Take care when reading Megawati's lips Kornelius Purba Staff Writer The Jakarta Post Jakarta korpur@yahoo.com 2. Iraq -- U.S. and UN in Iraq 2 X 30 The future of America and the United Nations in Iraq Jonathan Steele Guardian News Service London

Australia-RI plan regional counter-terrorism summit early 2004 Agence France-Presse Sydney, Australia Australia and Indonesia on Thursday discussed plans to co-host an Asia-Pacific regional summit early next year to help better coordinate the fight against terrorism. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer met his Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirayuda in Canberra to discuss the proposal.

West Java councillors to face graft probe Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung Prosecutors will summon at least eight members of the West Java legislative Council for questioning next week in a graft case involving Rp 33 billion (US$3.9 million) after Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno issued permission to do so.

Aritonang to head NTB Police JAKARTA: National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Edward Aritonang was inaugurated on Thursday as chief of the West Nusa Tenggara Police, replacing Brig. Gen. Jacki Ully, who will head the National Police school for high-ranking officials. Edward has served in the National Police public information division for about three years. His name caught public attention when he become the spokesman for the National Police investigative team working on the 2002 Bali bombings.

RI to ratify tobacco convention JAKARTA: The government is set to endorse the UN Framework on Convention of Tobacco Control (FCTC) to strengthen efforts to reduce the number of smokers in the country. Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi said, after a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, that with the endorsement, the government should further discuss new regulations to limit smoking habits.

TV Today: Friday, August 22, 2003 .TB.30" .90" TVRI .tb .30" .90" 6:00 a.m. News: Berita Pagi 7:00 English News Service 9:00 Religious Teachings 10:00 Quiz: Dibisikin 11:30 Music 12:00 p.m. News: Berita Siang 1:00 Talk Show: Konsultasi Keluarga 2:30 Music 3:00 Children Show 4:00 Music 5:00 Variety Show 6:00 News 7:00 Hallo, Indonesian Press 9:00 News: Dunia Dalam Berita 9:30 Music 10:30 TV Drama TPI 6:00 a.m.

JP/4/GOLKAR Akbar clears Golkar screening for presidency A'an Suryana The Jakarta Post Jakarta The Golkar Party announced on Thursday the 19 people who will contest the convention held to select the party's presidential candidates, including its chairman Akbar Tandjung. Akbar, who was sentenced to three years in jail for corruption involving the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), qualified for the convention, thanks to the lax rules of the game.

President orders immediate distribution of free-rice Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Ainur R. Sophiaan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Surabaya President Megawati Soekarnoputri ordered Cabinet ministers on Thursday to start emergency measures by Monday to help people who are suffering due to the drought across Java. The priority program will be the distribution of 20,000 tons of free rice for 250,000 farmers who cannot work their land and the dispatch of more water tanks.

Asian monies mostly up, new closing low for peso Dow Jones, Singapore The Philippine peso bucked the regional trend to fall to an all-time closing low for the third straight day on Thursday, undermined by continued political and security concerns. Other Asian currencies firmed on the back of stronger stock markets and the yen's gains against the dollar and the euro.

Contradictions in Papua Buried somewhere in the lengthy, state-of-the-nation speech by the President, made on Aug. 15 to the House of Representatives, was a casual reference to the situation in Papua. The fact that President Megawati Soekarnoputri used the term "Papua" instead of "Irian Jaya" indicates that she was aware of the existence of Law No. 21/2001. In fact, she signed that law, which established special autonomy in Papua province.

'I stay up all night to wait for water' The water shortage in the capital -- due to the prolonged dry season and the drought in Java -- has forced some Jakartans to buy the water that they had previously been able to get from the tap. The situation is a burden on people who are already struggling to provide for their families. The worst part of it is that many have consigned themselves to the hardship, believing that they can expect nothing better from life in Jakarta.

Internal Security Act From Koran Tempo After a bomb exploded at the JW Marriott Hotel in Kuningan, South Jakarta, Defense Minister Matori Abdul Djalil came up with the idea of enforcing something like Malaysia's and Singapore's Internal Security Act (ISA) to deal with terrorism and separatism in Indonesia. This idea has received mixed responses from various groups in society. Those against this act argue that the current anti- terrorism act is sufficient to deal with terror in this country.

Canberra and Jakarta agree to host terror summit Peter O'Connor Associated Press Canberra Australia and Indonesia will host a regional terror conference early next year, foreign minister Alexander Downer said on Thursday after meeting his Indonesian counterpart. "We agreed that Australia and Indonesia would co-host a regional ministerial conference on counter terrorism early next year and we've been able to work through some of the broad details of who would be invited ...

Bali bombings initially slated for Sept. 11, 2002 The group of terrorists responsible for the bombings in Bali's resort area of Kuta initially intended to detonate the 1,025 kilograms of explosives on Sept. 11 2002 to commemorate the first anniversary of the al-Qaeda-sponsored attack on the World Trade Center in New York, defendant Ali Imron admitted on Thursday.

PLN told to delay power plants overhaul Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The government will delay the planned overhaul of a number of power plants to avoid shortfalls in power supply during the current, prolonged dry season. "We have ordered PLN to delay its overhaul plans.

Less women in higher education DENPASAR: Notwithstanding the number of women in higher education, gender equity is declining, says a top official. "Gender equity should therefore be focused on the implementation of regional autonomy," said H. Yusuf, the deputy for gender equity at Office of the State Minister for Women's Empowerment, in Denpasar on Thursday. Promoting gender equity and women's empowerment is one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) targeted by the United Nations since 2000.

Asian states to step up 'eGovernment' spending: report Agence France-Presse Singapore Annual spending by Asia-Pacific governments on the electronic delivery of services is projected to exceed US$1.4 billion in four years' time, an independent report said Thursday. Governments in the region will assign a higher priority to spending in this area after realizing that it can sharpen an economy's competitive edge, technology research house International Data Corp. (IDC) said.

AGO cancels probe into high-profile graft cases A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has decided to halt its investigation into alleged corruption by former strongman Soeharto's cronies Prajogo Pangestu and Djoko Ramiadji, and his daughter Siti "Tutut" Hardiyanti Rukmana. Meanwhile, the AGO has also decided to charge former state minister for state-owned enterprises Tanri Abeng for alleged corruption involving seaport operator PT Pelindo II.

Groups urges WTO farm compromise Agence France-Presse, Geneva Brazil, India and China on Wednesday led a group of developing countries in unveiling new joint proposals on how to reform global farm trade as negotiators race to find a compromise weeks from a crucial meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

West Seno begins first pumping EL SEGUNDO : Unocal Corporation today said that its Unocal Makassar, Ltd., subsidiary has begun oil production from Phase 1 of the company's deepwater West Seno project offshore East Kalimantan, Indonesia. West Seno is the first deepwater oil and gas project in Indonesia. Current production from West Seno is 14,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and 18 million cubic feet (MMSCFD) per day of gas from the first four wells put on production.

Govt oks Pertamina's crude deal SINGAPORE: State-owned oil company Pertamina has obtained approval from Indonesia's finance minister to proceed with a crude processing deal with Singapore Petroleum Co. (P.SPC). The deal is aimed at covering a shortfall in domestic production when Pertamina's Balongan refinery undergoes maintenance while reducing its reliance on buying oil products from the spot market.

Fitri Wulandari The Jakarta Post Jakarta The government will delay the planned overhaul of a number of power plants to avoid shortfalls in power supply during the current, prolonged dry season. "We have ordered PLN to delay its overhaul plans. All power plants must be prepared to take appropriate action in the event of a severe drought," Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said on Thursday, referring to the state- owned electricity company.

Take care when reading President Megawati's lips Kornelius Purba, Staff Writer, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, korpur@yahoo.com People in Papua and Aceh need to learn from Americans about the proper way of "reading" their leaders' lips. As a campaign gimmick to convince voters that he would not raise taxes when he was elected, U.S. president, George Bush Sr. became famous for his trademark phrase "Read my lips" in 1988. Later he also used a popular song with the theme Don't worry, be happy. Bush Sr.

Dialog used to urge polluters to change Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta "Living in a polluted area is like dying a slow death," said Priyanto, a resident of heavily polluted Rawa Terate subdistrict near Jakarta International Estate Pulogadung (JIEP) in North Jakarta.

Satelindo launches MMS JAKARTA: Cellular operator PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia (Satelindo) launched on Thursday its multimedia messaging service for customers to send text, voice and pictures. "In the first phase, the service is only available to customers in Greater Jakarta. Medan, Batam, Surabaya, Bandung and Semarang will follow," Indosat's director of product and customer service S. Wimbo S. Hardjito was quoted by Antara as saying.

JSX to delist Manly JAKARTA: The Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) announced on Thursday that it would delist shares of troubled financial service company PT Manly Unitama Finance on Sept. 26. JSX said that the decision was taken due to the firm's inability to sustain future operations as signaled by the disclaimer in its 2002 audited financial report.