Eyes on Indonesia to Put Pressure on Burma's Human Rights Record

Even if Indonesia could help bring changes to Burma after this week’s summit for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, reforms there would not come easily, political and human rights experts said on Tuesday.

Teuku Rezasyah, an international relations expert from Bandung’s Padjadjaran University, said Indonesia had the opportunity to take the lead and encourage other members of Asean to influence Burma.

“Indonesia’s diplomacy has always used the soft approach, speaking heart-to-heart. Our president should use this summit to push for a democratic government in Burma,” he said, adding that Indonesia was well-respected in Burma.

Leaders of Asean’s 10 member states are scheduled to hold their biennial talks on Thursday and Friday in Hanoi, Vietnam.

A spokesman for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Dino Patti Djalal, said the president would leave for Hanoi today and return on Saturday. Aside from attending the opening ceremony, Yudhoyono is expected to attend working dinners, plenary sessions and an interparliamentary assembly, as well as meetings with other heads of state.

Dino said that Yudhoyono “mainly supports” the seven-step roadmap to democracy as promised by the Burmese government. Although the issue would not be discussed formally at the summit, it might be discussed at a working dinner if Burma brought it up, he added.

Yudhoyono had sent a letter to Sr. Gen. Than Shwe, Dino said, although he declined to go into further detail about what was in it.

Asked whether Indonesia would become involved as an observer in Burma’s polls, which are expected to be held later this year, Dino said the government first wanted to know plans for the elections, which Burma had yet to release as promised.

Rezasyah said that considering the current good relations between Asean countries, including Burma, there was general confidence that the region could influence Burma to take the path to democracy.

But Thant Myint-U, a Burmese human rights expert, said Indonesia should give its assistance at the grassroots level instead of focusing on Burma’s military junta. “There is a lot to be done,” he said, adding that it was time for a broader take on the issue.

Only person-to-person contacts and empowering nongovernmental organizations would lead to democracy, he added.

Other experts were less optimistic. Christopher Roberts, a lecturer in Asian politics and security at the University of Canberra in Australia, said Asean was still divided between conservative governments and those seeking change, such as Indonesia.

Yap Swee Seng, executive director of Forum Asia, an umbrella group for regional human rights organizations, said that unlike many other Asean countries, including Vietnam, rapid economic development and rising education levels had not created a strong middle class in Burma that could help push for democracy.

Hirim, an activist with the Indonesia-based Human Rights Working Group, said that even if Asean supported democracy in Burma, the change would not come easy. “It will not be quick,” she said. “It will take a strong commitment, starting with that from civil societies.”

The Asean summit is expected to produce a joint declaration on the region’s economic recovery and sustainable development, as well as a joint response on climate change.

SBY Urges Indonesian Mafia-Busters Urged to Chase After ‘Big Fish’

President Yudhoyono wants anticorruption watchdogs to
focus on major players in the judicial mafia

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Tuesday ordered the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force to concentrate on catching the “big fish,” as reports emerged of corruption cases far bigger than the Rp 28 billion ($3.1 million) uncovered in a mid-ranking tax official’s bank accounts.

“He hopes we can catch big fish, or expose really big cases and reveal problems that have been hidden,” task force head Kuntoro Mangkusubroto said after a meeting at the Presidential Palace.

Yudhoyono called on the team to focus on the so-called judicial mafia, especially law enforcers who fixed cases in exchange for cash.

For that reason, the president told the task force to monitor not only the central government but also regional administrations.

State corruption was again in the spotlight when Rp 28 billion was found in tax official Gayus Tambunan’s accounts. He was acquitted of embezzlement last month, prompting a former National Police chief of detectives to accuse high-ranking police officials of taking bribes from Gayus to unfreeze his accounts and insure a favorable ruling at his trial.

Mahfud MD, head of the Constitutional Court, was also at the meeting and said there was a bigger case on the horizon unrelated to the tax office.

“It is more than Gayus, it is worth nearly Rp 100 billion,” he said. “It is cross-institutional corruption.”

Mahfud said he had obtained a report on the case from a member of the House of Representatives, but declined to elaborate, saying it was not up to him as a Constitutional Court justice to reveal it.

The chief of the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), Yunus Husein, said on Tuesday that there was another case involving a former high-ranking tax official. He declined to mention any amount, however.

Yunus said his agency had uncovered another tax official with billions of rupiah in assets.

He said the case had been reported to the chief of the National Police and the Attorney General’s Office in March last year.

“It is up to the [National Police chief] whether his detective unit investigates the case,” he said.

Attorney General Hendarman Supandji said after meeting the president that his office had been investigating yet another tax case involving a larger sum than Gayus’s case. He also did not provide further details.

Kuntoro said his task force had not received information regarding the big cases but he hoped to receive it soon.

National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi said a PPATK report showed many tax officials had more money than Gayus in their accounts.

“We will check the PPATK report again,” Ito said, adding that the law required the center to alert the police to any suspicious transactions, with the police expected to determine if there were indications of crime.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati vowed to take action against any of her officials linked to tax crimes.

“Gayus has been discharged, and there are two others who are being processed, and if there is enough proof to warrant sanction, the cases will be processed this week according to the regulations,” she said.

She also warned that anyone with knowledge of irregularities but who declined to report it would also be sanctioned.

Sri Mulyani said nonperforming high-ranking officials would be moved to other posts and the first transfers of directors, especially those related to the Gayus case, were imminent.

Her ministry’s inspector general, Hekinus Manap, said Gayus had told police others in his office were involved in brokering tax cases and named 13 people, including some outside the office.

He said that so far only one official had been discharged, while the fate of nine others would be announced on Monday.

Megawati Launches Congress of Struggling Party

Former President Megawati Sukarnoputri raising a trademark fist in the air
during the opening of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's
three-day national congress in the party stronghold of Bali on Tuesday

As allegations of deep-seated corruption within the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) continue to persist, the party opened its three-day congress at the Grand Inna Bali Beach Hotel in Sanur on Tuesday.

The party of former President Megawati Sukarnoputri has steadily lost support since its peak during the 1999 elections and with Megawati likely to be again nominated party chairwoman, observers say this will achieve little in the way of regenerating and reinvigorating the PDI-P.

Present at the opening ceremony, attended by 1,700 delegates and guarded by 1,200 police or security officers, were Great Indonesian Movement Party (Gerindra) Chairman Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto, who was Megawati’s running mate in last year’s presidential elections, and Golkar Chairman Aburizal Bakrie.

Notably, there was nobody present from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party, indicating that previous talk of bringing the PDI-P in from the cold after six years in opposition was wishful thinking on behalf of the Democrats, who have been looking for alternatives given ongoing problems with Golkar.

A notably absentee was Megawati’s brother Guruh Sukarnoputra, a choreographer-cum-politician, who claims every five years that he has the support to ascend to the position as chairman of the party.

The only potential flash point expected at the congress is just who will be appointed to the new post of deputy chairperson of the party, with two candidates in the running, both of them offspring of Megawati and grandchildren of founding President Sukarno.

Both, however, have different fathers, with Megawati’s husband, PDI-P advisory council chairman Taufik Kiemas, reportedly pushing for Puan Maharani, with unsubstantiated speculation arguing that Megawati is pushing for her son, Prananda Prabowo, who has emerged from a comparatively obscure and mysterious past.

Puan said Bali was chosen because it was home to some of the party’s greatest achievements. “We hope Bali can revive our spirit of 1999. The spirit which has vanished into thin air,” Puan told SCTV.

On Monday, PDI-P lawmaker Dudhie Makmum Murod testified before the Anti-Corruption Court in Jakarta that two party members, one of whom was identified as Kiemas, attempted to influence him to cover up details of the scandal involving the House of Representative’s selection of Miranda Goeltom as Bank Indonesia senior governor.

The scandal has implicated a number of PDI-P lawmakers, as well as legislators from at least two other parties, including Golkar. It also highlighted the depth of graft within the House of Representatives.

Indonesia Must Toughen Up on Tax Crimes: SBY

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered law enforcers to get serious about tackling tax-related crimes.

His comments on Monday came as a corruption case involving a middle-ranking tax official continued to grip the nation.

“I want them [the tax criminals] to be revealed, hunted until everything has been cleaned up and the state no longer suffers losses,” Yudhoyono said before a cabinet meeting on the economy.

He said reports of tax embezzlement “bothered” him and the Gayus Tambunan case should be used as a catalyst to clean up the entire tax office.

“This is the time for us to seriously cleanse those things that could hamper our development in the future, so that future governments will inherit a better situation,” Yudhoyono said.

The president said the case of Gayus, who was found to have Rp 28 billion ($3.1 million) in his bank accounts, was not merely a case of an errant tax official.

“A corrupt tax officer is a crime, a taxpayer who does not pay tax is a crime, a conspiracy that causes state loss is also a crime,” Yudhoyono said.

The president said tax conspiracies meant taxpayers paid only a fraction of what was due and tax officers cooked up the figures and pocketed a portion of the money.

“Of course we cannot tolerate this, especially when the state needs to fund our development agenda,” he said.

Yudhoyono called on law enforcers and the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force to report to him on what was being done to tackle the problem and how to prevent more offenses.

“The tax court is in reality fully loaded with mafia practices,” he said. “Such practices must be eliminated.”

Yudhoyono also reminded law enforcers to comprehensively deal with other crimes.

“I have to remind everyone that there are also other crimes, such as Bank Century,” he said. “I have received reports that crimes related to Bank Century have reached Rp 1.8 trillion. This must be solved.”

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said she would re-evaluate her whole ministry, including the tax office, after the revelations of the Gayus case.

“The most important thing is we have to secure our state revenue targets,” she said after the cabinet meeting.

“Reforms [will be done] from the aspects of integrity and performance, and violations will be corrected,” she added.

Sri Mulyani said she had asked the government’s Tax Supervision Committee and outsiders such as tax law expert Hikmahanto Juwana for advice.

“I have made a short-term plan,” she said. “I’ve also stated the eight steps we are working on, including checking wealth reports, officers’ attitudes and rebuilding the reputation and credibility of all officials at the Tax Directorate General.”

House Set to Summon Susno

The House of Representatives Commission III overseeing law is holding a meeting today to discuss summoning the National Police’s controversial former chief detective, Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji.

Commission chairman Benny Kabur Harman said on Monday that it was likely that the controversial general would be asked to appear this week in relation to the corruption case involving allegedly corrupt tax official Gayus Tambunan.

The level of corruption involving Gayus and by implication the Directorate General of Taxation came to light after the renegade Susno broke with the long-held rule against implicating collegues in corruption and idenfified two senior police officers as being involved in graft.

Benny said it was hoped that Susno would shed light on other major cases of corruption, adding that the commission would protect Susno.

"We will protect his bravery because we hope that he will give us more information," he said. "Gayus and Susno should be protected so they will be brave in revealing other cases."

The commission also plans to summon National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri.

Indonesia Widens Sidoarjo Mudflow Damage Probe

Thousands of hectares of industrial and agricultural land have been
inundated by the mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered an investigation into whether the Sidoarjo mudflow in East Java has affected people beyond the immediate area.

Yudhoyono, making his second visit to the devastated region since taking office in 2004, also called on Monday for the compensation process to be speeded up.

“I am asking all sides to coordinate and synergize to accelerate the compensation payment process,” Yudhoyono said during a flying visit to Jatirejo, on the rim of the sprawling mud lake near the center of the mudflow.

“I have instructed the public works minister, the East Java administration and a team from ITS [Surabaya Institute of Technology] to work together in studying the impact of the mud on areas beyond the directly affected areas, whether it affects their agriculture and life,” the president said.

Yudhoyono said the “good news” was that the mud was now flowing out of the ground at just less than 70,000 cubic feet a day, compared with 1.7 million cubic meters initially.

He said his visit was intended to ensure that his instructions regarding mudflow management programs were implemented effectively.

PT Lapindo Brantas, which has been blamed by some parties for the mudflow because of negligence during a gas-drilling operation in the area, is obliged to pay compensation to all those who lost property and can provide evidence of ownership.

The government is compensating those from three other villages affected by the spreading mud.

Andi Darussalam Tabussala, vice president of PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya, which handles compensation claims, said his company hoped to complete the settlements by 2012.

He said about 7,500 of the 13,237 claims had been settled.

Akhmad Dhuha, a spokesman for residents of Mindi village, said the president’s visit was disappointing.

“Unfortunately his visit did not improve conditions because residents were not given the chance to talk to him directly,” Dhuha said.

In Mindi village alone, nearly 5,000 people have been living in fear for four years because they are only 50 meters from the main dike containing the mud lake.

In March 2006, mud began spewing from a crack near a gas-drilling well operated by Lapindo, a company under the umbrella of the Bakrie group controlled by the family of the then coordinating minister for people’s welfare, Aburizal Bakrie.

The mudflow inundated hundreds of hectares, swallowing homes, fields and factories and leaving thousands homeless.

Yudhoyono also asked East Java Governor Sukarwo and the Sidoarjo Mudflow Mitigation Agency to work together on the agency’s proposal to turn the area into a mud volcano park that would allow volcanologists and geologists to study the phenomenon and also serve as a recreational area.

“Maybe this can be turned into some kind of geological tourism place, a fishing or agriculture source or something else,” Yudhoyono said.

Grassroots Democrats ‘Want Golkar, PKS Out’

A top Democratic Party official said on Tuesday that grassroots members were demanding that the party kick the Golkar Party and Prosperous Justice Party out of the governing coalition.

“We will do it if it is in the interest of the people,” said Moh. Jafar Hafsah, a deputy chairman of the party, adding that the issue would be discussed at the party’s national congress in May.

The party’s board, however, would not make a decision based on emotion only, as the Democrats wanted better cooperation between the government and the House of Representatives in the future, Jafar said. Members of the ruling coalition could withdraw their membership should they have a different stance from the Democrats, he said.

The Democratic Party has repeatedly pressured President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to reshuffle his cabinet after the results of the recent vote on the House recommendation concerning Bank Century bailout inquiry. Three members of the coalition — Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Prosperous Justice Party, also known as the PKS — voted against the Democrats.
The Democratic Party has since reportedly approached the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to join the coalition.

The PKS, however, dismissed talk of being kicked out of the coalition, saying the Democrats had been approaching the PDI-P to improve their popularity ahead of the 2014 elections.

“I think it's just an expression of fear,” said Agus Purnomo, a top PKS executive. 

Witness in Bank Indonesia Case Links ‘Bribe’ to Megawati Campaign

In the latest twist in a bribery case linked to the 2004 appointment of a central bank senior executive, a witness told the Antigraft Court on Monday that some of the alleged Rp 24 billion involved went into former President Megawati Sukarnoputri’s election campaign coffers.

Budiningsih, a former lawmaker from Megawati’s Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), told the court the defendant, former party lawmaker Dudhie Makmun Murod, had given her Rp 500 million ($55,000) soon after she voted for economist Miranda Goeltom to be appointed to the Bank Indonesia post.

Dhudie “told me that it was for the presidential campaign,” she said. “I was only told that the money was for [Megawati’s] campaign.
That is all.”

Budiningsih added that she contributed to Megawati’s 2004 campaign for the presidency in East Java and Yogyakarta.

Dudhie has said that Budiningsih “knew the money was linked to the House of Representatives selection process” to fill the central bank post.

But Budiningsih said she only joined House Commission IX, which oversees banking affairs, just before the voting process and had no knowledge of the alleged bribery.

Tjahjo Kumolo, head of the PDI-P faction in the House, declined to comment on Budiningsih’s testimony.

The court also heard the testimony of two former PDI-P lawmakers, Poltak Sitorus and Suwarno, and a current legislator, Ni Luh Maryani Tirtasari.

They said Dudhie also gave each of them Rp 500 million in traveler’s checks after they cast their votes for Miranda.

“We received the money at Dudhie’s office but weren’t told what the money was for,” Suwarno told the court.

Dudhie’s lawyer, Amir Karyatin, said the checks were handed over at the office of PDI-P lawmaker Emir Moeis, who chaired Commission IX.

“But all the witnesses said they received the checks at Dudhie’s office,” the lawyer said.

“That’s impossible. They couldn’t even say where Dudhie’s office was located.”

Amir said the uniform testimony of the three “almost feels like it was orchestrated.” But Tjahjo said “there was never any briefing prior to the hearing.”

Miranda won her post with the backing of 41 of the 51 Commission IX members.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has identified 39 current and former lawmakers as having received from Rp 200 million to Rp 2.25 billion after voting for Miranda.

Four current and former lawmakers, including Dudhie, face charges of distributing the bribe among fellow party members.

US-RI partnership likely be signed despite Obama absence

Jakarta will look into the possibility of signing a cooperation agreement with the US before a state visit by President Barack Obama to Indonesia in June following the postponement of his Asia trip, the foreign minister said Friday.

“There are three documents that were to be signed during Obama’s visit. They cover transfer of technology, investment and an action plan on the joint declaration [of a comprehensive Indonesia-US partnership],” Marty Natalegawa said.

“All the preparation has been done and the documents are ready to be signed but with the postponement we may look into the option of signing it as planned [in March] or to waiting for Obama’s visit.”

Obama postponed his trip to Guam, Indonesia and Australia until June to push through his healthcare reform bill. He was expected to launch a comprehensive partnership with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta on March 23.

“The three documents were to be signed at a ministerial level and so this process doesn’t have to be stalled by,” Marty said, adding that Obama and Yudhoyono would only officially launch the comprehensive partnership but not sign it, as a minister would do so.

Officials have said Jakarta and Washington would cooperate on the transfer of technology and facilitation of US investment in Indonesia covered by the Overseas Private Investment Cooperation (OPIC).

Marty said the postponement of Obama’s visit created opportunities for both countries to speed up pending agreements, including the revocation of a US training ban on the Indonesian Military’s (TNI) Army Special Forces (Kopassus).

“We have more opportunities to tie up loose ends. One issue is the normalization of military relations.”

However, Marty said, Jakarta would not push for the revocation. “The TNI has undergone reforms and if the US is comfortable with how that process has gone, then that’s wonderful but we are not going to beg for an endorsement.”

Jakarta and Washington are also negotiating a new biomedical research deal, following the closure of the controversial Namru joint naval research center.

Centre for Strategic and International Studies executive director Rizal Sukma said the delay of the Obama visit might make it harder to plan future programs because officials might see it as a sign of weakness from the US leader. “He has disappointed many people, including officials, with the postponement and it might lower the public enthusiasm to welcome him in June.”

Indonesia Understands Obama Cancellation: Palace

US President Barack Obama on Thursday postponed his trip to Indonesia and Australia until June as he attempts to push his historic health care reform bill through Congress.

"We greatly regret the delay of the trip," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters, but he added the "passage of health insurance reform is of paramount importance and the president is determined to see this battle through."

Gibbs said Obama had called Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and would later call Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to tell him he would have to put the trip off to a "later date."

The president's spokesman said it was now clear that a House of Representatives vote on health care reform could not now take place until Sunday afternoon at the earliest.

Obama had already delayed his departure by three days until Sunday morning in a bid to finally pilot his top domestic priority to extend health care coverage to some 32 million Americans through Congress.

The president believed that his Democratic allies in the House would have enough votes to pass the legislation, Gibbs said.

"I think the president in the calls and meetings he's having with individual leaders is making great progress," Gibbs said, adding Obama believed his place was to be in Washington "seeing this through."

Obama had also been due to visit the US Pacific territory of Guam on the trip.

Indonesia understands the reason for U.S. President Barack Obama's last-minute cancellation of his visit to Jakarta and Bali, a spokesman for Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Friday.

Obama scrapped his plan to visit Indonesia and Australia on Thursday, days before the start of his Asia-Pacific trip, in order to stay in Washington and give a final push for a U.S. healthcare overhaul. The visit will be postponed until June.

"Of course we have made maximum preparations ahead of the visit, but that does not mean we should be disappointed by the delay," said presidential spokesman Julian Pasha.

"The delay of President Obama's visit to Indonesia is related to urgent internal matters, so we understand. Health reform has become a hot issue in the U.S."

The rare cancellation of a presidential trip abroad underscored how Obama's political challenges at home have begun complicating his activity overseas, stirring debate on whether he may have to scale back some foreign policy goals.

Obama had intended to use the March 21-26 trip, his first foreign travel this year, to deepen U.S. ties in the Asia-Pacific region in the face of rising Chinese influence.

Obama is Welcome in Indonesia, Say Leading Muslim Groups

US President Barack Obama must be welcomed as a guest during his much-anticipated state visit next week , say moderate Indonesian Islamic groups, including Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah.

“The Prophet himself also had diplomatic ties with adherents of other faiths,” said NU chief Hasyim Muzadi on Monday. He said Obama had shown good intentions in efforts to improve ties between the US and Islamic world.

But conservative Islamic organization Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia said on Tuesday that it rejected Obama’s visit, claiming it was aimed only at boosting America’s economic interests here.

HTI spokesman Muhamad Ismail Yusanto said the US enjoys Indonesia’s abundant natural resources, with many US oil and mining companies operating here. The fact that Obama lived here as a child did not warrant special treatment, he added.

On day two of his March 23-25 visit, Obama will deliver a rallying call to the Muslim world, his first since a historic speech in Cairo last year. “He’ll be able to speak to some of the progress that’s been made and that needs to be made on the issues that he spoke to in Cairo,” said Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser for strategic communications.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Teuku Faizasyah confirmed that Indonesia and the US would also sign a comprehensive partnership agreement during the visit. The accord, covering education, cultural exchanges, security ties, trade and investment, will be evaluated in a more structured way with “perspicuous aims and a time frame” through a ministerial forum, Teuku said. “Previously, programs were conducted based on priority in each sector.”

Obama’s visit was delayed by three days, and the White House has confirmed that he will not visit the schools he attended in Jakarta, or the houses he lived in.

Obama is the first US president in at least a decade to visit Southeast Asia for anything other than a regional summit, a move said to reflect an effort to strengthen ties with emerging nations.
Key parts of next week’s visit:

Tuesday Arrival in Jakarta. Press conference with President Yudhoyono, then a state dinner.

Wednesday Speech intended to build on his address in Cairo last year. Meetings with local business leaders.

Thursday To Bali. Presentation from civil society groups on democracy in Indonesia. Departure to Canberra. 

No Timetable for US-Indonesia Military Deal, Says White House

The United States said Monday it could not predict when it would resume full military ties with Indonesia, as it laid out the details of President Barack Obama's trip to Jakarta and Bali next week. Obama spent four years as a boy in Indonesia with his late mother, but the trip is more geared to business, focusing on trade, security and diplomacy rather than his biography or his childhood haunts. In the run-up to the visit, the administration has been preparing the way to resume training an elite Indonesian military unit as part of growing counter-insurgency and intelligence cooperation with Jakarta. But the move would be controversial as the Kopassus unit is implicated in past human rights abuses, including in East Timor, and some key players in Congress oppose embracing the force before it has accounted for past behavior. It remains unclear whether the dispute over Kopassus will be resolved in time for Obama's visit which begins on March 23. Officers from Kopassus were in Washington only last week in a bid to secure resumed US support for the unit, which was cut off in 1997. "It would be good if we could move to full cooperation, fuller cooperation to include the special forces, the counterterrorism capabilities within the special forces of Kopassus," said Jeffrey Bader, Obama's senior director for Asian affairs, briefing reporters on Obama's trip. "There is a certain history that needs to be overcome. There were human rights violations in the 1990s in former East Timor. "We hope to be able at some point to move past and resolve those concerns (but) I can't predict at this point when that day might arrive." US officials have been complimentary on the growing security cooperation between Washington and Jakarta. Last week, Indonesia confirmed that a major suspect of the 2002 Bali bombing, known as Dulmatin, an Al-Qaeda trained bomb specialist with a 10 million US dollar bounty on his head, had been killed by police. Obama will arrive in Jakarta on Tuesday, March 23 and have a meeting and a press conference with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, before being honored at a state dinner. The next day, Obama is likely to make his most expressive reference to his childhood years in Indonesia, in a major speech also intended to build on his address to the Muslim world in Cairo last June. "He'll be able to speak to some of the progress that's been made and that needs to be made on the issues that he spoke to in Cairo," said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security advisor for strategic communications. Obama will then meet with local business leaders and make some so far unspecified stops, but the White House has already said he will not visit the school he once attended in Jakarta, or the house where he lived. The president will then head to the resort island of Bali where he will hold an event with civil society groups to showcase Indonesia's democratic progress in recent years, before heading to Canberra, Australia. Obama's departure for Indonesia, which US officials see as an increasingly important player in East Asia, was delayed by three days until Sunday, March 21, allowing him to remain in Washington for the endgame of his health reform drive. The United States said Monday it could not predict when it would resume full military ties with Indonesia, as it laid out the details of President Barack Obama's trip to Jakarta and Bali next week. Obama spent four years as a boy in Indonesia with his late mother, but the trip is more geared to business, focusing on trade, security and diplomacy rather than his biography or his childhood haunts. In the run-up to the visit, the administration has been preparing the way to resume training an elite Indonesian military unit as part of growing counter-insurgency and intelligence cooperation with Jakarta. But the move would be controversial as the Kopassus unit is implicated in past human rights abuses, including in East Timor, and some key players in Congress oppose embracing the force before it has accounted for past behavior. It remains unclear whether the dispute over Kopassus will be resolved in time for Obama's visit which begins on March 23. Officers from Kopassus were in Washington only last week in a bid to secure resumed US support for the unit, which was cut off in 1997. "It would be good if we could move to full cooperation, fuller cooperation to include the special forces, the counterterrorism capabilities within the special forces of Kopassus," said Jeffrey Bader, Obama's senior director for Asian affairs, briefing reporters on Obama's trip. "There is a certain history that needs to be overcome. There were human rights violations in the 1990s in former East Timor. "We hope to be able at some point to move past and resolve those concerns (but) I can't predict at this point when that day might arrive." US officials have been complimentary on the growing security cooperation between Washington and Jakarta. Last week, Indonesia confirmed that a major suspect of the 2002 Bali bombing, known as Dulmatin, an Al-Qaeda trained bomb specialist with a 10 million US dollar bounty on his head, had been killed by police. Obama will arrive in Jakarta on Tuesday, March 23 and have a meeting and a press conference with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, before being honored at a state dinner. The next day, Obama is likely to make his most expressive reference to his childhood years in Indonesia, in a major speech also intended to build on his address to the Muslim world in Cairo last June. "He'll be able to speak to some of the progress that's been made and that needs to be made on the issues that he spoke to in Cairo," said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security advisor for strategic communications. Obama will then meet with local business leaders and make some so far unspecified stops, but the White House has already said he will not visit the school he once attended in Jakarta, or the house where he lived. The president will then head to the resort island of Bali where he will hold an event with civil society groups to showcase Indonesia's democratic progress in recent years, before heading to Canberra, Australia. Obama's departure for Indonesia, which US officials see as an increasingly important player in East Asia, was delayed by three days until Sunday, March 21, allowing him to remain in Washington for the endgame of his health reform drive.

Obama's Catholic School Ready for Possible Visit

Students play at Santo Fransiskus Asisi elementary school
in Menteng Dalam, Jakarta

The Catholic school Barack Obama attended as a child in Jakarta is getting ready to receive a possible visit when the US president comes to Indonesia later this month. We do not know for sure if President Obama will visit this school, but we are prepared for the visit,” Maria Yohana of Santo Fransiskus Asisi Elementary School told Union of Catholic Asian News. “We will serve fried rice and rambutan, his favorite food." She said students had also prepared a number of performances, including a traditional Jakarta Betawi dance, the Balinese pendet, and Sundanese angklung music. Yohana said the school would also like to show Obama its new leadership laboratory, "whose vision is to produce future leaders based on love". Obama attended Santo Fransiskus Asisi from 1968 to 1970, before transferring to Menteng 01 elementary school. While the latter has a statue of the child then known as "Barry", Santo Fransiskus has set aside the desk and chair he used. “I want to shake hands and get his signature," said current student Stefanus Febrian, 10. "I also want to ask him about his favorite subject."

Obama To Delay Trip Over Key Vote

US President Barack Obama is delaying his trip to Indonesia next week to focus on pushing through key health care reforms at home. US media reported that the White House made the announcement on the Twitter feed of the press secretary, Robert Gibbs. “The President will delay leaving for Indonesia and Australia — will now leave Sunday — the First Lady and the girls will not be on the trip,” Gibbs wrote. A senior administration official also told The Associated Press that Obama now planned to leave Washington on March 21 and return March 26. The original dates were March 18-24. Obama will visit the same countries as planned: Indonesia, Guam and Australia. The trip was scheduled to coincide with his daughters’ spring vacation, but it now appears the president’s family will not accompany him. On Thursday, Gibbs had said Obama would not delay the trip, even if lawmakers failed to satisfy White House hopes for a crucial House of Representatives vote on the health care bill by March 18. “The president believes it is an extremely important trip, it’s an important region of the world, and these are important partners,” Gibbs said. “Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world, obviously has seen, as many countries including ours have seen, the impacts of horrific terrorist activities.” Gibbs also said Obama would attend a conference on the promotion of democracy and use his stay to build on a speech he gave last year to the Islamic world from Cairo urging better ties with the United States. The visit comes amid a new antiterrorism campaign launched by Indonesian police that has so far netted 31 terrorist suspects and killed eight, including Dulmatin, one of the most wanted terrorists in the region whom the US State Department had placed a $10 million bounty on. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last month that her country wanted more counterterrorism and military cooperation with Indonesia. But she told lawmakers that America must make sure that human rights abuses did not resume. She said the Obama administration believed it was possible to satisfy US laws and expand cooperation with a country that had been subject to American sanctions over past human rights abuses. US officials had earlier suggested the Defense Department was seeking to provide training for the Indonesian Army’s Special Forces (Kopassus), members of which have in the past been implicated in serious human rights violations. US training for Kopassus has been restricted for more than a decade because of concerns about its human rights record and lack of accountability over abuses. In the US State Department’s 2009 Country Report on Human Rights Practices released on Thursday, the US government noted Indonesia’s respect for human rights in general over the past year, but said problems remained. As in previous years, it highlighted as ongoing problems killings by security forces, harsh prison conditions, judicial corruption, violence and sexual abuse against women and children, people trafficking, child labor and failure to enforce labor standards and worker rights.

No Plan to Delay Obama's 'Important' Indonesia Visit, Says White House

While Obama is expected to bring his family to Indonesia,
his trip will include a conference on promoting democracy,
the White House said

President Barack Obama's trip next week to his childhood home of Indonesia will be no vacation and is unlikely to be delayed by his health reform drive, the White House said Thursday. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama, who is expected to leave the United States next Thursday, would attend a democracy promotion conference and highlight counter-terrorism measures during the visit to Indonesia. Obama will also seek to use his stay in the world's most populous Muslim nation to build off a speech he gave last year to the Islamic world from Cairo urging for improved ties with the United States, Gibbs said. Asked whether the family journey to Indonesia, where Obama spent four years as a boy, and Australia, was intended as an educational trip or a vacation for his daughters Malia and Sasha, Gibbs answered "not at all." Gibbs also said there were no current plans to delay the trip, should lawmakers fail to satisfy the White House's hopes for a crucial House of Representatives vote on the health care bill by March 18. "The president believes it is an extremely important trip, it's an important region of the world, and these are important partners," Gibbs said. "Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world, obviously has seen, as many countries including ours have seen, the impacts of horrific terrorist activities. "Australia is a country we enjoy a trade surplus with, something the president is anxious to highlight, as well as a strong supporter of ours in providing support for Afghanistan." Obama, who lived in Jakarta with his late mother Ann Dunham in the 1960s, said last year in Singapore that he was looking forward to visiting his old haunts in Indonesia. He was invited to make the trip by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and both sides have said they plan to use Obama's childhood ties to the country to further tighten a crucial pan-Pacific relationship.

Obama Visit Likely Fueled Terror Raids: Analysts

Barack Obama is expected to arrive with his family later this month

US President Barack Obama’s planned visit to Indonesia this month has lent new impetus to raids that have left one top militant dead and his band of Islamist extremists on the ropes, analysts say. “The most important and powerful leader in the world is coming to Indonesia, so the authorities have to tame any possible attack by jihadists,” Noor Huda Ismail, an Indonesian analyst of extremism. Obama along with First Lady Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha are expected to visit Indonesia from March 20 to 22 before heading on to Australia, although the US Embassy in Jakarta said on Wednesday that the dates were still unconfirmed. In Canberra Wednesday, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono confirmed the death in a police raid of Dulmatin, one of the masterminds of the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. Dulmatin, who had a 10-million-dollar US bounty on his head, was shot dead along with two other people on Tuesday near Jakarta. Their deaths were the latest in a crackdown launched on February 22 when police raided an extremist training camp in a remote part of Aceh province. Since the Aceh operation, police say they have arrested 22 terror suspects, including firearms suppliers and financiers. Analysts say the arrests may have yielded valuable intelligence on Dulmatin’s terror group Jemaah Islamiyah. JI, whose mission is to enforce a Muslim caliphate across Southeast Asia, was inspired by Al-Qaeda and is blamed for multiple incidents across Indonesia including the 2002 carnage in Bali and attacks on Jakarta hotels last year. Ismail said the recent crackdown had left JI “completely crippled”. But he warned that the terror threat remained, especially with the “emergence of many splinter groups who support the idea of the use of violence”. Malaysian extremist Noordin Mohammad Top, the leader of a bloodthirsty splinter faction of the JI, was killed by Indonesian security forces in September. Indonesian authorities said the Obama visit was likely to go ahead as planned, which one analyst called a “vote of confidence” by the United States in Muslim-majority Indonesia’s ability to maintain security. “The US is well aware of the security situation everywhere. If they don’t feel safe, they won’t let the president go,” John Harrison, a security analyst at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, said. The recent operations show “how serious Indonesia is”, he said, and are “a recognition of the capabilities that they have to react responsibly when there’s information”. Singapore-based terrorism analyst Rohan Gunaratna said the death of Dulmatin was “a significant victory for the fight against terrorism in Asia”. JI has carried out more than 50 bombings in Indonesia since April 1999, according to the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, including the 2002 Bali bombings and attacks on the resort island in 2005 that killed 20. But analysts believe the capacity of JI and splinter groups to wage terror has been seriously curbed since the July 17 bombings on two luxury hotels in Jakarta. Noordin’s death came as part of the subsequent investigation. Indonesia’s anti-terror clampdown may have broader implications beyond Asia. Aceh governor Irwandi Yusuf said Tuesday that several of the arrested suspects had been recruited in January 2009 to help battle Israel’s military incursion into the Gaza Strip. “Intelligence has uncovered their intentions to set up a base for a Southeast Asian terror network,” he told a news conference.

SBY Receives Warm Reception, Top Honors in Visit to Australia

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono inspecting
Australia’s Federation Guard
on his arrival in Canberra on Tuesday.
He is to address the nation’s Parliament
before departing to Sydney

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono received Australia’s highest civilian honor on Tuesday, the first day of his first official visit to the country after winning re-election last year. After landing in Canberra, Yudhoyono grinned as he stepped off the Garuda Indonesia plane and spotted a cluster of well-wishers waving Indonesian flags. He stopped to shake hands with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Governor General Quentin Bryce. Bryce later formally awarded the president the Order of Australia in recognition of his commitment to improving ties between the countries. Rudd, announcing the award for the former general, said: “President Yudhoyono is a true friend of Australia. President Yudhoyono has also been a champion of democracy and of economic development for the people of Indonesia.” But talks between Yudhoyono and Australian officials are expected to take a more serious turn during his three-day visit, with the issue of asylum seekers high on the agenda. Yudhoyono is also expected to highlight the issue during his address to Parliament today. Australia’s government has come under increasing pressure domestically to find a solution to the surge in asylum seekers finding their way by boat into the nation’s waters over the past year. Indonesia has become a major launching point for Sri Lankans, Afghans and Iraqis seeking a better life in Australia. Tension over the issue grew in October, when Indonesia and Australia struggled to figure out what to do about a group of Sri Lankan asylum seekers picked up by an Australian customs ship from a boat stranded by engine problems in Indonesian waters.For a month, the asylum seekers refused to leave the ship, and Australia insisted they were Indonesia’s responsibility. After discussions between Rudd and Yudhoyono, Indonesia eventually agreed to accept them temporarily, and some have since been sent to Australia. The two countries have also been at odds over the 1975 killing of five Australia-based journalists during a covert attack by Indonesian forces on East Timor in the weeks before the former Portuguese colony was officially invaded. In September, Australia launched a war-crimes investigation after a coroner found the killings were deliberate and probably ordered by senior Indonesian officials. Indonesia says the journalists were killed accidentally in a crossfire between Indonesian troops and East Timorese. Yudhoyono has warned that the investigation could strain his country’s relations with Canberra. Yudhoyono is scheduled to fly to Sydney tonight to meet with business leaders.

Top Indonesian Terrorist Dulmatin Believed Slain by Police Gunfire

Paramedics from a police hospital carrying the body of suspected militant

Anti-terror police and plain-clothed policemen carry
the body of a suspected Islamic militant
from an internet cafe in Pamulang

The body of a suspected terrorist lying near his motorcycle
after he was shot by members of the police’s Densus 88 on
Jalan Setiabudi in Pamulang, Tangerang.
Dulmatin, a mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings,
is believed to have beenkilled in a previous raid nearby

Fingerprint analysis has yet to establish a definitive identity, but antiterrorism police officers were already seen praising God and rejoicing on the outskirts of the capital on Tuesday, believing a man they shot dead during a fierce gun battle was Dulmatin, one of the masterminds of the 2002 Bali bombings that claimed 202 lives. Regardless of whether the man killed in an unassuming shop in Tangerang was indeed one of the most wanted terrorists in Southeast Asia, the killing is being seen as a major victory in the country’s fight against terrorism. “The man who was shot was an influential figure in the history of terrorism in Indonesia. He masterminded paramilitary drills in Jantho [Aceh],” said Brig. Gen. Tito Karnavian, the head of the Densus 88 antiterrorism unit. Dulmatin, who has gone by a list of aliases, including Asmar Usman, Joko Pitono, Nova and Yahya Ibrohim, is the country’s most wanted terrorist fugitive after Malaysian national Noordin Mohamad Top was killed last September in a police raid. “We thank God that the man we shot at the Multiplus shop-house [on Jalan Siliwangi in Pamulang] is Dulmatin. His ID card says that he is Yahya,” a source said. Dulmatin is a leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist organization and an Al Qaeda-trained bomb-making specialist. Ansyaad Mbai, the head of the antiterrorism desk at the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, said that if the man gunned down was Dulmatin, it will have “significant implications, because the terrorist organization would have lost a very vital figure.” “He wanted to replace Noordin Top. He was being hunted down via massive operations in the southern Philippines where he had been hiding.” The man was one of three people killed in two raids just before and after noon in Pamulang, South Tangerang, on Tuesday. Police confirmed later that they had also arrested three suspected militants in Pamulang, including a woman. National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang said police were forced to kill the man suspected to be Dulmatin. “He had taken a shot at police. His revolver had five bullets in the magazine and seven bullets were found in his pockets,” Edward said. The two others killed, identified only as R and H, were shot on Jalan Setiabudi 12, about a kilo­meter from the Multiplus business service center on Jalan Siliwangi, where the man believed to be Dulmatin was shot dead. “The two were trying to escape on a Suzuki Thunder [motor­cycle],” Edward said, adding that they pointed a gun at police. After the shootings, police raided a house located on Asem, an alleyway not far from Jalan Setiabudi, and emerged with two men wearing only underwear. “We believe that those captured today have terror links with the Aceh group. We, however, did not find any explosives on them or the places we raided today,” Edward said. He added that a woman was later arrested. “We can confirm that those arrested in Jakarta and West Java [over the weekend] were gun suppliers and financiers [of terrorist activities in Aceh], including the ones shot and captured in Pamulang,” Edward said, referring to the militant group in Aceh that police have been hunting in a massive operation since Feb. 22. To date, 22 suspected terrorists have been captured in Aceh, West Java and Jakarta since the operation began. The latest suspect, a fisherman identified as Hendri Marlan Saputra, 28, was arrested in Muara Batu, North Aceh, on Tuesday. Three policemen, two civilians and a suspected militant have been killed in the operation in Aceh so far. When asked whether Tuesday’s arrests had anything to do with Jemaah Islamiyah, Edward said: “What is for sure is that this group has nothing to do with the separatist Free Aceh Movement [GAM] or its former members.” GAM disbanded after a 2005 peace pact ended almost three decades of separatist conflict in Aceh. All three captured in Pamulang were taken into police custody and are being interrogated at the headquarters of the National Police’s elite Mobile Brigade (Brimob) in Kelapa Dua, Depok. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono confirmed Wednesday that suspected terror mastermind Dulmatin had been killed in a police raid in Jakarta. The president, on a three-day visit to Australia, said a raid against militants hiding out in the capital had resulted in the death of the man believed to have been behind the 2002 bombings on the resort island of Bali. "We can confirm that one of those that were killed was Mr Dulmatin, one of the top Southeast Asian terrorists that we have been looking for," Yudhoyono said through an interpreter in Canberra.

Yudhoyono to Discuss Trade, Migration on Australia Visit

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, right,
walking with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd (L)
on his arrival at Canberra airport

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono begins a visit to Australia today to discuss a regional trade pact and cooperation in combating people smuggling and terrorism with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Yudhoyono will address a joint sitting of the Australian Parliament in Canberra tomorrow, the first time an Indonesian head of state has given a speech to the assembly. U.S. President Barack Obama will address parliament when he visits Australia later this month after a trip to Indonesia. “We are dedicated to shaping a new era in Australia- Indonesian relations,” Yudhoyono and Rudd said in an article published in The Age daily newspaper today. “Australia and Indonesia have come a long way in recent years.” Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, lying to the north of Australia, and is the largest recipient of Australian aid, estimated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade at $452.5 million for 2009-10, and is Australia’s 13th-largest trading partner. About 400 Australian companies operate in Indonesia, including in the mining, construction, banking, transport and food and beverage industries. Rudd and Yudhoyono, in their article, described the relationship between Indonesia and Australia as “resilient” as the countries combat the global financial crisis, terrorism and climate change. The Australian government today appointed Yudhoyono as an Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia “for strengthening Australia-Indonesia relations, and promoting democracy and development in Indonesia.” Indonesia aims to complete within months the requirements of a free trade agreement between Australia, New Zealand and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the 10-country group that includes Indonesia. The accord was signed by trade ministers in February 2009 in Hua Hin, Thailand. Rudd and Yudhoyono are expected to discuss combating people smuggling during their talks. Australia has seen an increase in refugees arriving by boat in the past year. Most reach Australian waters via Indonesia. A total of 20 boats have arrived so far this year, including two vessels intercepted at the weekend carrying 113 people. Indonesia has worked closely with Australia to combat the terrorist threat posed by groups linked to al-Qaeda. The threat posed to Australian tourists and business people travelling in Indonesia was highlighted by the hotel bombings in Jakarta in July 2009. The Jemaah Islamiyah group is blamed by Indonesia and Australia for bomb attacks in Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, and in 2005 when three suicide bombers killed themselves and 20 people. A 2004 blast outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta killed at least nine people. The two countries are also working closely to combat illegal fishing in Australia’s northern waters. Incursions are largely made by vessels from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, targeting shark, reef fish, tropical rock lobster or trepang (sea cucumber), the Australian Fisheries Management Authority said on its Web site. Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said the relationship with Indonesia is one of Australia’s most important. “Indonesia, of course, is a near neighbor, but Indonesia is now emerging not just as a regional influence but as a global influence as a member, for example, of the G20,” Smith told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. today. “That underlines the long- term strategic, economic and social importance of Australia working very closely with Indonesia.”

No Delay to Obama's Indonesia Trip but Dates Not Confirmed: Govt

Apresidential spokesman on Monday denied that there would be a delay to US President Barack Obama’s visit to the country, expected later this month, although the exact dates are still not confirmed. “There is no delay regarding Obama’s visit to Indonesia,” Dino Patti Djalal said. Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar announced last month that Obama and his family were expected to be in the country from March 20-22. However Foreign Ministry spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah said on Friday that there were no official dates for the visit yet. There has been speculation that the trip might be delayed as Obama strives to pass his landmark health care bill. But US media reported that the White House had given Congress until March 18 to pass the bill because of Obama’s planned overseas trip. US Embassy spokesman Paul Belmont told the Jakarta Globe on Monday that he could not confirm or deny the speculation. “We have no confirmation of dates or anything on cancellation. Just be patient,” he said. There has also been speculation that security fears could cause a delay, or cancellation, as police are battling a new terrorist group in Aceh and conservative Muslim groups have pledged demonstrations during the visit. But Ansyaad Mbai, the head of the antiterrorism desk at the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, was quoted on Monday as saying that the raids against militants in Aceh would not affect Obama’s visit. Teuku said that while Indonesia waited for official confirmation of the dates from the White House, preparations were ongoing. “We are expecting the official announcement this week,” he said. Obama is now expected to visit Bali, instead of Yogyakarta as originally planned. Bali Police spokesman Gde Sugianyar Dwi Putra said they were ready to deploy 12,000 personnel during the visit and that Obama’s security team has visited the island. Heru Legowo, general manager of PT Angkasa Pura I, which manages the Ngurah Rai airport in Bali, said the airport would be closed temporarily to commercial flights to allow Obama’s Air Force One plane to land. He also claimed to have received notification that three F-16 jet fighters would land in Bali on March 18 to secure the airspace ahead of Air Force One’s arrival.

MUI Group Urges Politeness, Dialogue During Obama's Indonesia Visit

Despite protests from hard-line Islamic groups, the chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulema on Monday said Indonesia should be a good host and show respect to United States President Barack Obama when he visits later this month. “Above all, we need to show him that Muslims in this country are moderate,” said Amidhan, chairman of the council, also known as MUI. “Therefore, we must welcome him.” Over the weekend, some 750 ulema, or religious scholars, from the East Java branch of the conservative Islamic organization Hizbut Tahrir signed an agreement expressing opposition to Obama’s visit, “because he is the head of a country that has been fighting Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and Pakistan.” Hard-line preacher Abu Bakar Bashir, once dubbed the spiritual leader of the regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah, told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday that Obama should not be welcomed in Muslim countries as long as American troops were fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. “America is a great infidel because it fights Islam,” he said. Amidhan said it was normal for some groups to express resistance to Obama’s visit. He added that Obama’s policy on the Middle East would be discussed, since the president kept sending troops to Afghanistan. He said he hoped the government could set up a dialogue between the US president and religious leaders here. Amidhan said that Islamic leaders should be given a chance to talk with Obama upon his visit, and that the economic relationship between the two countries should be discussed, so that Indonesia would not suffer in any deals with the US. “Many cooperative efforts, for example in the mining industry, still favor the US,” he said. “We need to persuade President Obama to change this.” Ma’ruf Amin, MUI deputy chairman, told the Jakarta Globe that he understood the rallies held across the country prior the visit of the president. He acknowledged that some people might distrust Obama’s visit. “But in MUI, we keep thinking positively as long as Obama doesn’t continue Bush’s political policies, and if he executes some changes to standpoints that many Muslim people oppose,” he said. Ma’ruf seconded his colleague’s statement that it was better for Obama to listen to what religious figures in Indonesia wanted out of the bilateral relationship. He said the dialogue would be significant to the two countries’ future relationship. “MUI doesn’t ban the anti-Obama rallies, because it’s the people’s right [to protest]. We just don’t give any response,” he said. Amidhan also added that any trade agreement must be at least equally beneficial for both countries. He called on the government to take a stand and pursue what was profitable for Indonesia instead of simply following what the US suggested. “We have to have a win-win outcome in every agreement,” he said.