'Separatism in NTT no threat'

'Separatism in NTT no threat'

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: The military commander overseeing
East Nusa Tenggara, Col. Inf. Moeswarno Moesanip, has dismissed
plans to unite the Indonesian side of West Timor with the
independent East Timor, saying the threat was not serious.

"Plans to establish a Great Timor nation will never work," he
said on Wednesday.

Talk of the possibility of uniting West Timor in East Nusa
Tenggara with the independent East Timor has been making the
rounds among students and non-governmental organizations here.

Moeswarno said he was aware that people had been talking about
secession, but he was not taking it seriously.

"If serious action is taken to provoke people into conspiring
against Indonesia, then the TNI (Indonesian Military) will
respond," he said. -- JP

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Across-Ambon-state-emergency
State of emergency retained
JP/5/Across

State of emergency retained

AMBON, Maluku: Maj. Gen. Agustadi, the chief of the Pattimura
Military Command, which oversees Maluku, said on Wednesday that
recent security improvements in the province were not enough
reason to lift the state of civil emergency.

Agustadi said he was not considering lifting the state of
emergency just yet, reasoning that much work needed to be done to
ensure that violence would not return.

"So for this year, the state of civil emergency might not be
lifted. However we are moving in that direction," he said.

A state of civil emergency has been in force in Maluku since
2000, after sectarian clashes erupted in the province.

Fighting between Muslims and Christians abated after the
signing of the Malino peace agreement last year.

However, sporadic violence continues, which some suspect is
aimed at reigniting the three-year sectarian conflict.

Separatism sentiment among the mainly Christian community in
Maluku has also flared because of the conflict. -- Antara

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Across-Medan-graft-suspect
Doctor named graft suspect
JP/ /Across

Doctor named graft suspect

MEDAN, North Sumatra: Prosecutors have named a doctor from a
local hospital a suspect in the embezzlement of money earmarked
for health projects last year.

Head of the Medan Prosecutor's Office Nawir Anas said on
Wednesday that the suspect, identified only as 45-year-old Dr.
DN, had illegally taken a 30 percent commission from hospital
projects funded by the fuel subsidy.

Nawir did not mention the value of the projects. Last year,
Medan received a Rp 21.9 billion (about US$2.4 million) fuel
subsidy.

The central government disbursed the funds to alleviate the
impact of higher fuel prices on the poor, after its move to
gradually eliminate fuel subsidies for the general public.

Nawir said the suspect worked at the Adam Malik General
Hospital in Medan. Prosecutors, he added, had so far questioned
25 witnesses in connection with the case.

"In the near future we will question him (Dr. DN) again, but
this time as a suspect and not as a witness," he said. -- Antara