President orders lifting of ban against Jones

Muninggar Sri Saraswati The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Less than a week after the country refused entry to American researcher Sidney Jones, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered the lifting of the ban on Tuesday, blaming the incident on the government of his predecessor Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said that Susilo had only learned about the expulsion from media reports, and immediately sought an explanation from Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo Adi Sucipto and Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin.

"The ban was issued based on a decision made by the previous government. The President asked (the ministers) whether the ban was relevant to the current situation. It turned out that the reasons were irrelevant," Andi told reporters.

Andi said Jones, the director of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG), would be able to reenter the country soon after the immigration office revoked the ban, which was imposed last Wednesday.

Jones was denied entry to the country upon arrival at Soekarno-Hatta Airport after a short visit to Taiwan on Thursday of last week.

Responding to a request from the intelligence authorities, the government of President Megawati refused to extend Jones' stay permit and work visa in May 2004.

The intelligence authorities claimed her work was harmful to Indonesia and that many of the ICG reports on the country's poor human rights record and communal conflicts were untrue.

The government of Susilo did not extend the ban, which expired last May. It even granted her a stay permit and work visa in July.

Hamid earlier said that Jones had been barred from entering Indonesia after the relevant authorities had decided she was a threat to domestic security.

Funded by foreign governments and private foundations, the ICG usually reports on conflict issues, such as the problems in Aceh, Papua and Ambon. But Jones is mostly known for her in-depth reports on the al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah terror group.

Jones said that an Indonesian official had called her to inform her she could return.

"Isn't it great? ... I'm absolutely delighted. I'm trying to get rid of all these phone calls so I can book an airline ticket back.

"They asked me to wait a couple of days to make sure that all the messages get through to immigration ... This is the shortest expulsion on record," she told Agence France Presse news agency from Singapore.

She said she planned to return to Jakarta later this week.

Analysts had roundly condemned the government's decision to refuse entry to Jones, saying that it was a major setback for human rights and democracy.