Megawati begins Tunisia visit

TUNISIA: President Megawati Soekarnoputri held bilateral talks with Tunisia President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali and Prime Minister Ghanouchi Mohamed on Thursday, the first day of his two-day visit to that country.

According to Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirayuda, the two heads of states discussed various issues, including possible counter trade between the two countries.

"We are trying to enhance economic cooperation to balance the existing trade value between the two country," Hassan said.

Indonesia is currently buying phosphate from the Mediterranian country.

Megawati was greeted by Tunisian high-rank officials and received a red carpet welcome at the Tunisian Presidential Palace, before entering bilateral talks between officials of the two countries.

The President was accompanied by Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and State/Cabinet Secretary Bambang Kesowo.

The presidential entourage slated to continue its journey to Tripoli on Friday, for Megawati also to discuss various possible trade with the country.

Indonesia will be the second country that visited Libya after Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.

"We have seen that Libya will have a lot of trade opprotunities after the sanction was lifted, because we have been buying oil products from the country," Hassan said. --JP

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Lawmakers get a set of PC

JAKARTA: Legislators finally got a set of personal computer and a printer each from the House of Representatives's secretariat on Friday, a move that is expected to boost their performance.

Some of the legislators, however, were disappointed, complaining that the computer sets came too late.

"This kind of facilities should have been given at the beginning of the legislative tenure," said Djoko Susilo, deputy secretary of the Reform faction on Thursday.

The current legislators took office in October 1999 and will end their tenure in October 2004.

Golkar lawmaker Baharuddin Aritonang welcome the facility, saying that it could help finishing his legislative duties. --JP

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Reconciliation knows no limit: Minister

JAKARTA: All human rights abuses that could not be settled through court trials should be opened for reconciliation regardless of what year the abuses took place, a minister says.

In order to avoid confusion, however, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said on Thursday that cases before Aug. 17, 1945 should not be brought for reconciliation.

He made the statement at a hearing with the House's special commission in charge of deliberating the bill on truth and reconciliation commission (KKR).

He said the reconciliation would help the nation to have a better future.

According to him, human rights abuses in the country would be brought to court as long as there were enough evidence and witnesses. "And of course, the suspect is clear," Yusril said.

But, if the evidence and the witnesses were not clear, the human rights abuses would be settled through this commission, he added. - JP

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Laksamana rapped for Pertamina post

JAKARTA: Transparency International (TI) criticized on Thursday State Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi for appointing himself as new chief of commissioner board of state owned oil and gas firm Pertamina, saying such a practice was prone to abuse of power and corruption.

Jeremy Pope, Director of TI Center for Research and Innovation, said that it was not proper for a country to have a system that allows a minister to do so.

He also said that a minister should also know about the ethics not to hold double posts in a firm.

"I am astonished about the news. Such a minister should be sacked," he said on a seminar on corruption jointly held by TI and the Partnership for Governance Reform.

According to him, this will become a bad precedence for junior civil servants as they will think that such a practice is legal.

Meanwhile, Emmy Hafidz of Indonesian chapter of TI said Laksamana, who has a good reputation, should not appoint himself as new Pertamina commissioner because it would create conflict of interests.

Pertamina is one of the largest local oil and gas companies, while Laksamana is also one top official at the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).

Next year, Indonesia will hold legislative and presidential elections. -JP

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Nusakambangan forest to disappear in 2010

JAKARTA: Due to rampant illegal logging, a non-governmental organization predicted that the Nusakambangan island will have no more natural forests by 2010.

Timer Manurung, who leads the Silvagama Foundation, said on Thursday that some 12.000 plants were chopped down by illegal loggers every year.

Currently, the island posses some 87,000 plant in its 953.5 hectares forests from previous 137,00 plants in 1999.

Worse, the Meranti Jawa wood (Dipterocarpus littoralis), a species which only available in the island, is close to extinction due to rampant illegal logging.

Timer said that there were only six left in the island in 2000.

Nusakambangan island, which located in the Indian ocean, is known for its prison for high-profile criminals, including Tommy Soeharto, the son of former president Soeharto who is convicted to 15 years in jail for murder. -- JP