Golkar candidates meet in Bali

DENPASAR, Bali: Seven presidential hopefuls from Golkar Party will convene here to attend the ceremony of the party's 39th anniversary.

The meeting will be held at the Grand Bali Beach Hotel and to be attended by businessman Aburizal Bakrie, media tycoon Surya Paloh, former military chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto, party chairman Akbar Tandjung, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla, former chief of Army's Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad) Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto and Yogyakarta Sultan Hamengku Buwono X.

Anniversary committee chairman I Gusti Ketut Adhiputra said the ceremony would be held in an open field in Padanggalak, Sanur.

He estimated that the celebration would be attract nearly 40,000 party members.

According to him, the celebration would also feature dangdut singer/"drill" dancer Inul Daratista. - Antara

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RI congratulates RP over UNSC seat

JAKARTA: Indonesia congratulated on Friday the Philippines for its election to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Spokesman of the ministry of foreign affairs Marty Natalegawa said that Indonesia hoped the Philippines would put forward the region's aspirations in the world's body.

"We welcome the election of the Philippines in the UNSC with the hope that as an ASEAN member it could voice our concerns in many international conflicts," Marty said.

Indonesia, the Philippines and the other eight countries are members of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN).

The ASEAN member was elected as a member of the UNSC on Thursday along with Brazil, Romania, Benin and Algeria for a two- year period starting 2004.

Indonesia had nominated itself for a seat on the UNSC for the next term of 2006 and claimed it had secured support from many countries. --Antara

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RI to stop sending workers to Malaysia

CILOTO, West Java: Manpower and Transmigration Minister Jacob Nuwa Wea has threatened to stop sending migrant workers (TKI) to Malaysia unless the neighboring country signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the placement of Indonesian workers within a month.

Addressing a workshop for journalists in Ciloto, West Java, Friday, the minister said so far he had not seen any sign that Malaysia would sign such an MoU.

"Indonesia has long been waiting for the signing of the MoU," the minister added.

Currently, only Kuwait has signed such an MoU on the placement of Indonesian workers in its country.

According to Jacob, uncertainty about the agreement had caused difficulties for manpower authorities to monitor Indonesian workers employed in Malaysia.

Indonesia and Malaysia have often different markedly on the handling of illegal workers.

Currently, the placement of Indonesian workers in Malaysia is organized by labor recruiting companies (PJTKI) which have already secured licenses from the ministry.

However, a number of illegal companies and scalpers have smuggled Indonesian workers to Malaysia. --Antara

1,000 new combat troops to Aceh

MEULABOH, Aceh: A military chief official said here on Friday that as many as 1,000 village-based officers (Babinsa) from combat units would arrive in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam soon to help speed up the process of "security restoration" in the province.

The administrator of military emergency in Aceh, Maj. Gen. Endang Suwarna, said the officers were expected to arrive by the middle of next month at the latest and would be deployed throughout the province in most districts and towns.

They would function like subdistrict military (Koramil) officers, he told a group of district community and administrative leaders.

Suwarna claimed that the security situation had improved but separatist forces still remained.

To narrow the space for their movement, he said the people should have the courage to cooperate with the military/police to fight them.

"If the people would help it would be easier for security personnel to enter into the pockets of separatist rebels to immediately restore the security and welfare of the people," he said.

Meanwhile, the martial law administration has alleged that separatist rebels killed on Thursday Zamzani alias Buyung (35), the secretary of Seuneubok Punto village administration in Trumon, South Aceh.

"The shooting that led to the death of the victim occurred on Thursday," local police spokesman Senior Commissioner Sayed Hoesainy, said here on Friday.

He said the victim was shot in the head at a close range while rest in his front yard, but did not explain why he was blaming rebels for the shooting. --Antara