U.S. implicates RI in Papua attack: Paper

U.S. implicates RI in Papua attack: Paper

AUSTRALIA: U.S. intelligence services have intercepted messages between Indonesian Army commanders implicating them in an ambush in Indonesia's Papua province that killed three teachers, two of them Americans, an Australian newspaper said on Saturday.

A source close to the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta said intelligence suggested the Aug. 31 attack near a giant mine was linked to a protection racket, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. of the United States operates the gold and copper mine, the world's largest.

"Mounting evidence that Indonesian soldiers ran the ambush, whether or not they had higher direction or intended to kill foreigners, is becoming a serious political embarrassment as the U.S. administration looks for ways to help improve security in Indonesia after the Oct. 12 Bali bombings," the paper said.

Three teachers, two of them Americans, were killed when their cars were ambushed by gunmen near the mine.

Indonesian police investigating the attack say military involvement is just one of several possibilities they are considering. --Reuters

;AFP; ANPAi..u.. Indonesia-Aceh Two rebels die in battle ahead of Aceh ceasefire announcement JP/2/HIGH

Two rebels die ahead of cease-fire announcement

INDONESIA: Two separatist rebels died in a battle with government forces in Aceh province just hours before the rebel army announced on Saturday a unilateral cease-fire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadhan.

Tjut Manyak, a spokesman for the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM), said two GAM soldiers died during an attack on Friday on an Indonesian military post in Awe Geutah, Bireuen district.

The deaths came shortly before the separatist group announced in a statement received here on Saturday that it would unilaterally cease fighting government forces beginning Nov. 4 for Ramadhan.

GAM commander Muzakkir Manaf made the announcement in a statement released by his spokesman, Sofyan Dawod.

"TNA will withdraw its troops to defensive positions; the use of weapons will be minimum and for self-defense only," the statement said, referring to the Aceh National Armed Forces, or GAM.

The unilateral cease-fire will take effect on Nov. 4 and last until Dec. 10, the statement added. Aceh is a devoutly Muslim province.

"We kindly request the Indonesian government to instruct its military and police to also respect the holy month of Ramadhan by taking the same policy," it said. --AFP

;REUTERS; ANPAi..u.. ASIA-MILITARY Asia Pacific military chiefs meet in Singapore JP/2/HIGH

Asia Pacific military chiefs meet in S'pore

SINGAPORE: Military chiefs from 22 Asia Pacific countries, including the United States, met in Singapore on Friday to discuss regional security, the city state's government said.

The three-day meeting comes as Singapore and the rest of Southeast Asia are on heightened alert after bombings which killed more than 180 people in nearby Bali, and a spate of explosions in the Philippines.

The military chiefs are discussing cooperation on transnational threats such as terrorism and drug trafficking as well as peacekeeping operations, disaster relief and humanitarian assistance.

The government said it was the fifth time the Asia Pacific Chief of Defense Conference had been held, and the first time it had gathered outside Hawaii, where the U.S. Pacific Command is based. --Reuters

;AFP; ANPAi..u.. Italy-quake-toll 4thlead At least 24 dead, including 22 children, in Italy quake JP/ITALY

At least 24 dead in Italy quake

ITALY: The death toll from an earthquake in southern Italy rose overnight to 24, including 22 children buried beneath the rubble of a village school, rescuers said on Friday.

Rescue workers in the village of San Giuliano di Puglia, worst hit by the quake, toiled frantically throughout the night in the hope of rescuing those still missing after the quake struck on Thursday during a school Halloween party.

But they said they did not hold out any hope of finding alive six people still believed to be trapped under the primary school building.

They had managed to pull out two children alive in the early hours of the morning, including one called Angelo whom the rescue workers had been trying to reach for hours after he was discovered with his feet pinned under a concrete slab, police said.

Most of the victims were primary schoolchildren aged seven or eight. The quake, measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale, also claimed the lives of two women, aged 56 and 90, whose homes in the same town were also hit. --AFP

;AFP; ANPAi..r.. Australia-bushfire Tourists flee bushfire at popular Australian resort JP/2/HIGH

Tourists flee bushfire at Aussie resort

AUSTRALIA: One of the worst bushfires to hit central Australia in 20 years forced the evacuations of a popular tourist resort and a local Aboriginal community, police said on Friday.

About 200 travelers and staff at the Kings Canyon resort were woken at midnight when police decided the blaze, which was burning along a long front, posed a threat to the resort.

Kings Canyon is a large, natural gorge that lies southwest of Alice Springs in central Australia. It is a regular stop on the tourist route, just three hours' drive north of Uluru, formerly known as Ayer's Rock.

The resort comprises hotel accommodation and a sprawling camp ground. The Lilla Aboriginal community near Kings Creek station was evacuated later on Friday as the fire continued to rage out of control.

Police warned motorists to stay away from the scenic canyon, declaring the two access routes as unsafe. They said lightning sparked the blaze. --AFP

;AFP; ANPAi..r.. Singapore-biotech Asia's first drug discovery research centre opens in Singapore JP/SINGAPORE

Drug research center opens in Singapore

SINGAPORE: Asia's first drug discovery research center was opened here on Friday by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company, aimed at using advanced technology to find cures for diseases.

Lilly Systems Biology (LSB) is to spend S$250 million (US$140.4 million) for research over the next five years, it said. The center will have financial backing from the government's Economic Development Board.

"Pharmaceutical research must find more productive means to discover new medicines," said Richard DiMarchi, vice president of research technologies and product development for Lilly Research Laboratories.

"Our investments in the field of systems biology are an attempt to harness the full complexity of human biology for commercial purposes."

LSB is to increase its international team of scientists and information technology professionals from 27 to 50 by December. DiMarchi said the center is the first in Asia to use advanced technology to discover new drugs.

"The need of the day is new methods for understanding the biological function of these molecular targets when placed in the huge complexity of living biological organisms," he said at the center's launch.

Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, said the center "puts Singapore on the frontiers of biomedical research". --AFP