Tiger takes revenge in Bengkulu

Tiger takes revenge in Bengkulu

JAKARTA: A farmer was killed by a tiger thought to have
wandered out of a national park in Bengkulu, an official said on
Friday.

"The victim was attacked by the tiger as he was walking home
from the fields on Thursday afternoon," said Agus Priambudi, head
of the Bengkulu Natural Resources Conservation Bureau. Bengkulu
is one of the provinces in southern Sumatra.

"There is a strong suspicion the tiger came from Kerinci
National Park," Agus was quoted by Antara as saying.

Without revealing the victim's name, Agus said animals from
the park had started wandering into nearby plantations in search
of food.

"No more food is available for tigers in the park as a result
of rampant illegal logging in the forests," Priambudi said.

A report last year by the World Resources Institute, Global
Forest Watch and Forest Watch Indonesia said Indonesia was losing
nearly two million hectares (4.94 million acres) of forest
annually -- an area half the size of Switzerland. -- Antara

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Australians rescue RI fishermen
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Australians rescue RI fishermen

JAKARTA: An Australian ship rescued six Indonesian men
clinging to a makeshift raft in the Arafura Sea on Friday, two
days after their fishing boat sank off Australia's north coast,
Australian marine authorities said.

They were first spotted by Australian air coast guards on
Friday morning, said Australian Marine Safety Authority spokesman
Ben Mitchell, about 70 nautical miles from the northern
Australian town of Maningrida.

"The Australian Marine Safety Authority issued an emergency
broadcast out to the ships in the area. The vessel Cape Preston
responded and that ship arrived at the men at about 3:30 p.m.
local time," Mitchell told reporters.

Through translators, the men said their fishing boat sank
Wednesday after striking an "unknown object," he said.

"They have been on the raft since then. It was a small
makeshift raft just able to support the six people."

The men will eventually be airlifted from the cargo ship and
flown to Maningrida, Mitchell said.

"They have indicated they wish to return to Indonesia," he
said, adding that all were "safe and well ... but there have been
some minor injuries." -- AFP

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One rebel killed in shootout
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One rebel killed in shootout

JAKARTA: At least one suspected rebel leader was killed in a
Friday afternoon shootout with members of the Army's Special
Forces (Kopassus) in Karmenawari village, West Coast district,
Sarmi, Papua on Friday.

Jayapura 172 Military Regiment commander Col. Inf. Agus
Mulyadi said the Kopassus Rajawali task force, led by Lt. Inf.
Tambunan, raided the village after receiving a tip from local
people that a group of five rebels were holding a meeting there.

The dead man was identified as Leo Warisman. Four others
escaped.

Leo Warisman had been accused of leading an attack on a
military post in Takar, East Coast regency in 2001, which killed
four Kopassus members.

Members of the task force also confiscated four weapons, 40
rounds of ammunition, a typewriter, various documents and the
Morning Star independence flag.

Troops briefly detained for questioning four civilians -- two
women and two children but later released them due to lack of
evidence of their involvement in the secessionist movement.

A low-level secessionist movement has been going on in the
resource-rich province since the 1960s after Indonesia claimed
the territory. -- Antara