Indonesia Blocks Yahoo, Paypal, Gaming Websites Over License Breaches

Saturday, 30 July, 2022

Indonesia has blocked search engine website Yahoo, payments firm Paypal and several gaming websites due to failure to comply with licensing rules, an official said on Saturday, sparking a backlash in social media, Reuters reported.

Registration is required under rules released in late November 2020 and will give authorities broad powers to compel platforms to disclose data of certain users, and take down content deemed unlawful or that "disturbs public order" within four hours if urgent and 24 hours if not.

Several tech companies had rushed to register in days leading to the deadline, which had been extended until Friday, including Alphabet Inc's, Meta Platforms Inc's Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp and Amazon.com Inc.

Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan, a senior official at Indonesia's Communications Ministry, said in a text message websites that have been blocked include Yahoo, Paypal and gaming sites like Steam, Dota2, Counter-Strike and EpicGames, among others.

Paypal, Yahoo's parent private equity firm Apollo Global Management and U.S. game developer Valve Corporation, which runs Steam, Dota and Counter-Strike, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. EpicGames could not be reached for comment.

Hashtags like "BlokirKominfo" (block Communication Ministry), Epic Games and Paypal trended on Indonesian Twitter, with many writing messages criticizing the government's move as hurting Indonesia's online gaming industry and freelance workers who use Paypal.

Pangerapan did not respond to a request for comment.

With an estimated 191 million internet users and a young, social-media savvy population, the Southeast Asian nation is a significant market for a host of tech platforms.

Source: Asharq al-Awsat.

Link: https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3788331/indonesia-blocks-yahoo-paypal-gaming-websites-over-license-breaches.

Indonesian zoo breeds dozens of endangered baby Komodo dragons

Surabaya, Indonesia, June 28 (AFP)

Jun 28, 2022

An Indonesian zoo has welcomed dozens of new baby Komodo dragons hatched in captivity in recent months as part of a breeding program, its director said Tuesday, offering hope for efforts to conserve the endangered species.

The world's largest living lizards are found only in Indonesia's World Heritage-listed Komodo National Park and neighboring Flores, and just 3,458 adult and baby species are left in the wild according to estimates.

The fearsome reptiles, which can grow to three meters (10 feet) in length and weigh up to 90 kilograms (200 pounds), are threatened by human activity and climate change destroying their habitat.

But a breeding program in Indonesia's second-largest city of Surabaya is trying to change that, successfully breeding 29 dragons in incubators between February and March.

"We have habitats that mirror the Komodo's natural habitat, including its humidity and temperature," zoo director Chairul Anwar told AFP.

The newborns were hatched from two female Komodo dragons after their eggs were placed in incubators to prevent them from being eaten by their mothers or other Komodo dragons.

Female Komodos can fertilize an egg without the need for a male dragon.

The zoo started the program in the 1990s as part of the effort to conserve the species in a city located more than 700 kilometers (434 miles) away from the dragon's natural habitat.

After the spate of births this year, Surabaya Zoo now houses 134 Komodo dragons, the largest population group outside of its habitat in the cluster of islands east of Bali, Anwar said.

In a report last year, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature warned the endangered species' habitat was expected to shrink by 30 percent in the next 45 years due to rising sea levels.

Anwar said the dragons will not be released back into the wild on Komodo or Flores until conditions improve.

"Komodo Island is still working to rejuvenate the forests," which feed the dragon's declining natural prey such as deer, he said.

Source: Terra Daily.

Link: https://www.terradaily.com/afp/220628103934.dw76yos7.html.

Indonesia and Mauritania were 'close' to recognizing Israel, say Trump officials

20 January 2021

Two US officials have claimed that the outgoing Trump administration ran out of time before it could secure agreements with Indonesia and Mauritania to normalize relations with Israel.

The officials, who spoke to the Times of Israel, said that US President Donald Trump would have secured the deal if he were to be in office for another month or two.

“Mauritania and Indonesia are high on the list, but it changes based upon various circumstances,” one senior US official told the Times of Israel.

“You can put every country on the list, to the point where Iran will eventually join the Abraham Accords.”

Mauritania was apparently "weeks" away from finalizing a deal, claimed the officials after Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner identified the northwestern African country as a possible candidate to normalize relations with Israel.

One official also alleged that Trump was in "intermediate" talks with Oman to normalize relations with Israel and "less" advanced talks with Saudi Arabia, which would have taken longer.

Last year, Jakarta played down reports of normalization with Israel, after a senior US official told Bloomberg that Indonesia could receive $2bn in development aid from the US.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas it would not sign an agreement to recognize Israel until there was a viable Palestinian state.

Meanwhile, US President-elect Joe Biden during his election campaign said that he supported the Abraham Accords.

Biden's nominee for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has also said that recognition of Israel is something he would support but not prioritize.

Source: Middle East Eye.

Link: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-normalisation-indonesia-mauritania-close.

Indonesian voters decide between moderate and ex-general

April 17, 2019

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Tens of millions of Indonesians voted in presidential and legislative elections Wednesday after a campaign that pitted the moderate incumbent against an ultranationalist former general whose fear-based rhetoric warned that the country would fall apart without his strongman leadership.

Polling booths closed first in easternmost provinces such as Papua followed an hour later by central regions including Bali, and finally western provinces and Jakarta, the capital. Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of 17,000 islands and hundreds of ethnic groups, has three time zones.

Preliminary results based on so-called "quick counts" as votes are publicly tallied at polling stations were expected to start rolling in within two hours of the final poll closings. The quick counts from reputable survey organizations have been reliable in past elections.

About 193 million people were eligible to vote in elections that will decide who leads the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation and third-largest democracy after India and the U.S. Indonesians are voted for Senate and national, provincial and district legislatures.

The elections are a huge logistical exercise, with more than 800,000 polling stations and 17 million people involved in ensuring they run smoothly. Helicopters, boats and horses were used to get ballots to remote and inaccessible corners of the archipelago.

The presidential race is a choice between five more years of the steady progress achieved under Indonesia's first president from outside the Jakarta elite, Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, or electing Prabowo Subianto, who was a special forces general during the era of the Suharto military dictatorship.

Pre-election polls consistently gave a large lead of as much as 20 percentage points to Widodo and his running mate, conservative cleric Ma'ruf Amin, though analysts said the race was likely tighter. "I've voted for Jokowi because five years in office was not enough for him to complete his brilliant programs for infrastructure, health and education," said Eko Cahya Pratama, 43, after voting in Tangerang on the outskirts of Jakarta.

"For me, this country is better to be managed by a man with a clean track record rather than a dirty one in the past," he said. Widodo's campaign highlighted his progress in poverty reduction and improving Indonesia's inadequate infrastructure with new ports, toll roads, airports and mass rapid transit. The latter became a reality last month in chronically congested Jakarta with the opening of a subway.

A strident nationalist, Subianto ran a fear-based campaign, highlighting what he sees as Indonesia's weakness and the risk of exploitation by foreign powers or disintegration. "He deserves to get my vote because I was impressed with his commitment to create a clean government and a great nation," said Anneka Karoine, 43, after she and her husband voted for Subianto and his running mate, tycoon Sandiaga Uno. "I believe they will lead our country better than the current leader."

Subianto voted not long after 8 a.m. in Bogor in West Java province, one of his strongholds of support, and told reporters he was confident of winning despite trailing in the polls. "I promised that we will work for the good of the country," he said. "If it's chaos or not, it's not coming from us. But I guarantee that we don't want to be cheated anymore, that Indonesian people don't want to be cheated anymore."

Widodo, who voted in Jakarta, held up a finger dipped in inedible ink to show reporters and said his next stop was playing with his grandson and eating with his wife, Iriana Widodo. Asked if he was feeling optimistic about the results of Wednesday's vote, Widodo said: "Always. We should stay optimistic at work."

Indonesia and Australia sign pact eliminating many tariffs

March 04, 2019

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia and Australia signed a free trade agreement Monday that will eliminate many tariffs, allow Australian-owned hospitals to be set up in the giant Southeast Asian country and increase work visas for young Indonesians.

Trade ministers from the two countries signed the agreement, negotiations for which first began in 2010, at a Jakarta hotel with Indonesia's Vice President Jusuf Kalla looking on. It is subject to ratification in both countries.

Annual trade between Australia and Indonesia is valued at $11.6 billion. Though they are neighbors, their trade is relatively small with Indonesia's exports to Australia just 1.5 percent of its total exports.

Major details of the agreement were announced by Australia last September after leaders of the two countries said negotiations had been completed. The text of the agreement is expected to be released after the signing.

Australia says 99 percent of its exports to Indonesia will be tariff free or have improved preferential access by 2020, up from 85 percent under an existing trade agreement between Australia, New Zealand and 10 Southeast Asian countries. Indonesia already enjoys substantially tariff-free access to the Australian market under that agreement.

The Australia-Indonesia agreement will allow Australian companies to have majority ownership of investments in various industries in Indonesia including healthcare, telecommunications, energy, mining and aged care.

Separately, Indonesia is considering allowing foreign companies to invest in higher education, which along with hospitals, is an area the country is lagging far behind international standards. Australia's live cattle exports are set to increase under the agreement with tariffs to be eliminated and the number of animal exported to Indonesia allowed to increase 4 percent a year until reaching 700,000.

Australian working holiday visas for young Indonesians will be increased to 6,000 a year from the current 1,000 over six years.

Thousands of Indonesians again protest Trump's Jerusalem move

December 10, 2017

Thousands protested outside the US Embassy in the Indonesian capital on Sunday against US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, many waving banners saying “Palestine is in our hearts”.

Leaders in Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, have joined a global chorus of condemnation of Trump’s announcement, including Western allies who say it is a blow to peace efforts and risks sparking more violence.

Thousands of protesters in Muslim-majority countries in Asia have rallied in recent days to condemn the US move.

Israel maintains that all of Jerusalem is its capital. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state and say Trump’s move has left them completely sidelined.

Palestinian people were among the first to recognize Indonesia’s independence in 1945, Sohibul Iman, president of the opposition Prosperous Justice Party which organised the rally, told protesters.

Indonesia should be more proactive in “urging the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) member states and UN Security Council and the international community to respond immediately with more decisive and concrete political and diplomatic actions in saving the Palestinians from the Israeli occupation and its collaborator, the United States of America,” Iman said.

“Indonesia as the world’s largest Muslim country has the largest responsibility toward the independence of Palestine and the management of Jerusalem,” he told reporters, adding that he hoped Indonesia would take a leading role within the OIC on the matter.

“Trump has disrupted world peace. It’s terrible,” one protester, Yusri, told Reuters.

The decision was “a major disaster for the Palestinian people, while the Palestinian’s own rights have been taken away for a long time,” said Septi, a student at the rally.

Indonesia’s foreign minister left for Jordan on Sunday to meet the Palestinian and Jordanian foreign ministers “to convey Indonesia’s full support for Palestine”.

Most countries consider East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed after capturing it in a 1967 war, to be occupied territory, and say the status of the city should be left to be decided at future Israeli-Palestinian talks.

While the international community has almost unanimously disagreed with Donald Trump’s announcement, reports suggest that the announcement was done with the pre-agreement of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, with the Saudi Arabia going as far as, allegedly, stating to the Palestinian President to accept a village on the outskirts of Jerusalem as the alternative Palestinian capital.

Since the announcement, Saudi Arabia’s royal court has sent notices to the nation’s media outlets to limit the airtime given to protests against Trump’s announcement.

Emboldened by Trump’s announcement, Israeli housing Minister Yoav Galant decided on Friday to promote a plan to build 14,000 new settlement units in the occupied Jerusalem.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171210-thousands-of-indonesians-again-protest-trumps-jerusalem-move/.

Indonesians at mass prayers urged to vote for Muslims

February 11, 2017

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Tens of thousands of Indonesians gathered at the national mosque in the capital on Saturday for mass prayers urging people to vote for a Muslim governor of the city as the country prepares for regional elections next week.

The crowds overflowed from Istiqlal Mosque in the heart of Jakarta into the surrounding streets. Clerics gave sermons calling on people to protect Islam and vote for Muslim candidates. Police denied hard-line groups permission to march through the city. Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono estimated the crowd at 60,000 to 70,000 people in the morning.

Protests against the minority Christian governor of Jakarta drew hundreds of thousands of people to the city's streets in November and December and shook the government of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

Gov. Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama is on trial for alleged blasphemy but remains a leading candidate in elections for Jakarta governor set for Wednesday. His two main rivals are both Muslims and include the son of former President Susilo Bambang Yudhyono.

If none of the contenders gets more than 50 percent of votes, a runoff election between the top-polling candidates would be held in April. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation but recognizes several faiths and has a large Christian minority.

Ahok is popular for trying to eliminate corruption from the city administration and improve quality of life in the chaotic capital, which is the center of a greater metropolitan area of some 30 million people.

But the anti-corruption drive as well as evictions of slum neighborhoods have earned him enemies. Rivals have sought to tap into rising religiosity to swing Muslim voters against him.

Indonesia blasphemy protest swells to crowd of 200,000

December 02, 2016

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — At least 200,000 conservative Muslims rallied in the Indonesian capital on Friday in the second major protest in a month against its minority Christian governor who is being prosecuted for alleged blasphemy.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, who is a political ally of the Jakarta governor, Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, and angered hard-liners by being out of the city during the first protest, unexpectedly went to the national monument to join Friday prayers with the sprawling crowd. He called for protesters to disperse peacefully. They cheered and then broke into chants calling for Ahok's arrest, but later people were streaming peacefully out of the area into a main thoroughfare of the city.

Organizers had agreed to concentrate the protest around the vaulting monument to reduce disruptions but the area quickly overflowed. National Police spokesman Rikwanto, who goes by one name, said police estimated 200,000 people were on the streets. Police say 22,000 officers and 5,000 soldiers can be called on to ensure the demonstration stays orderly.

A protest Nov. 4 against Ahok, the first ethnic Chinese to be Jakarta governor and the first Christian in half a century, attracted about 100,000 people. After nightfall, it turned violent, with one death and dozens injured. Police want Friday's protest to disperse in the early afternoon following prayers.

The crowds massed in the area of the national monument formed a sea of white that spilled into surrounding streets while gridlocked motorists sat on the sidewalks. Some held huge banners calling Ahok a blasphemer who should be jailed while others chanted and prayed. The blasphemy controversy erupted in September when a video circulated online in which Ahok criticized detractors who argued the Quran prohibits Muslims from having a non-Muslim leader.

It has challenged the image of Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, as practicing a moderate form of Islam and has shaken the government of Jokowi, who accused unnamed political actors of trying to undermine him. The son of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is vying against Ahok for Jakarta governor in elections set for February.

Separately, police said they had arrested eight people suspected of treason including Rahmawati, who is a younger sister of former President Megawati Sukarnoiputri, and a well-known musician turned politician Ahmad Dani. Two other people were arrested for alleged crimes under Indonesia's law on electronic information and transactions.

Lisnawati Djohar, a resident of West Sumatra's Padang city, said she flew to Jakarta with a dozen friends for the protest. "I've been called to defend Islam," she said. "As a Muslim, I feel guilty if I refuse a demand to defend my religion. I believe Ahok insulted the holy Quran and it's hurt us."

Rizieq Syihab, leader of the Islamic Defenders Front, a vigilante group that helped organize the demonstrations, gave a fiery speech to the protest in which he asserted Indonesia would be peaceful if there was no blasphemy and other problems such as gays.

Roads leading into the city were clogged in the early morning as white-robed protesters walked to the city center from corners of the sprawling metropolis. Speaking on the main stage at the national monument, National Police Chief Gen. Tito Karnavian called for the protesters to support the legal process in the blasphemy case.

"We have worked to finalize the dossier and have handed over to the prosecutors. Therefore, I request support from all of you so that the legal process goes well," he said as the crowd cheered "God is Great."

The accusation of blasphemy has animated the political opponents of Ahok and Jokowi, including hard-liners who have used the issue to seize a national stage for their extreme agenda, which includes Shariah law.

Ahok's blasphemy case took a step forward Thursday when it was formally accepted for trial. The offense is punishable by up to five years in prison. Police say Ahok can't leave the country during the case. However, hard-line Muslim groups continue to demand he be arrested.

Indonesia protests awaken fears for minority Chinese

November 30, 2016

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The capital of Muslim-majority Indonesia is on edge ahead of what is expected to be a second massive protest by conservative Muslims against its Christian governor and no group more so than its Chinese minority.

They have reason to be concerned. The movement against the governor, who is being prosecuted for allegedly insulting the Quran, has overflowed with racial slurs against his Chinese ancestry, an unnerving sign in a country with a history of lashing out violently against the ethnic minority that makes up 1 percent of its 250 million people.

The first major protest against Gov. Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama on Nov. 4 drew more than 100,000 people to Jakarta's streets. Some held up banners calling for Ahok to be killed or decrying Chinese influence. It ended in violence, with one death and dozens injured after hard-liners attacked police. A separate mob tried to invade the apartment complex where Ahok lives in the north of the city and vandalized property in the area, which is home to many Chinese.

Hard-line organizers of the protest, who were unsatisfied by a police decision earlier this month to formally name Ahok as a suspect in the blasphemy case instead of arresting him, are promising another giant rally on Friday. After police pressure, they have agreed to concentrate the rally around a national monument in central Jakarta and insist it will be peaceful.

The furor over Ahok, sparked by his criticism of detractors who argued the Quran prohibits Muslims from having a non-Muslim leader, has highlighted religious and racial fault lines in Indonesia, the world's most populous nation, and the growing challenge from proponents of Shariah law to its secular system of government.

For Chinese Indonesians, the controversy has awakened painful memories of the mass protests that ousted late dictator Suharto during the 1998 Asian financial crisis. Boiling resentment against immigrant Chinese tycoons who profited from ties to Suharto and his famously corrupt family spilled over into mob attacks on Chinese property and people, killing many. Nearly two decades later, Jakarta's Chinatown is still scarred by the burned out shells of buildings torched in the chaos.

"Certainly as Chinese descendants, we are still traumatized by the riots in 1998," said Clement Alexander, a grocery store owner in a narrow lane of the bustling Petak Sembilan market in Chinatown. "We heard that horrible event may happen again if the government fails to control the protests. It's scared us, but we cannot do anything except pray," he said.

"For rich ethnic Chinese, they could flee to Singapore or to other countries, but for lower-class people like me it is rather difficult, we just survive and depend on the government for protection." When Ahok in 2012 became the first Chinese to be elected deputy governor of Jakarta, and the first Christian in half a century, it was seen as a sign of the pluralistic tolerance fostered by the moderate form of Islam practiced in Indonesia.

But his rise to governor in 2014 to replace political ally Joko "Jokowi" Widodo after his election as president was unpalatable to hard-liners. With the support of moderates that hope to gain from Ahok's fall, they have elevated their agenda to the national stage, and revealed that intolerant interpretations of Islam adapted from the Middle East have made greater inroads than believed.

Ahok is running for a second term as governor in elections due in February but since the blasphemy accusations erupted in September, his sky-high popularity in opinion polls has melted away. A pro-tolerance rally in Jakarta on Nov. 19 attracted less than 10,000 people. A military-organized event in the city on Wednesday meant to showcase respect for all of Indonesia's six officially recognized religions was mainly populated by soldiers, schoolchildren and police, who had no choice about attending.

For the Nov. 4 protest, the normally clogged streets of Jakarta were nearly emptied of cars, embassies closed, countries such as Australia issued advisories against travel to the city and many businesses shuttered for the day, particularly in Chinatown.

"We are afraid the riots in 1998 would be repeated. But I don't want to talk about that horrible event," said Jhony Tan, owner of a store selling Buddhist worship paraphernalia. "I hope the government can handle this issue, so there's no negative impact to any other community, especially to ethnic Chinese here. If they fail, Indonesia will be ruined," he said. "I'm sure the majority of Indonesian people are willing to see that this problem has nothing to do with us."

Christianto Wibisono, an ethnic Chinese businessman and former government adviser whose home was burned in the 1998 riots, said that despite communal tensions, he is hopeful the government will maintain calm during Friday's protest and beyond.

The government's approach needs to sap the momentum of a vocal and highly motivated minority but faces challenges: the moderate, silent majority is intimidated by the hard-liners' tactics and months of campaigning for the Jakarta gubernatorial election as well as Ahok's blasphemy trial will keep divisive issues in the spotlight.

"Now is really the crucial test for Indonesia to maintain the country's secular philosophy rather than be run over by Shariah groups. That would affect the whole world, if Indonesia became like the Middle East," he said. "We should not import Middle East extremism. We should export our moderate Islamic philosophy and pluralism."

Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini contributed to this report.

Jakarta rally calls for tolerance after blasphemy probe

November 20, 2016

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — More than 10,000 Indonesians took to the streets of their capital to call for tolerance and unity in the world's most populous Muslim nation, after police opened a blasphemy investigation into the city's Christian governor.

Earlier this month, Jakarta was rocked by a massive protest by conservative Muslims against the popular Gov. Asuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, with one person killed and dozens injured in rioting. Hard-liners have threatened more protests if Ahok isn't arrested.

Police last week named Ahok as a suspect in the blasphemy investigation. The rally Saturday attracted more than 10,000 people, including religious leaders, legislators and members of human rights groups, who marched at the National Monument and along nearby main streets.

"We are gathering here not to protest but to show that we are not easily divided by religious or political issues," said Budiman Sujatmiko, a legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the country's largest political group.

The crowd, many waving the red-and-white national flag, cheered and chanted "United Indonesia cannot not be defeated." The Islamic Defenders Front, a vigilante group that wants to impose Shariah law in secular Indonesia, began demanding Ahok's arrest after a video circulated online in which he joked to an audience about a passage in the Quran that could be interpreted as prohibiting Muslims from accepting non-Muslims as leaders. The governor has apologized for the comment.

Blasphemy is a criminal offense in Indonesia. Amnesty International documented 106 convictions between 2004 and 2014, with some individuals imprisoned for up to five years. Ahok is the second Christian governor of Jakarta since Indonesia declared independence in 1945, and the first ethnic Chinese to run the sprawling, chaotic city. He is popular with the city's middle class, but has made enemies from a tough stance against corruption and an urban program that has evicted thousands of the city's poorest from slums.

Indonesia president cancels trip abroad after deadly protest

November 05, 2016

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Saturday canceled a visit to Australia after a massive rally in the capital by Muslim hard-liners descended into violence, leaving one dead and nearly 200 injured.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry said that Jokowi's trip scheduled from Sunday to Tuesday will be rescheduled because "current development has required the president to stay in Indonesia." Jokowi addressed the nation late Friday after clashes broke out between police and hard-liners who refused to disperse and demanded the arrest of Jakarta's minority-Christian governor for alleged blasphemy.

National police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar told a news conference Saturday that one elderly man died from asthma attack after being exposed to tear gas, and more than 90 police and soldiers were injured, eight of them seriously. He said that about 160 protesters were hurt from tear gas effects, including four who were hospitalized.

Jokowi blamed "political actors" for taking advantage of the rally. He didn't elaborate, but his predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had backed plans for the protest, drew tens of thousands of people.

The accusation of blasphemy against Jakarta Gov. Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, an ethnic Chinese and minority Christian who is an ally of Jokowi, has galvanized Jokowi's political opponents in the Muslim-majority nation of 250 million, and given a notorious group of hard-liners a national stage.

The Islamic Defenders Front, a vigilante group that wants to impose Shariah law, is demanding Ahok's arrest after a video circulated online in which he joked to an audience about a passage in the Quran that could be interpreted as prohibiting Muslims from accepting non-Muslims as leaders. The governor has apologized for the comment and met with police.

Amar said the situation became uncontrollable when protesters broke through police barricades and security barriers in an attempt to enter the presidential palace before they were stopped by police firing tear gas. Three police and military trucks were burnt down and 18 vehicles damaged in the violence.

He said police are still investigating who was behind the violence and whether any political elements were involved with the aim of creating unrest. Ten people were arrested for allegedly provoking riots near the presidential palace and 15 others for vandalism in northern Jakarta.

Jakarta police spokesman Awi Setiyono said rioting in north Jakarta involved the looting of a convenience store and damage to police vehicles.

Australia, Indonesia mull joint South China Sea patrols

Sydney
Oct 31, 2016

Australia is considering joint patrols with Indonesia in the disputed South China Sea, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Tuesday, in a move set to irk Beijing.

The possibility was raised by Jakarta during meetings between Bishop and Defense Minister Marise Payne and Indonesian officials including Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu last week.

"We have agreed to explore options to increase maritime cooperation and of course that would include coordinated activities in the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea," Bishop told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"This is all consistent with our policy of exercising our right of freedom of navigation and that's in accordance with international law."

Ryacudu was cited by the Sydney Morning Herald as saying he had proposed a "peace patrol" with Australia.

"There are no intentions to disrupt the relationship (with China). It is called a peace patrol, it brings peace. It is about protecting fish in each other's areas," he said.

Beijing asserts sovereignty over almost all of the resource-rich South China Sea, despite rival claims from its Southeast Asian neighbors -- most notably the Philippines, which took the case to the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration.

The court ruled in July that there was no legal basis to China's claims -- a verdict Beijing dismissed vehemently.

Australia, like staunch ally the United States, has no claims of its own in the area, but insists that all shipping has a right to pass through seas it regards as international waters.

Last month the US sailed a warship near disputed territory in the South China Sea, with Beijing slamming the move as a "serious illegal act" and "deliberately provocative".

Discussion on potential joint patrols comes amid uncertainty in the region with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte unsettling Manila's traditional allies by signalling a shift away from Washington towards Beijing.

Unlike some Southeast Asian neighbors, Jakarta has long maintained it has no maritime disputes with China in the South China Sea and does not contest ownership of reefs or islets there.

But Beijing's expansive claims overlap Indonesia's exclusive economic zone -- waters where a state has the right to exploit resources -- around the Natunas, a remote scattering of islands that are rich fishing grounds.

In June, Indonesian President Joko Widodo toured the islands on a warship, in a move seen as sending a strong message to China to respect Indonesian sovereignty.

Bishop said the Australian navy had already conducted joint exercises in the South China Sea with India and the US as "a regular part of what our navy does and it's also part of our engagement in the region".

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Australia_Indonesia_mull_joint_South_China_Sea_patrols_999.html.

Indonesia, Malaysian MPs support democracy in Turkey

16 July 2016 Saturday

Indonesian and Malaysian lawmakers have voiced support for democracy in Turkey after an attempted military coup.

Indonesia’s foreign ministry expressed concern Saturday over the situation in Turkey, as well as hope that the principles of democracy would be upheld.

"Indonesia emphasizes the importance of respect for the constitution and the principle of democratization," it said in a statement quoted by detik.com.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said “we are monitoring the situation in Turkey closely” in a post on his Twitter account.

Leaders of Malaysia’s opposition pact expressed “shock” at the attempted coup late Friday.

“This military attempt to force regime change in Turkey is a blatant disregard for the democratic process and totally undermines the will of the Turkish people,” the Hope Pact said in a statement, underlining its solidarity with Turkey’s president and people.

“We pray for the safety of the Turkish people who are now amassing on the streets as a show of support for democracy,” it underlined. “We also call for a swift end to this attempted military coup, and a calm and restrained response by all sides.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier announced that a group within the Turkish military attempted an overthrow of the government.

Tanks drove around the streets of Istanbul late Friday, while warplanes and helicopters flew overhead in the capital Ankara, where bombs exploded at Parliament.

Some pro-coup soldiers attempted to take over state TV channel TRT, block CNN TURK broadcast and cut off TV networks at the ground station of satellite communications agency Turksat in Ankara’s Golbasi district.

Citizens responded to the action by the group, identified by Erdogan as the FETO/PDY terrorist organization, by taking to the streets across Turkey to protest.

The incidents have left at least 90 people dead and more than 1,000 others injured.

Erdogan declared the coup attempt over Saturday from Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, where he vowed to remain until the situation in the country returns to normal.

He also slammed United States-based preacher Fetullah Gulen, who is accused of leading a terrorist organization and attempting to infiltrate and overthrow the democratically-elected government in Turkey.

“It is enough the betrayal you have done to this nation,” Erdogan said, without mentioning Gulen’s name, and called on him to return to his country, where he would face trial.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/todays-news/175029/indonesia-malaysian-mps-support-democracy-in-turkey.

Indonesia gets State Dept. approval for missile purchase

Washington (UPI)
Mar 11, 2016

An Indonesian request to purchase AIM-120C-7 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles from the United States has been approved by the State Department.

The proposed deal under the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program is worth about $90 million, said the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which manages the FMS program.

"The proposed sale improves Indonesia's capability to deter regional threats and strengthen its homeland defense," DSCA said in its required notification to Congress. "Indonesia is able to absorb this additional equipment and support into its armed forces."

The proposed sales package is for 36 AIM-120C-7 AMRAAMs and one Missile Guidance Section. Also included are control section support equipment, spare parts, services, logistics, technical contractor engineering and technical support, and loading adaptors.

The prime contractor for the proposed sale will be determined by competition, DSCA said, and its implementation will not require the assignment of any U.S. government or contractor representatives to Indonesia.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Indonesia_gets_State_Dept_approval_for_missile_purchase_999.html.

Most suspects freed in Indonesia raid as tough law pending

February 21, 2016

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian police on Sunday released most of the men detained while attending military-style training at a suspect jihadi camp, as officials lamented weaknesses in the current anti-terrorism legislation that is due to be significantly strengthened following last month's deadly attacks in Jakarta.

The elite anti-terrorism squad early Saturday detained 38 men at a suspected militant camp on the remote slopes of Mount Sumbing in Central Java province, said provincial police spokesman Col. Liliek Darmanto. Police seized air rifles, knives, and jihadi books and flags in the raid.

However, they were released early Sunday after 24-hour questioning as police were unable to prove a string of terrorism-related allegations, he said. "This is the weakness of our laws," said Saud Usman Nasution, head of the anti-terrorism agency. "We cannot arrest before they have committed a crime even though we can detect a radical network."

His agency has been pushing the government to strengthen the anti-terrorism law. It gained momentum following the Jan. 14 suicide and gun attacks in Jakarta, which left eight people dead, including four of the attackers.

In response to the attacks, Indonesia's government submitted a new anti-terrorism law to parliament this past week. The draft bill, obtained by The Associated Press, says an individual suspected of plotting to carry out an act of terrorism could be detained for up to six months without charges. If approved, it would be the first time for such a tough measure to be enacted since the downfall of dictator Suharto in 1998.

Luhut Pandjaitan, a Cabinet minister in charge of security and political affairs, said he expected lawmakers to pass the revisions within the next two months. The bill would also become an offense for Indonesians to join a militant group overseas such as the Islamic State group, or recruit others, with a maximum imprisonment of seven years. It would also authorize the anti-terrorism squad to execute raids and arrest suspects for interrogation based solely on intelligence reports.

In addition to the Central Java raid, five other suspected militants were captured late Friday in Malang, a hilly city in East Java province, said local police chief Lt. Col. Yudho Nugroho. He said police were tipped about their whereabouts after interrogating alleged militants who were arrested on suspicion of links to the Jakarta attack. National police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti told lawmakers last week that police had arrested a total of 33 people in connection with the attack.

Among those arrested Friday was Nazarudin Mukhtar — also known as Abu Ghar. He is believed to have planned the Jakarta attack with Muhammad Ali and Afif Sunakin, who was fatally shot by by police when the two were trying to detonate a bomb in front of a Starbucks cafe, said Lt. Col. Arif Makhfudiharto, head of the anti-terrorism squad unit in West Java province.

Mukhtar, who had recently completed a prison sentence for his role in a deadly 2004 attack on a police station in Maluku province, "returned to his old ways," Arif said. He alleged Mukhtar joined a new militant cell after visiting Abu Bakar Bashir and Aman Abdurrahman, the country's most radical clerics who are now serving sentences on the Nusa Kambangan prison island.

Arif said that Mukhtar had pledged allegiance to Islamic State leaders.

Witness says 3 suicide bombers explode in Jakarta Starbucks

January 14, 2016

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — At least three suicide bombers exploded themselves in a Starbucks cafe in downtown Jakarta on Thursday while two gunmen attacked a police post nearby, a witness told The Associated Press.

TVOne, a local television network, reported three other explosions in other parts of the city. At least one policeman was killed in addition to the bombers. An Associated Press photographer saw three bodies behind police lines, lying on a sidewalk. Their identities were unclear.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks but suspicion is likely to fall on Islamic militant groups, which have carried out several attacks in the past across Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.

It would be the first major attack in the capital Jakarta since the bombings of two hotels in 2009. "This act is clearly aimed at disturbing public order and spreading terror among people," President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, said in statement on television. Jokowi who is on a working visit in West Java town of Cirebon, said he is returning to Jakarta immediately.

"The state, the nation and the people should not be afraid of, and lose to, such terror acts," he said. The first explosion apparently triggered a gun-battle between the attackers and anti-terror police squads, and gunfire could be heard more than 1 ½ hours later.

Tri Seranto, a bank security guard, told The Associated Press he saw at least five attackers, including three suicide bombers who exploded themselves in the Starbucks. He said he was out on the street when he saw the three men entering Starbucks and saw them blowing themselves up one by one. He said the other two attackers, carrying handguns, entered a police post from where he heard gunfire. He said he later saw one policeman dead and three seriously wounded.

He said he was not injured in the explosions as he was a little distance away, but close enough to witness the attack at 10.30 a.m. (0230 GMT). He said the two gunmen ran away with police chasing them.

About two hours later, another explosion was heard from a cafe near the Starbucks, about five minutes after 25 anti-terror policemen entered it. It was not clear if the explosion was a controlled detonation or a bomb.

Gunshots were heard after the midmorning explosion in front of the Sarinah shopping mall and a police station. The area also has many luxury hotels, and offices and embassies, including the French. The other set of explosions were in neighborhoods where the embassies of Turkey and Pakistan are located.

Tweets from the account of Jeremy Douglas, regional representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, described a bomb and "serious" exchanges of gunfire on the street outside his Jakarta office. "Didn't experience this in 3.5 years in #Pakistan," he wrote.

"A massive #bomb went off in front of our new #Indonesia office as @collie_brown & I exit car. Chaos & we're going into lock-down," he wrote. And three minutes later: "Apparent #suicidebomber literally 100m from the office and my hotel. Now gunfire."

About 30 minutes after his first post about the bombing, he posted that things were "quiet. Not comfortable quiet." Indonesia has been a victim of several bombing attacks in the past, claimed by Islamic militant groups.

Last month, anti-terror police arrested nine men and said the group had wanted to "perform a 'concert' to attract international news coverage of their existence here." Police cited a document seized from the group that described the planned attacks as a "concert."

The country has been on high alert after authorities said they had foiled a plot by Islamic militants to attack government officials, foreigners and others. About 150,000 police officers and soldiers were deployed during New Year's Eve to guard churches, airports and other public places.

More than 9,000 police were also deployed in Bali, the site of Indonesia's deadliest terror attack, which killed 202 people in 2002. National Police spokesman Maj. Gen. Anton Charliyan said security is focused on anticipating attacks in vulnerable regions, including Jakarta.

On Tuesday, the jailed radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir appealed to an Indonesia court to have his conviction for funding a terror training camp overturned, arguing that his support for the camp was an act of worship.

The 77-year-old leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah militant network filed a judicial review of his 2011 conviction, when he was sentenced to 15 years in jail for setting up the camp in Aceh province. A higher court later cut the sentence to nine years.

Indonesia has suffered a spate of deadly attacks by the Jemaah Islamiyah network in the past. But strikes in recent years have been smaller and less deadly, and have targeted government authorities, mainly police and anti-terrorism forces.

New Indonesian hospital opened to serve North Gaza residents

Monday, 28 December 2015

The Palestinian health ministry opened on Sunday an Indonesian funded hospital to serve residents of north Gaza.

The old hospital that served the area, Kamal Adwan hospital, has been closed down for renovations and maintenance.

The new hospital, built by the Republic of Indonesia, contains 110 beds, including 10 for intensive care cases.

“The Indonesian hospital is an important healthcare addition, with high-quality medical facilities to serve the residents of north Gaza,” the ministry’s spokesman Dr Ashraf Al-Qudra told Quds Press

He added that the hospital provides special medical care service in the fields of internal medicine, surgery and orthopaedics.

Al Qudra also pointed out that the new hospital has CT scan, the most advanced in Gaza yet, and four highly equipped operating theatres, in addition to an intensive care unit, qualified medical doctors and nurses.

He expressed optimism about the hospital’s ability to lead to a significant shift in medical services provided in Gaza.

The ministry will renovate the Kamal Adwan Hospital to improve the quality of its services. While it is being renovated, medical services for children will be temporarily offered in other hospitals in Gaza – namely al-Nasr, al-Durra, Bait Hanoun and Balsam hospitals.

The ministry spokesman called on all citizens who receive health care at the Kamal Adwan hospital to continue doing so at the new Indonesian hospital.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/23073-new-indonesian-hospital-opened-to-serve-north-gaza-residents.

1,600 Rohingyas, others land in Indonesia and Malaysia

May 11, 2015

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — About 1,600 Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees have landed illegally in Malaysia and Indonesia in the last two days, apparently after human traffickers abandoned their virtual prison ships and left them to fend for themselves, officials said Monday.

One group of about 600 people arrived in the Indonesian coastal province of Aceh on four boats on Sunday, and at about the same time a total of 1,018 landed in three boats on the northern resort island of Langkawi.

The Rohingyas, who are Muslim, have for decades suffered from state-sanctioned discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, which considers them illegal settlers from Bangladesh. Attacks on the Rohingyas by Buddhist mobs in the last three years have sparked an exodus to nearby countries.

Langkawi island deputy police chief Jamil Ahmed told The Associated Press that the group picked up Sunday comprised 865 men, 52 children and 101 women. Police found a big wooden boat trapped in the sand in shallow waters at a beach in Langkawi, capable of holding 350 people, he said. This meant there were at least two other boats but they have not been located yet, he said.

Jamil said a Bangladeshi man told police that the boat handlers gave them directions on where to go once they reached the Malaysian shores, and escaped in other boats. The migrant said they have not eaten for three days, Jamil said, adding that most of them were weak and thin.

"We believe there may be more boats coming," Jamil said.  When the four ships neared Indonesia's shores early Sunday, some passengers jumped into the water and swam, said Steve Hamilton, of the International Organization for Migration in Jakarta, Indonesia's capital.

They have been taken to a sports stadium in Lhoksukon, the capital of North Aceh District, to be cared for and questioned, said Lt. Col. Achmadi, chief of police in the area, who uses only one name. Sick and weak after more than two months at sea, some were getting medical attention.

"We had nothing to eat," said Rashid Ahmed, a 43-year-old Rohingya man who was on one of the boats. He said he left Myanmar's troubled state of Rakhine with his eldest son three months ago. An estimated 7,000 to 8,000 people are now being held in large and small ships in the Malacca Strait and nearby international waters, said Chris Lewa, director of the Arakan Project, which has monitored the movements of Rohingya for more than a decade. She added that crackdowns on trafficking syndicates in Thailand and Malaysia have prevented brokers from bringing them to shore.

Some are held even after family members pay for them to be released from the boats. "I am very concerned about smugglers abandoning boatloads at sea," Lewa said, noting that some people have been stranded for more than two months.

Tightly confined, and with limited access to food and clean water, their health is deteriorating, Lewa said, adding that dozens of deaths have been reported. Thailand has long been considered a regional hub for human traffickers.

The tactics of brokers and agents started changing in November as authorities began to tighten security on land — a move apparently aimed at appeasing the U.S. government as it prepares to release its annual Trafficking in Persons report next month. Last year, Thailand was downgraded to the lowest level, putting it on par with North Korea and Syria.

Rohingya packing into ships in the Bay of Bengal have been joined in growing numbers by Bangladeshis fleeing poverty and hoping to find a better life elsewhere. Up until recently, their first stop was Thailand, where they were held in open pens in jungle camps as brokers collected "ransoms" of $2,000 or more from family and friends. Those who could pay continued onward, usually to Malaysia or other countries. Those who couldn't were sometimes beaten, killed or left to die.

Since May 1, police have unearthed two dozen bodies from shallow graves in the mountains of southern Thailand, the apparent victims, they say, of smuggling rings. Thai authorities have since arrested dozens of people, including a powerful mayor and a man named, Soe Naing, otherwise known as Anwar, who was accused of being one of the trafficking kingpins in southern Thailand. More than 50 police officers are also under investigation.

__ Associated Press writers Robin McDowell in Yangon, Myanmar, and Margie Mason and Ali Kotarumalos in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

More than 800 land in Indonesia, Thailand in growing crisis

May 15, 2015

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — More than 800 migrants have landed on the shores of Indonesia and Thailand after being adrift at sea for weeks, authorities said Friday. They are among the few who have successfully sneaked past a wall of resistance mounted by Southeast Asian countries who have made it clear the boat people are not welcome.

Several thousand refugees from Bangladesh and Myanmar — fleeing either poverty or persecution — are believed to be adrift on boats in the Andaman Sea in what has become a spiraling humanitarian crisis. In recent days, about 2,000 landed in Malaysia and Indonesia, but both countries then said they could not accept any more.

Fishermen, however, towed two boats to Indonesia's eastern Aceh province early Friday — one with nearly 700 people and another carrying 47, police said. The larger boat was on the verge of sinking when fishermen brought it to the fishing village of Langsa, according to Lt. Col Sunarya, who like many Indonesians uses only one name. He said everyone aboard was weak from hunger and dehydrated.

"Some of the people told police they were abandoned at sea for days and Malaysian authorities had already turned their boat away," Sunarya said. About 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of Langsa, fishermen rescued the smaller boat carrying 47 Rohingya migrants, also dehydrated and hungry, said Aceh Tamiang police chief Dicky Sandoni. They were brought to a beach at Kuala Seruway village in Aceh's Tamiang district.

Separately, the Thai navy found 106 people, mostly men but including 15 women and two children, on a small island off the coast of Phang Nga province, an area known for its world-class scuba diving. "It's not clear how they ended up on the island," said Prayoon Rattanasenee, the Phang Nga provincial governor. The group said they were Rohingya migrants from Myanmar. "We are in the process of identifying if they were victims of human trafficking."

The plight of Myanmar's 1.3 million Rohingya has worsened recently and in the last three years more than 120,000 members of the Muslim minority, who are intensely persecuted in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, have boarded ships to flee to other countries, paying huge sums to human traffickers.

But faced with a regional crackdown on human trafficking, some captains and smugglers have abandoned their ships, leaving an estimated 6,000 refugees to fend for themselves, according to aid workers and human rights groups.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was "alarmed by reports that some countries may be refusing entry to boats carrying refugees and migrants," according to a statement from his office Thursday. It said Ban urged governments in the region to "facilitate timely disembarkation and keep their borders and ports open in order to help the vulnerable people who are in need."

But the message from leaders of Southeast Asia on Thursday indicated that was not in the cards. "What do you expect us to do?" asked Malaysian Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi Jafaar. "We have been very nice to the people who broke into our border. We have treated them humanely, but they cannot be flooding our shores like this."

"We have to send the right message," he said, "that they are not welcome here." Thai Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha said his country couldn't afford to host the refugees. "If we take them all in, then anyone who wants to come will come freely," he said. "Where will the budget come from?"

He had no suggestions as to where they should go, saying: "No one wants them." Denied citizenship by national law, Myanmar's Rohingya are effectively stateless. They have limited access to education or adequate health care and cannot move around freely. They have been attacked by the military and chased from their homes and land by extremist Buddhist mobs in a country that regards them as illegal settlers.

Australia wary of escalating rift after Indonesia executions

April 29, 2015

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia said it would withdraw its ambassador to Indonesia after two Australians were among eight drug traffickers executed by the Southeast Asian country on Wednesday, but was wary of escalating hostilities with its near neighbor despite a public outcry.

The executions by firing squad of the eight men — two Australians, four Nigerians, a Brazilian and an Indonesian — attracted wide international condemnation and intense Australian media coverage. The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said given that Indonesia has asked for clemency for its own nationals facing execution in other countries, "it is incomprehensible why it absolutely refuses to grant clemency for lesser crimes on its own territory."

But there was unexpected joy in the Philippines, where the government won an 11th-hour stay of execution for a Philippine woman also on death row on a drug conviction. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott — whose country has a pivotal but occasionally brittle relationship with Indonesia — reacted swiftly, announcing that Ambassador Paul Grigson would be recalled this week even before the executions of Myuran Sukumaran, 33, and Andrew Chan, 31, were officially confirmed.

Australia, which has abolished capital punishment, had never before made such a move in retaliation for a citizen's execution. "We respect Indonesia's sovereignty, but we do deplore what's been done and this cannot be simply business as usual," Abbott told reporters.

Outraged Australians, meanwhile, called for a cut in foreign aid to Indonesia, less cooperation between the countries' police forces and a tourist boycott of the Indonesian resort island of Bali. Australia is angry that Sukumaran and Chan were executed despite having ongoing court appeals, and that Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo ignored evidence of their rehabilitation during their 10 years in prison before rejecting their clemency applications.

Australia and Indonesia's testy relationship improved a year ago when Indonesian Ambassador Nadjib Riphat Kesoema returned to Canberra six months after he was recalled over accusations that Australians tapped the cellphones of the former Indonesian president, his wife and eight ministers and officials in 2009.

Abbott said Wednesday that Indonesia, a developing country with a population more than 10 times larger than Australia's 24 million people, "will become more important as time goes on" to Australia. "I would say to people: Yes, you are absolutely entitled to be angry, but we've got to be very careful to ensure that we do not allow our anger to make a bad situation worse," Abbott said.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, however, did not rule out reducing Australia's foreign aid to Indonesia. Australia gives about 600 million Australian dollars ($480 million) a year to Indonesia and is the country's biggest donor after Japan.

In January, six convicted drug smugglers, including five from Brazil, the Netherlands, Vietnam, Nigeria and Malawi, were executed at the same island prison, prompting the Netherlands and Brazil to recall their ambassadors.

Greg Fealy, an Australian National University expert on Indonesian politics, said the Netherlands and Brazil had demonstrated that countries could recall their ambassadors without triggering Indonesian retaliation.

But he said tying aid to the executions would be provocative. "There is a perception among Indonesians that Australia needs Indonesia more than Indonesia needs Australia," he said. Indonesian Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo dismissed concerns that Indonesia had done lasting damage to international relationships with the executions this year.

"It's just a momentary reaction," Prasetyo told reporters Wednesday. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said in a statement that the execution of a second Brazilian citizen in Indonesia this year "marks a serious event in the relations between the two countries."

Michael Chan, brother of Andrew Chan, who became a Christian pastor during his decade in prison and married an Indonesian woman on Monday, reacted with anger to the executions. "I have just lost a courageous brother to a flawed Indonesian legal system," he tweeted.

In Manila, the stay of Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso's execution sparked celebrations in a nation that has agonized in the past over executions and tragedies that befell poor Filipino workers abroad. About a tenth of the Philippines' 100 million people have been forced to leave their homeland in search of jobs and better opportunities.

Outside the Indonesian Embassy in the Philippine capital, about 250 people holding a candlelight vigil broke into applause in the wee hours after learning that Veloso, a 30-year-old mother of two, had escaped death.

Veloso, 30, was arrested in 2010 at the airport in the central Indonesian city of Yogyakarta, where officials discovered about 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds) of heroin hidden in her luggage. Prasetyo, the attorney general, said Veloso was granted a stay of execution because her alleged boss has been arrested in the Philippines, and the authorities there requested Indonesian assistance in pursuing the case.

Sukumaran and Chan were arrested in 2005 for attempting to smuggle more than 8 kilograms (18 pounds) of heroin to Australia as part of a group dubbed the Bali Nine.

Associated Press writers Niniek Karmini and Ali Kotarumalos in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jim Gomez, Teresa Cerojano, and Oliver Teves in Manila, Philippines, and Adriana Gomez-Licon in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, contributed to this report.