New electric trains serving the Serpong to Sudirman route

New electric trains serving the Serpong to Sudirman route
started to operate on Tuesday, March 11. It is a commuter train
which stops at certain stations. The air-conditioned trains leave
Serpong at 6:30 a.m. and 8:22 a.m., stop by in Sudimara and
Pondok Ranji and drop the passengers at the Tanah Abang and
Sudirman stations in Dukuh Atas district, Central Jakarta and
vice versa in the evening.

People welcome the new train service which they see as the
answer to their daily needs. For only Rp 6,000 passengers can
enjoy fast, safe and comfortable transportation.

The Pakuan Ekspres, traveling between Jakarta and Bogor, will
also provide a new service, starting March 15. The air-
conditioned train will also stop at Tebet station at 8:30 a.m. to
take passengers, mostly university students, to Depok. This is a
breakthrough, especially for the students, who in the past could
only enjoy economy-class travel with no air conditioners.

PT Kereta Api Indonesia (PT KAI), the state-owned railway
company, has made a good step. Its response to people's needs
deserves appreciation. PT KAI should continue developing its
business strategy for the future.

The Sudirman station, which had been ignored for years, now
contributes more money to PT KAI, thanks to the new electric
commuter trains.

If we could just appeal to PT KAI to be consistent in its
discipline. The conductors must not let passengers get on the
train for free (without tickets).

PT KAI can survive if it's management works professionally.

-- Warta Kota, Jakarta

Josef Stalin and Russia

Fifty years ago today, Josef Stalin, one of world history's
worst dictators, died.

That he, in alliance with the United States, Great Britain and
France, led the Soviet Union to victory over Nazi Germany does
not excuse the brutal persecution, which may have claimed the
lives of 20 million-30 million Russians.

Many other peoples have been forced to slow and painful
reckonings with their history. But in Russia, there are still
many who hail Stalin.

Last fall, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin approved the
minting of 500 silver coins with Stalin's portrait. The Russians,
too, should actively come to terms with their past.

He who secretly hails Stalin cannot at the same time become a
democrat with respect for human rights.

-- Huvudstadsbladet, Helsinki, Finland

The formation of Islamic
party in the Netherlands

The Arabic-European League, born in Belgium, has now arrived
here. The movement advertises itself as an 'Islamic, democratic
party.'

Not only has a group of young, educated Moroccans called a
party into existence with a religious basis, but that party holds
a number of conservative values on drugs and prostitution. How
the liberal, secular Dutch society will react is unknown, but
it's exciting.

But if there can be a Christian Democrat party, why not an
Islamic Democrat party, as long as it, like the Christian
Democrats, can abide by the rules of our secular democratic
system?

If so, then the AEL could even play an important part in
emancipating Moroccans in the Netherlands, and the much-needed
rapprochement between Islam and democracy can take place.

-- Volkskrant, Amsterdam, Netherlands

The United Nations and Iraq

The diplomatic tug-of-war over a second U.N. resolution on
Iraq is turning into a charade. Three times in the past five
days, George Bush has made plain his intention to overthrow the
Iraqi regime, whatever the U.N. says. His aim, he said last week,
was "a liberated Iraq. ... America's interest in security and
America's belief in liberty both lead in the same direction." At
the weekend, Mr. Bush again sketched out plans for a bright new
future entirely predicated on Saddam Hussein's downfall. The U.S.
president's candid although still very blurry focus on a post-
Saddam settlement, rather than on disarmament, makes it clear
that nothing less than physical as opposed to behavioral regime
change will now suffice. U.S. determination to impose its will by
force renders the U.N. debate redundant in terms of practical
outcomes. It makes a mockery of the Security Council. ...

-- The Guardian, London

The North Korean challenge

Iraq masks a second emerging crisis, no less dangerous,
perhaps even more: North Korea. The recent interception of an
American spy plane in international airspace by four North Korean
fighter jets over the Sea of Japan, Sunday March 2, ... gives the
impression that the Korean Peninsula is skidding.

Wrong or right, North Korea feels it is the next target of
Washington after Iraq; it intends to show it is not intimidated
by the United States. ...

Washington insists it does not want war with North Korea and
is favorable to negotiating a solution to the crisis started by
the nuclear ambitions of Pyongyang.

But the more the Americans delay restarting dialogue with
Pyongyang, the more the process of reactivating a (nuclear)
reprocessing facility in Yongbyon, capable of producing
plutonium, becomes inescapable.

-- Le Monde, Paris