Belongings of missing climbers found

JAMBI: A rescue team has found the some items belonging to three mountain climbers reported missing when climbing Mount Kerinci, about 410 kilometers from Jambi.

The items are believed to be the property of Teddy, 20; Wiwin, 20; and Alesius, 20. They missing trio are believed to have fallen into a deep ravine.

Kerinci Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr Dwi Hartono said on Sunday that his team had found a lantern, red T-shirt, and bracelet, which were believed to belong to the three missing climbers. The items were found near a ravine.

The three were nature lovers from Jakarta, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra, and have been missing since Jan. 1, 2003.

Alesius, 20, was an employee of Toyota in Jakarta, while Teddy and Wiwin were students of IPWI, located on Jalan Sungai Mahakam II, Jakarta.

On Friday afternoon, the rescue team had to call off the search at 5 p.m. local time as a mist was closing in.

;JP;ANTARA; ANPAa..r.. Scene-fishermen-deportation 19 sailors detained in Myanmar JP/4/SCENE

19 sailors detained in Myanmar

BANDA ACEH: At least 19 Indonesian fishermen are currently being detained by the Myanmar authorities for illegal fishing in that country's waters.

The secretary of the Aceh Cultural Council, M. Adli Abdullah, said in Banda Aceh on Sunday that a total of 23 Indonesian fishermen from Aceh province had been detained by Myanmar authorities but four of them had been released and were on their way back to Indonesia.

"The four fishermen were freed after serving their sentences," Adli was quoted by Antara as saying.

They were identified as Iskandar, 40, Yusfa Mukti, 34, Ibrahim, 24, and Saldi, 18. All of them come from Johan Pahlawan district in West Aceh regency.

The Indonesian embassy in Yangoon, Myanmar, is still trying to free the remaining 19 fishermen.

The fishermen were arrested by Myanmar authorities for illegally entering the country's territory, Adli said without saying when the fishermen had been detained or how long they had been imprisoned. --Antara

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Sadler urged to end hunger strike

BANDA ACEH: The U.S. Embassy in Jakarta is urging jailed American nurse Jay Lee Sadler to end her hunger strike so that she can recover her health.

The appeal was conveyed to Sadler, who is currently serving a four-month jail term for visa violations in Banda Aceh, by a U.S. Embassy staffer, Samanta, who came to visit Sadler on Sunday.

Samanta went to the Banda Aceh penitentiary after arriving at Sultan Iskandar Muda international airport. Samanta was received by the penitentiary warden, Ace Hendarmin.

Sadler's lawyer Rufriadi, who accompanied Samanta to the jail, told the press that the U.S. Embassy had appealed to Sadler to end her hunger strike so that her health could improve before her release next Friday.

Salder and British woman Lesley McCulloch were sentenced to four and five months respectively for visa violations on Dec. 29, 2002.

Sadler has been on hunger strike for 40 days to protest what she called a slow legal process. She was rushed to hospital last Friday but all the hospitals in Banda Aceh refused to treat her for fear that her illness would spread to other people. --Antara

;JP;ANTARA; ANPAa..r.. Scene-indosat-commission 'Gus Dur has reliable data on Indosat' JP/4/scene

Gus Dur has 'reliable' information on Indosat

JAKARTA: Former President Abdurrahman Wahid, familiarly known as Gus Dur, had concrete information on the payment of a nine percent commission to the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) from the sale of the government's 41 percent stake in state telecommunication firm PT Indosat to Singapore Technologies Telemedia (STT), a party leader has said.

Alwi Shihab, chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB), said here on Sunday that Gus Dur would reveal the data at the right time.

"The former president has concrete information that he received from some close friends."

"I think the information will be revealed if the Indosat case is opened," he said.

He made his remarks in response to journalists' questions on Gus Dur's statement saying that nine percent of the proceeds of the Indosat sale had gone into the coffers of the PDI-P, which is chaired by President Megawati and has state enterprises minister Laksamana Sukardi as its treasurer, as campaign funds for the 2004 general election.

Alwi, who is also a former foreign minister, said that Gus Dur would never speak out if he did not have concrete information. Therefore, he advised all sides to be patient in waiting for Gus Dur's clarification. --Antara

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Sutera Air to take to the skies

MEDAN, North Sumatra: North Sumatra administration's Sutera Air will start serving local Medan to Sibolga and Medan to Nias routes in the third week of this month, an official said on Saturday.

North Sumatra governor's office spokesman Eddy Syofian said the routes, which would serve the isolated west coast area of North Sumatra, were stipulated in a March 26, 2002, memorandum of understanding between the local government and state-owned air freight firm PT Merpati Nusantara Airlines (MNA).

"The routes are hoped to open the isolated area in the west coast due to the lack of transportation infrastructure," Syofian said.

North Sumatra governor T. Rizal Nurdin expressed hope that the new routes, to be served by small CN-235 and Fokker 27 airplanes, would attract investors to invest in the west coast, in order to eventually boost the economy of the area, which was still relatively smaller than that of the east coast.

MNA president Hotasi Nababan said the cooperative arrangement with the North Sumatra administration had been entered into because surveys had shown that the west coast had high investment and tourism potential. - Antara

Governor protests fuel hike

MATARAM, West Nusa Tenggara: West Nusa Tenggara governor Harun Al Rasyid said on Saturday that as the government's decision to raise fuel prices was questionable a protest should be made.

He said that the fuel price hike would cause other difficulties for the public as it would eventually boost the price of basic necessities.

"I am not against Jakarta's policy as I am part of the government. But the (President) Megawati administration should only increase fuel prices if it is in parallel with people's income growth.

"A significant number of people in West Nusa Tenggara had been living below the poverty line, while so far the local government had only succeeded in reducing the poverty rate from 33 percent to 27 percent," he said.

The governor added that due to rising prices, the economic situation in the province would likely remain uncertain.--Antara