassessment of the customs value of imported films.” He added that the National Film Development Agency (BP2N) in February last year sent a letter recommending a reassessment of the customs value, which it said was too low.

The result, he said, was that foreign distributors would now be paying higher fees up front, but possibly lower fees on the back end.

“The royalty element was incorporated in the import value,” he said, which resulted in a higher customs value for the films. Previously, royalty payments were only calculated after a film had been distributed.

“This is really purely a matter of correct assessment, in line with the regulations.”

Heri Kristiono, a customs and excise technical director at the Finance Ministry, told reporters separately that the law on customs stipulates that royalties should be included in the import tax calculation.

“We plan to reassess the value this year,” Heri said. The royalty value, he said, depended on the agreement between the foreign distributor and the importer.

Heri said that the tax office had ratified the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement, which states that in determining customs values, royalties — such as payments in respect to patents, trademarks and copyrights — should be included.

The foreign film distributors may have seen the higher taxes on imported films as the results of a new tax, he said, while the reason for the higher figures was the incorporation of royalty fees into the customs values.

Based on the current tax law, importers pay 23.75 percent of the film’s customs value, including import tax, value added tax and income tax.

Previously, royalties were not calculated because distributors argued that the amount would only be known after the film had been released, Heri said.

“Importers should know this. There are no problems with other royalties such as for books and music,” he said.

Darussalam, a tax expert from the University of Indonesia, said that such disputes in interpretation were always problematic in determining customs values across the world.

“There is nothing wrong with the government attempt to determine customs values based on royalties,” Darrusalam said.

Heri said the customs value of imported films had previously been based on the physical length of the film roll, with each meter valued at 43 cents.

“Therefore, there is no new levy or increase in import duty fees on imported film.”

Heri added that on Friday, the Directorate General of Customs, the Motion Picture Association and foreign film producers such as Walt Disney, Time Warner and Sony Pictures had discussed the newly appraised customs value of imported film. “Actually they have responded to us positively.

“However, they were to write to us about their concerns and objections, which we have not received until now.”

Tax schemes for local films also are being assessed.

Nini/thejakartaglobe

PSSI Pair Try To Get Back Into Contest

Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Toisutta, second left, and businessman Arifin Panigoro say the decision by the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) to bar them from running for chairman in the March 26 election is groundless. They submitted separate appeals on Monday. (Antara Photo)

The two candidates disqualified from running for chairman of the Indonesian Football Association submitted separate appeals on Monday, making good on their promise to challenge their exclusion from next month’s polls.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Toisutta and businessman Arifin Panigoro both said the decision by the association, known as the PSSI, to bar them from running in the March 26 election was groundless.

The PSSI on Saturday ruled that Toisutta and Arifin were not qualified to run for the top post in the country’s football governing body, although it did not give a reason for its decision.

Timbul Thomas Lubis, the embattled candidates’ legal counsel, said Arifin was disqualified because of his association with the breakaway Indonesian Premier League and Toisutta for his lack of “active involvement in football.”

Arifin, whose thriving oil business has made him one of Indonesia’s richest people, is considered the principal backer of the IPL, the main rival of the PSSI-supported Indonesian Super League.

The PSSI does not recognize the IPL as a legitimate football organization.

Timbul said Toisutta was left off the final list of candidates because he did not meet a PSSI ruling requiring candidates to have been involved in the sport for at least five years.

But the four-star general insisted that his role as the main supporter of Army club PS Angkatan Darat met that condition. Toisutta said he had been backing the club since 2004.

However, the PSSI said the Army football squad was not one of its registered members.

Timbul said Toisutta would submit evidence to the PSSI that he has served as vice chairman of Division Three side PS Bandung Raya. He did not reveal the grounds on which Arifin planned to challenge his exclusion.

Timbul said he believed “both can win their appeals.”

“We are making these appeals because we cannot accept the [committee’s] decision and its line of reasoning for disqualifying them from the PSSI elections,” Timbul said.

He also criticized the PSSI’s over its assessment of the credentials of the candidates.

“The committee never asked the candidates to come [to be interviewed],” he said. “They should have called them to verify everything if there was something they wanted to ask. This is sports, and there should be fair play.”

Should the appeals committee reject Toisutta’s and Arifin’s challenge, only incumbent chairman Nurdin Halid and deputry chairman Nirwan D. Bakrie will be left to contest the PSSI leadership.

Tjipta Lesmana, head of the appeals body, told state news agency Antara that a decision could be reached as late as next week. “We need to examine the nature of their appeals and how the election committee came to its decision. We can’t say much right now,” he said.

Meanwhile, the state minister for sports, Andi Mallarangeng expressed concern over the exclusion of Toisutta and Arifin, saying “the people have been demanding change.”

“We and KONI [the National Sports Committee] urge the appeals committee to correct the decision barring the two candidates from running,” Andi said on Monday.

“The upcoming election should be a start to the reform and restructuring within PSSI that the people of Indonesia have been demanding.”

Nini/thejakartaglobe

Jet sale to Indonesia may crash after break-in

Concerns grew in Seoul yesterday that the reported involvement of Korea’s spy agency in data theft from a visiting Indonesian delegations could derail the Lee Myung-bak administration’s attempt to land a lucrative defense export contract.

A high-powered Indonesian delegation, which included the defense minister, made a three-day visit last week, and local media reported yesterday that the National Intelligence Service was behind a Feb. 16 break-in of a delegation member’s Lotte Hotel room, from which a laptop was temporarily taken. Seoul denies the agency was involved.

Since his inauguration, Lee has focused on two key export programs: Korea’s nuclear power generation technology and its supersonic advanced trainer jets. While Seoul succeeded in exporting a nuclear reactor project to the United Arab Emirates last year, no progress has been made in exports of T-50 Golden Eagle trainers. Korea has tried to sell the jets to the UAE and Singapore, but have not succeeded. Indonesia was a third possible buyer.

“We thought the deal to export T-50s [to Indonesia] was almost clinched this time,” a senior military source said yesterday. “I guess the NIS people probably felt very much under pressure.”

Another senior government official said the spy agency, foreign ministry and defense ministry were under pressure as the T-50 export project was not going smoothly. “Because the president was highly interested in the project, the stress was heavy,” he said.

Lee was the most enthusiastic promoter of the project. During his visit to Indonesia in December, he had a summit with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and agreed to expand cooperation in defense industries, paving the way for the T-50 exports.

Last week’s visit by the special delegation from Jakarta to discuss Korea’s support for Indonesian economic development was also seen as a positive sign until the break-in took place.

Lee gave special attention to the delegation, providing his airplane and helicopter to them.

Seoul officials are now confused about the circumstances.

“The room that was broken in belonged to a working-level official who probably carried no confidential defense information,” said another senior official. “The NIS derailed a project that was going very well with unnecessary action.”

Built by Korea Aerospace Industries, the T-50 Golden Eagle carries a price tag of 24 billion won ($21 million). Because it was up to 20 percent more expensive than competing models from Italy and Russia, Korea’s export efforts have faced difficulties.

Seoul and Jakarta tried to calm fears of diplomatic repercussions.

“Korea and Indonesia have long maintained a friendship, and their intelligence authorities have worked together closely,” said a former senior official of the National Intelligence Service. “The case will likely be resolved after the NIS tacitly seeks Jakarta’s understanding and Indonesia accepts it.”

Nini/joongangdaily

Indonesia asks Seoul to verify details of hotel room break-in

Indonesia has officially asked South Korea to verify Seoul spy agency’s alleged trespassing into a hotel room of its envoys for intelligence gathering purposes, the Foreign Ministry here said Monday.

Local media reports revealed Monday that three agents belonging to Seoul’s National Intelligence Service had been caught after entering a downtown hotel room to steal confidential arms procurement information from the Indonesian delegation.

The NIS has denied wrongdoing but suspicions continue to run high as its officials have been offering inconsistent versions of events that day.

The issue has sparked concerns of diplomatic fallout with the Southeast Asian state that has grown into one of Seoul’s largest potential economic partners in recent years.

“The Indonesian Embassy officially inquired about the details of the case,” South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Byung-jae said, adding the ministry is still in the process of gathering details on the incident.

Indonesian Ambassador Nicholas Tandi Dammen, visited the ministry earlier in the day making the official request to Park Hae-yun, who is in charge of South Asian and Pacific affairs, the spokesman said.

The Southeast Asian state is yet to make an official complaint over the issue with the embassy declining to comment until it has “learned all the necessary details.”

According to local police, the intruders, consisting of two men and one woman, fled after being caught by a member of the Indonesian delegation while copying computer files onto a USB memory stick on Feb. 16.

The purported spy agents are believed to have been attempting to steal classified information related to Indonesia’s planned arms trade with South Korea while the delegation left for a meeting with President Lee Myung-bak. It remains unclear whether the agents stole any information.

Only a limited number of officials belonging to the presidential house and government agencies could have known when the delegation would leave the room, sources say.

“It has been an unspoken habitual practice for spy agents to secretly gather intelligence from a foreign delegation that visits the country,” a government official said on condition of anonymity. “Still, it is an embarrassing incident for the agents to have been caught.”

The NIS previously came under fire after its official was kicked out of Libya for alleged espionage last year.

As Jakarta is believed to have learned of the involvement by Seoul’s spy agency by now, concerns are growing over the government’s longstanding effort to sell weapons to the country through improved ties.

Seoul has been increasing efforts to expand economic cooperation with Jakarta, viewing the country as a potentially large market for arms as well as other materials. Indonesia has the fourth-largest population in the world and also has abundant natural resources.

The two sides were expected to hold working-level talks as early as next month over expanded financial ties and trade.

The 50-member delegation of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had arrived in Seoul last Tuesday for a three-day visit, during which the two sides were scheduled to discuss issues including South Korea’s plan to sell the T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainer jet.



Nini/joongangdaily

No military secrets stolen: Indonesia

The deputy defense minister of Indonesia said Monday that no military documents were stolen in what has been reported as an attempted theft by Korean spies of computer files belonging to an Indonesian presidential delegation visiting Seoul.

Lt. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying that the delegation from the Indonesian defense ministry wasn’t carrying any classified military documents when they traveled to Seoul last week.

The reaction came at a time when defense authorities here expressed concern about media reports that the country’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) was involved in the attempted theft.

Experts in Seoul say that, depending on what other details emerge, it could damage Seoul’s ties with Jakarta, not to mention weakening Korea’s position in its bid for procurement projects.

Since last December, the two countries have been negotiating an arms deal, including the sale of T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainer jets.

The negotiations came after President Lee Myung-bak and his Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono agreed to bolster defense cooperation at a summit held last year in Indonesia.

Korea was short-listed as one of the countries from which Indonesia is seriously considering purchasing trainer jets. The Indonesian government has worked closely with the short-listed nations, which also includes Russia.

The 50-member Indonesian delegation visited Seoul last week for three days to discuss economic and defense cooperation between the two countries.

During the trip, the delegation including Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono paid a visit to President Lee Myung-bak and met with high-ranking government officials. The group returned home Thursday.

After their departure, it became known that there was a theft of computer files from the delegation’s hotel room. The Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported Monday that three agents of the NIS _ two male and one female _ broke into the Indonesian delegation’s room in the Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul last week to steal the files.

The NIS denied the report, saying it was not involved.

An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) declined to comment on the report.

It has not been confirmed whether the Indonesian government lodged a complaint over the break-in.

The Indonesian Embassy here remained cautious. Press coordinator Nuradi Noeri, said the embassy will wait to see if the report is true.

“I am not in a position to comment on our government’s position on the report. (First of all) we need clarification of this. The Indonesian ambassador will make our position on this public afterwards,” he told The Korea Times over the phone.

Asked if the Indonesian Embassy had checked with the Ministry and Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) to confirm the report, he abruptly hung up the phone.

Cho Byung-jae, MOFAT spokesman, told reporters that the ministry received an inquiry from the Indonesian Embassy on whether the media report was true, and was looking to see if it could confirm it. 

nini/koreatimes

Najib Arrives In Turkey For Three-day Official Visit

ISTANBUL, Feb 21 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak arrived here today for a three-day official visit to enhance existing bilateral relations and cooperation between Malaysia and Turkey.

This is his first official visit to Turkey since assuming the premiership in April 2009.

The prime minister is accompanied by his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, as well as Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Amah, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, and several members of parliament and senior government officials.

Foreign Minister Anifah had said the visit would provide an excellent opportunity for Najib and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to renew their friendship and exchange views on issues of mutual interest.

The special aircraft carrying Najib and his delegation touched down at the Ataturk International Airport here at about 6pm (12pm Malaysian Time).

Najib made a courtesy call on President Abdullah Gul at his Tarabya Residence here before proceeding to Ankara.

In Ankara, his programme includes a private meeting with his counterpart Erdogan as well as a delegation meeting between the Malaysian and Turkish sides, headed by the respective prime ministers.

Najib is also scheduled to witness the signing of an MoU between SME Corp. Malaysia and KOSGEB (Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organisation) of Turkey and an agreement between DRB-HICOM Defence Technologies Sdn Bhd of Malaysia and FNSS Savunma Sistemleri A.S. of Turkey.

He is also scheduled to participate in the Malaysia-Turkey Business Roundtable Talks organised by the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (Mida) and the Global Movement for Justice, Peace and Dignity co-organised by the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) and International Movement for a Just World (JUST).


Nini/Bernama

Singapore sentences former US football player to 16 months in jail for phone scam

SINGAPORE — A former U.S. university football player was sentenced Monday to 16 months in prison in Singapore for his involvement in a telephone scam.
Kamari Charlton, 37, received about 330,000 Singapore dollars ($259,000) from elderly Croatian immigrants living in Australia and Germany who were tricked into sending money to him between 2008 and 2010, Judge See Kee Oon said.
Charlton, who was a reserve tight end for Florida State University from 1992 to 1996, pleaded guilty last week to five counts of dishonestly receiving stolen property. He was initially charged with 21 counts of money laundering and one count of overstaying his visa.
During the case, he claimed not to know about the scam, but admitted he had good reason to think the money he received was obtained through illegal activity.
According to the police investigation, Croatians living in Australia or Germany received a phone call from a Croatian-speaking female claiming to be from the Croatian embassy in Singapore saying a family member of the victim had lost his passport and been detained and sometimes was ill. The victim was then asked to send money to Charlton.
None of this money has been recovered, Judge See said. Charlton's alleged accomplices are still at large, prosecutors said.
When Charlton was first arrested, he said he had come to Singapore to receive medical care for his wife, who was having a complicated pregnancy. He was arrested trying to leave the country on a 90-day visa that had expired by 169 days.
Charlton — who wore a white t-shirt, brown prison pants, sandals, and a long bushy beard — told the judge before the ruling that his weight has dropped to 95 kilograms (209 pounds) from 129 kilograms (284 pounds) since his arrest.
"This situation has been very stressful for me," said Charlton, who was handcuffed to another prisoner being sentenced in a separate case. "I'm very sorry people were scammed."
The sentence includes the five and a half months Charlton has already served since he was arrested Sept. 1, and he could be released in July for good behaviour.
Hamidul Haq, Charlton's lawyer, said his client would not appeal the sentence.
No family members or friends were at the sentencing. A representative of the U.S. embassy declined to comment.


Nini/canadianpress

Back to Google News No force to stop Jedi census answer

People who want to declare their religion as "Jedi" or call themselves witches will still be able to do so in the 2011 Census, its director has said.
In 2001 - the first time the questionnaire contained a voluntary question about faith - almost 400,000 people claimed they were members of the Star Wars movement.
Glen Watson, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Census Director, said although putting joke responses on the national survey form was "not an acceptable thing to do", it could not be stopped.
Speaking at the launch of the advertising campaign for the £482 million information-gathering exercise, he said: "The religion question is the only voluntary question on the whole questionnaire.
"We would process the information and we would include that in the results, I imagine.
"I don't think we would pursue somebody for declaring their religion, for example, as Jedi.
"As I say, it's a voluntary question. I'm not really saying that we can stop it.
"If people really want to express their religious affiliation in a particular way, they're within their rights to do so."
Since the last census, the use of social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter has rocketed and campaigners have used them as tools to galvanise support for various movements.
In 2009, a Facebook campaign led to the rock group Rage Against the Machine taking the Christmas chart number one spot ahead of X Factor winner Joe McElderry in a grass-roots plot apparently aimed against Simon Cowell.

Haiti earthquake children sold by their parents for less than 76p each to traffickers, say Unicef

• Over 76% of Haitians live on £1.50 a day
• Parents forced to sell children to traffickers
• They believe their young will have better life - but most don't

As Haiti continues to slowly rebuild following the earthquake which devastated the Caribbean island in January 2010, it has come to light that helpless children are being trafficked for as little as 76 pence each.
Registering 7.0 on the Moment magnitude scale, the earthquake - which struck on January 12, 2010, near capital city Port-au-Prince - killed between 100,000 and 300,000 people, and displaced well over a million.
Aftershocks were felt for weeks afterwards and, with conditions difficult to build in, there were further complications when there was a cholera outbreak in makeshift camps last year.
Over 76 per cent of the country are living on less that £1.50 a day, and just when you thought that the horror could not be any worse, charity Unicef have found that a number of children - many of whom lost their parents in the tragic earthquake - are been sold for next to nothing.
Scroll down to see Unisef's special report

Vulnerable: Young children in Haiti are being sold by their parents for as little as 76 pence

Traffickers, wanting to cash in on the chaos, have been buying the children off their desperate parents, and some of them are grabbed in neighbouring Dominican Republic while they are scrounging for food.
A small amount of the children might manage to end up in the arms of loving and wealthy western families in Europe and America - who are none the wiser - but most are forced into more sinister jobs, such as prostitution and other criminal activities.
Parents, struggling to even feed - never mind educate - their young ones, are selling them on to the traffickers, who promise to hand their offspring a better chance in life.

Displaced: Over one million people lost their homes after the earthquake in January 2010

Wanting to stop the problem at its source, a number of NGO officials have begun to pretend to be interested buyers, in the hope that they can stamp out the horrific problem.
Brigade de Protection des Mineurs (BPM), a group funded by Unisef and who work with the help of the police, monitor the camps and Haitian borders to look out for children who are vulnerable.
But it is difficult to keep track of all of the children - some of the camps contain over 80,000 families, and many of them do not have any identification.

Help: Unicef and affiliate Brigade de Protection des Mineurs are trying to look after as many vulnerable children as possible

Devastation: Men attempt the massive clean up job following the earthquake which killed up to 300,000 people

The Daily Telegraph reported how 38-year-old Melissa Nau, who gave birth to five children and suffers from disability, sold four of her young ones for only 50 Haitian gourdes (76 pence) each.

When a trafficker called Jacques offered the money for the four children, aged between four and eight, she made the deal.
While the money she gained lasted but a few months, the children have gone for ever.
Research by the BPM uncovered information that chilled the mother - her children were handed false records and then illegally adopted by European families via an international adoption agency.
A Unicef spokesman told the Daily Telegraph: 'Well-meaning parents in the U.S. and Europe have no idea that children are being kidnapped, stolen and bought from the displacement camps of Port-au-Prince.'

BPM officer Françoise Moise revealed that trafficking had been a long-term issue in Haiti but has grown increasingly worse in the last year.
Even before the earthquake, every year almost 2,000 Haitian children were kidnapped or trafficked. Now the figure is believed to have quadrupled.
'Since the earthquake in 2010, rates of trafficking into the Dominican Republic have increased incredibly and that is the reason why we are here,' the 46-year-old told the Telegraph.
'People are coming into the camps posing as NGOs, and foreigners that have come to help Haiti.
'They also pose as Haitians living abroad coming to help and sometimes even Haitians living here, pretending to be members of their family.
'Most of the children that are trafficked into the Dominican Republic have fallen victims of prostitution or these children are adopted illegally.
'Whether at the airport, or the border, or the camps, we are trying to stop child trafficking from happening at all.'

The BPM stop cars at the borders of Haiti and check the travel documents of those under 18 years of age.
'The most difficult thing for us is when they have false documents for the children to cross the border because we don’t have the means of verifying whether these documents are fake or real,' Dieudonne Barnave, a BPM official, told the Telegraph.
Since last April the BPM has screened 7,000 children passing through the border and of those, 1,400 were found not to have the right paperwork.
In all, there have been 35 trafficking-related arrests but under current legislation in Haiti, there is no law against it. 

Nini/dailymail

United States suggests all actions are on the table with Libya

Strongly objecting to the use of lethal force against peaceful demonstrators, the United States said that it is considering all appropriate actions in response.
US President Barack Obama was briefed by the National Security Advisor, Tom Donilon last night on the developing situation in Libya and he is being kept up to speed on events today.
"We are considering all appropriate actions," a US official said without specifying the measures it is contemplating with regard to Libya.
"We are is analysing the speech of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi to see what possibilities it contains for meaningful reform," the official said referring to the speech given by the Libyan leader, adding that the US will seek clarification from senior Libyan officials in this regard.
"We continue to raise with them the need to avoid violence against peaceful protesters and respect universal rights," the official said.
Earlier the US Sunday expressed its grave concern over the current situation in Libya.
"The United States is gravely concerned with disturbing reports and images coming out of Libya," State Department spokesman, P J Crowley said.
While the US is working to ascertain the facts, it has received multiple credible reports that hundreds of people have been killed and injured in several days of unrest and the full extent of the death toll is unknown due to the lack of access of international media and human rights organizations, he said.
"We have raised, to a number of Libyan officials, including Libyan Foreign Minister Musa Kusa, our strong objections to the use of lethal force against peaceful demonstrators," Crowley said.
We reiterated to Libyan officials the importance of universal rights, includingfreedom of speech and peaceful assembly.
Libyan officials have stated their commitment to protecting and safeguarding the right of peaceful protest," Crowley said.
The State Department spokesmen called upon the Libyan government uphold that commitment, and holds accountable any security officer who does not act in accordance with that commitment.

Milan airport evacuated

Police inspect a site where a man smashed a car into the departure terminal of Milan's Malpensa airport today. Photo: Paolo Bona/Reuters

A terminal at Milan's international airport was evacuated today after a man smashed a car into the departure lounge because he wanted to stop his wife from leaving, police sources said.
The man, a Tunisian national who carried a knife, was shot in the foot by a policeman and taken to hospital  after he drove an SUV into Terminal 1, shattering a section of glass.
The company that runs Malpensa airport said check-in operations had been briefly suspended, but that normal operations had resumed by mid-afternoon.

* Sport * Football * Milan Gennaro Gattuso could face only one match ban for Joe Jordan butt

• Uefa charges Gattuso with 'gross unsporting conduct'
• Gattuso case to be heard by disciplinary panel on Monday

Gennaro Gattuso, right, has apololgised for angrily confronting the Tottenham Hotspur first team coach Joe Jordan. Photograph: Stefano Rellandini/REUTERS

Uefa has charged the Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso with "gross unsporting conduct" after he head-butted the Tottenham Hotspur first team coach Joe Jordan following Tuesday's Champions League match at San Siro.

Uefa's disciplinary panel will consider the case at a hearing on Monday.

Gattuso could have faced an assault charge for butting Jordan, a former Milan player, and if found guilty would face a minimum three-game ban.

But Uefa has decided to charge Gattuso with unsporting conduct, for which guilty players are usually banned for one match.

Gattuso is already ineligible for the return match in London on 9 March after getting a yellow card for a foul.

Nini/guardian

Ranieri out, Montella in as Roma coach

ROME -- AS Roma has accepted coach Claudio Ranieri's resignation and replaced him with former forward Vincenzo Montella.

Ranieri offered to quit Sunday after his team wasted a three-goal lead in a 4-3 loss to Genoa. It was Roma's fourth consecutive defeat, including a 3-2 home loss last week in the Champions League to Ukraine's Shaktar Donetsk, which was playing its first competitive match in more than two months. 

Montella played for Roma when it last won the Serie A title in 2001. He will coach the team until the end of the season. 

AS Roma coach Claudio Ranieri reacts during a Serie A soccer match between Genoa and AS Roma at the Genoa Luigi Ferraris stadium, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2011. Genoa won 4-3. (AP Photo/Carlo Baroncini) (Carlo Baroncini - AP)

Video : gattuso grabs joe jordan by the throat

Video: Goal Highlights From Genoa 4-3 Roma feb 2011

Genoa make the comeback of the season with four second half goals to put the final nail in the coffin for Claudio Ranieri. Qasa Alom reports

Second half braces from Alberto Paloschi and Rodrigo Palacio cancelled out early goals from Phillipe Mexes, Nicolas Burdisso and then a second half strike from Francesco Totti. The miraculous comeback caps off a brilliant week for the home team, who move up into the top half after back to back wins. T
The result has seen the almost inevitably exit of Claudio Ranieri from the Eternal City after four consecutive defeats in all competitions. Former player Vincenzo Montella is expected to become the interim manager, with Carlo Ancelotti a target for next season.

Ghana’s Nyantakyi refuses to withdraw for Benin opponent

Ghana’s candidate for a seat on the Executive Committee of the Confederation of African Football (Caf) must have thought he was having a nightmare. The 43 year old financial and legal expert has dismissed suggestions that he will step down for his opponent from Benin to have an easy win on election day.

Prior to his arrival here in Khartoum, there had been widespread rumour by the Hayatou backed Moucharaf Anjorin that the GFA boss would withdraw from the race at the eleventh hour. In fact that has been the grand battle plan of the FA boss from Benin.

In what fell just short of an angry response, Nyantakyi rubbished the claims ‘‘ This is the work of a few desperate people who should rather be campaigning based on their strengths and not their wild imaginations.....I am here for serious business and not for antics that would distract me from my mission’’.

Nyantakyi is seen as a serious and credible contender having canvassed support from what has traditionally been an anti Anglophone bloc within Caf.

Even if his key allies within the powerful French speaking constituency suddenly desert him at the last moment, he may still scrape through with the so called back benchers and floating voters scattered across the congress.

Another source of optimism for the Ghanaian was the withdrawal of Tata Avlessi the former Togo FA boss who has now thrown his weight behind Nyantakyi.

There is talk of candidates with campaign budgets of a couple of million US dollars to spare, there are the regional alliances that can always have a say and most significantly, there is the imposing and perhaps intimidating shadow of Caf President Alhaji Issa Hayatou who it is alleged, is the financier of Benin’s Moucharaf.

The secret vote on Wednesday could go either way. There is no such thing as an outright favourite, guaranteed or promised votes. The cash that ‘‘may’’ be thrown away or invested depending on the outcome could easily run into millions of dollars.

You can see the glint in many eyes and the anxiety etched on the faces of those who know that their time is up. Indeed unless there is a major shift in choice of votes, I am convinced that Caf is about to witness the most far reaching changes witnessed by the body.

Meanwhile, Caf match commissioner Hima Souley of Niger has also give up his candidacy. The former FA boss is good friends with Ghana’s Alhaji MND Jawula and was in charge of Niger football for 10 years.

He even has a number of business interests in Accra and frequents the Ghanaian capital on a regular basis. All that could count for nought as he remains tight lipped about whether he is just in the race to drop out for Nyantakyi or for Moucharaf.

The bottom line is simple. Behind the smiles, handshakes, warm embraces and even kisses, the knives have been drawn. Make no mistake about it, Wednesday’s 33rd General Assembly of Caf will be ‘‘bloody’’ in football administrative parlance but at the end of the day, no ‘‘blood’’ will be spilt and the newly elected Caf executives would move on to embrace the new challenges confronting African Football.



Nini/news.myjoyonline