[Kabar-indonesia] 11 Regional Reports: Killing Fields tribunal; Philippines; F-16s for Pakistan...

[Joyo at aol.com]

11 articles compiled and selected by Joyo Indonesia 
News Service:

- Killing Fields tribunal judges sworn in

- US unveils F-16 package for Pakistan

- Three killed in communist rebel attacks in
  Philippines

- Armed men torch community radio station in
  Philippines

- SKorean security advisor heads to US for security
  talks

- Investment Affected by Political Uncertainty: Thai
  Deputy PM

- Australian gay blood ban challenged

- Guantanamo inmate's lawyers want Australian review

- Lawmakers demand response from Hong Kong leader
  after democracy march

- China, India gearing up to open historic border pass

- Controversy over plan to mediate Malaysian leaders'
  row: report

-----------

The Guardian [UK]
Monday July 3, 2006

Killing Fields tribunal judges sworn in

Simon Montlake in Bangkok

A day of reckoning for the surviving leaders of
Cambodia's murderous Khmer Rouge regime came a step
closer today with the swearing-in of Cambodian and
foreign judges assigned to a special tribunal.

The 27 jurists were sworn in at a ceremony in the
capital, Phnom Penh, from where residents were
evacuated en masse in 1975 to toil in the "Killing
Fields", which claimed an estimated 1.7 million lives
through starvation, torture and overwork. The regime
fell in 1979 after Vietnam invaded, triggering a civil
war that petered out in the 1990s.

The ceremony marks an important step towards staging a
trial that has been in preparation for almost a
decade. Until now, none of the Khmer Rouge leaders has
faced justice, and most live freely in Cambodia. Pol
Pot, the secretive head of the movement, died in 1998.

Under a complex formula thrashed out between the prime
minister, Hun Sen, and the United Nations, the
three-year trial will focus only on senior Khmer Rouge
leaders accused of crimes against humanity. All
verdicts must be reached by a majority of the
Cambodian and UN-selected judges based on
international human rights law. Prosecutors will soon
begin building cases against the suspects and trials
are expected to begin by mid-2007.

Critics have accused Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge
soldier who defected in 1977, of dragging his feet on
the trials. Observers say the proceedings have the
potential to embarrass China, which armed the Maoist
regime and has in recent years emerged as Cambodia's
biggest aid donor.

Most of the surviving Khmer Rouge leaders are in their
70s and 80s, and the protracted efforts to set up the
tribunal at a military compound outside Phnom Penh
could prove to be in vain if they die or are too ill
to be tried.

Ta Mok, an army commander dubbed "the Butcher" for his
readiness to kill comrades accused of disloyalty, is
one of two Khmer Rouge suspects in detention. Last
week, he was taken to hospital with high blood
pressure and back pain, and could be too weak to stand
trial.

However, Nuon Chea, "Brother Number Two" and second in
the hierarchy to Pol Pot, said he was ready to face
the tribunal. He told the Associated Press: "I will be
glad to go, so that people in my country and other
countries will know the truth of what happened.
Whatever they ask, I will tell them."

Cambodians who survived the Killing Fields will be
looking for more than a verdict on the regime's
leaders. The tribunal is also being promoted as a way
to set the record straight for the generation of
Cambodians born after the genocide, who have little
knowledge of the past.

Researchers into the regime's workings argue that
without a full understanding of what drove the country
to the brink of self-annihilation, Cambodia could
repeat its past.

-----------------------------------------------------

Agence France-Presse
Tuesday July 4, 2006    

US unveils F-16 package for Pakistan

The White House unveiled plans to sell Pakistan up to
36 F-16 fighters in a deal that could total five
billion dollars and was expected to draw an unhappy
response from US ally India.

"Pakistan is a Major Non-NATO Ally, which has
cooperated closely with us in the global war on
terror. This proposed sale demonstrates our commitment
to a long-term relationship with Pakistan," spokesman
Tony Snow said in a statement.

"The proposed sale includes 18 new F-16 aircraft with
an option to purchase another 18 new planes, a support
package for up to 26 used F-16s, a munitions package,
an upgrade package for Pakistan's current fleet of 34
F-16s, and logistical support," Snow said.

US President George W. Bush's administration notified
the US Congress of the plan on June 28, said Snow,
according to whom the proposed package is valued at
approximately five billion dollars.

Pakistan agreed in April to purchase a scaled-down
package of American F-16 fighters after foregoing a
larger purchase to finance relief efforts in last
year's earthquake, which killed more than 73,000
people in its zone of Kashmir and North Western
Frontier Province.

Washington had blocked the sale of F-16s to Pakistan
for 15 years to protest its nuclear weapons program,
but gave the green light in March 2005 to reward the
South Asian ally for its help in the "war on terror."

Pakistan already has more than 30 multi-role F-16s
made by US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin Corp.

India has in the past expressed concern about weapons
sales to its arch-rival and neighbor, Pakistan.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Agence France-Presse
Sunday July 2, 2006

Three killed in communist rebel attacks in Philippines

A soldier and two policemen were killed last week in
two separate attacks by communist insurgents in the
Philippines, officials have revealed.

A lieutenant was killed and one of his men wounded on
Tuesday when their group was ambushed during a
humanitarian mission in Limbanan town, south of the
Philippine capital Manila, regional military spokesman
Major Jose Broso said.

On Saturday, two policemen were killed and four others
wounded when fighters from the communist New People's
Army (NPA) ambushed them in Catanduanes island, also
south of Manila, a police report said.

On the same day, army soldiers clashed with NPA forces
in the town of Laak on the southern island of
Mindanao, regional military spokesman Lieutenant
Colonel Francisco Simbajon said.

About three to four guerrillas were seen being carried
away by their comrades after the battle, although it
was not clear if the rebels were wounded or dead,
Simbajon said.

The 7,400-strong NPA is the armed wing of the
Communist Party of the Philippines, which has been
waging a Maoist insurgency in the country for 37
years.

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo shelved peace talks
with the communists in 2004 after the rebels were
blacklisted by Manila's main ally the United States as
a "foreign terrorist organization".

Last month, Arroyo ordered the retraining and
redeployment of troops to crush the communist
insurgency in key regions around Manila within two
years.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Philippines:

ARMED MEN TORCH A COMMUNITY RADIO

PARIS (RSF/Pacific Media Watch, July 4 '06): A gang of
at least eight masked and armed men raided and torched
a community radio on 2 July 2006, first tying up six
members of staff, who were slightly injured.

Reporters Without Borders condemned the attack on
Radyo Cagayano, in Cagayan province, northern Manila,
which it said threatened press freedom yet again in
this far-flung corner of the country.

"We call for the investigation ordered by President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to shed light on this case,
that those responsible be brought to trial and that
the Philippines government takes the necessary steps
to bring these types of attack to a halt," said the
press freedom organisation.

The overnight raiders threatened the six employees who
were on the premises at the time, including the radio
station's director, Susan Mapa, before binding them
and setting fire to the building. The shocked members
of staff were able to leave the radio and were only
slightly injured.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines
(NUJP) has accused the army of carrying out the raid
on the basis of indications provided by the staff. It
also condemned inaction by the police. Although based
only 300 metres from the radio, they only arrived on
the scene three hours after the attack.

"The army is the only group with a motive to launch
such an attack, said leftist lawmaker Teodoro Casino.
They have been very much the targets of programmes on
this radio station," he said. Lieut. Col. Leopoldo
Galon Jr however denied any involvement on the part of
the military.

This attack is the latest in a long series generally
carried out against leftist figures and activists.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Agence France-Presse
Tuesday July 4, 2006
    
SKorean security advisor heads to US for security
talks

South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun's top security
advisor left for Washington for talks on North Korea's
nuclear weapons program and its threats to test fire a
long-range missile.

Song Min-Soon plans to meet with Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor Stephen
Hadley and other US officials during his stay set to
end on Thursday, the president's office said.

North Korea has boycotted six-party nuclear
disarmament talks since November in protest at US
financial sanctions imposed over its alleged money
laundering and counterfeiting activities.

China has reportedly proposed an informal gathering of
envoys from the six countries this month in the
eastern Chinese city of Shenyang but it was not clear
whether Pyongyang would accept the offer.

The trip comes amid mounting international concerns
over North Korea's missile program.

US and Asian officials have said North Korea has
prepared a Taepodong-2 ballistic missile for launch
from a site on its remote northeast coast.

In 1998 it fired a long-range Taepodong-1 over Japan
into the Pacific Ocean and last year said it would no
longer respect a moratorium on launches.

Preparations to launch the Taepodong-2, which has a
range of up to 6,700 kilometers (4,200 miles), have
apparently been put off following a chorus of
international condemnation.

-----------------------------------------------------------------


Investment Affected by Political Uncertainty: Thai
Deputy PM

BANGKOK, July 3 Asia Pulse - Deputy Prime Minister and
Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak has admitted
that the current political ambiguity has affected the
investment sector in Thailand.

Dr. Somkid had a discussion with four private
associations, namely the Federation of Thai Industries
(FTI), the Thai Chamber of Commerce, the Thai Bankers
Association, and the Thailand Securities Institute, on
the establishment of the Public Private Partnership
(PPP) for the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

They also discussed the plan to concretely develop the
SMEs and the economic forecast of the second half of
this year.

The Commerce Minister said he believes investors from
abroad will continue to invest in Thailand, but the
amount may be smaller than projected. He has therefore
asked the private sector to help promote confidence
among foreign investors.

He said Thailand's economic foundation is still strong
and the export sector continues to profit despite
certain deficits.

He stated that the private sector will have to
increase their competencies and expertise. The private
sector will also be the main agency to promote the
energy policy.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Agence France-Presse
Tuesday July 4, 2006    

Australian gay blood ban challenged

Gay activists in Australia won the first round in a
struggle against being banned from donating blood if
they have had male-to-male sex in the previous 12
months.

A challenge to the Australian Red Cross's policy on
the issue was referred to a tribunal by Tasmania's
anti-discrimination commissioner after a man
complained last year that the ruling was
discriminatory.

Assembly worker Michael Cain, 23, argued that blood
services should consider whether people had safe sex,
rather than their sexual preferences.

The AIDS virus HIV can be passed on through blood
transfusions and while gay men have been seen as major
transmitters of the disease in the west, heterosexuals
are responsible for most transmissions in worst-hit
areas such as Africa.

Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group spokesman
Rodney Croome said the challenge could have
international implications for gay donors, as bans on
gay men giving blood were also being questioned in
Britain and the United States.

"The Tasmanian tribunal hearings will be watched
carefully by governments and health experts the world
over," he said.

"It's about the global gay community and trying to get
this fixed for everyone so everyone has the same
rights," said Cain, the man who launched the
challenge. "It's not about me anymore."

--------------------------------------------------------------

Reuters, Tuesday, July 4, 2006

Guantanamo inmate's lawyers want Australian review

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Lawyers for Australian Guantanamo
Bay inmate David Hicks asked the Australian government
on Tuesday to formally review his case after the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled planned military trials were
illegal.

Hicks' lawyer David McLeod made his plea during a
meeting lasting almost an hour with Australian Foreign
Minister Alexander Downer, saying that Hicks was now
being detained without charge as a result of the U.S.
court's decision.

Downer said the United States was considering how to
proceed following last Thursday's ruling, but
Australia still wanted Hicks to face a civilian trial
or military court martial in the United States.

"We want those people in Guantanamo Bay, who have had
charges brought against them, we want them to face
justice," Downer told reporters in Adelaide.

Hicks, who has been in detention in Guantanamo Bay for
four-and-a-half years, had pleaded not guilty to
attempted murder, aiding the enemy and conspiracy, and
was one of the first detainees scheduled to face a
military trial.

McLeod said he had asked Downer to seek Hicks'
release.

"I indicated to him that in my opinion the charges
were no longer in existence and that David Hicks was
now simply a detainee," McLeod told reporters.

Australia had supported the U.S. military commission
trials and did not seek Hicks' release because he
could not have been charged in Australia. But
Australia said Hicks could serve his prison sentence
at home if he is convicted. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Agence France-Presse
Monday July 3, 2006 

Lawmakers demand response from Hong Kong leader after
democracy march

Hong Kong's China-backed leader Donald Tsang has come
under fire from opposition lawmakers for refusing to
comment on a weekend pro-democracy rally that drew
tens of thousands of protesters.

Organisers say more than 50,000 people gathered on
Saturday, more than the 20,000 that attended last
year's protest, which is held annually on the
anniversary of the former British colony's reversion
to Chinese rule in 1997.

The government gave only a three-paragraph statement
reiterating that a so-called committee of strategic
development formed last year was looking at how to
achieve universal suffrage in the semi-autonomous
Chinese territory.

Tsang, who heads Hong Kong's local government, was
branded as "disrespectful" for not addressing the
marchers' concerns.

"It was an anti-response," said union leader and
lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan, who was one of the march
organisers. "It was actually no response at all."

Barrister Ronny Tong, another pro-democracy
legislator, called on Tsang to respond.

"He should see for himself that nearly 60,000 people
turned out in what he described as a harmonious
society," Tong told the South China Morning Post
newspaper.

Local RTHK radio said Tsang had told reporters earlier
Monday that he had nothing to add to Saturday's
government statement.

Although police put the number of protesters who took
to the streets Saturday at just 28,000, the
higher-than expected turnout gave a boost to the
flagging fortunes of the once-formidable pro-democracy
camp.

Emboldened, they now plan to press Tsang for a
response when he addresses the legislature next
Monday.

Democrats have long called for the introduction of
universal suffrage as promised in the Basic Law
mini-constitution, which came into effect in 1997.

Currently Hong Kong's leaders are selected by a
China-backed panel of 800 elites and just half the
60-seat legislature is chosen by direct vote.

The Basic Law, however, gives no timetable for change
and democrats feel Tsang, like his predecessor Tung
Chee-hwa, has dragged his feet on the issue.

Tsang, who was appointed last year when Tung stepped
down amid a loss of confidence in his leadership, has
sought to balance democrats' demands with those of his
bosses in Beijing, who are opposed to any sudden
political change in China's richest city.

An offer of limited reform was voted down in a
bruising battle with lawmakers late last year. Tsang's
response was to create the commission.

However, democrats feel even that is weighted against
them.

"It has been filled with people who are close to
Beijing and would not fight for universal suffrage,"
said Lee.

"It is being manipulated to produce a conservative
conclusion -- I think the government has already
decided what that will be."

------------------------------------------------------------

Agence France-Presse
Tuesday July 4, 2006    

China, India gearing up to open historic border pass

China and India will reopen an historic trading route
through Tibet that has been closed for 44 years, in a
further sign of warming ties between the world's two
most populous nations.

The Nathu La border pass, once part of the famed Silk
Road trade route sitting 4,545 meters (14,998 feet)
above sea level, was closed in 1962 when the two
countries fought a brief border war in the Himalayan
region.

But with relations improving in the economic,
political and even military fields, the two sides
decided it was finally time to reopen the pass, which
sits between the Indian state of Sikkim and China's
Tibet.

The reopening of Nathu La, due for Thursday, was
initially agreed to in 2003 during an historic visit
to Beijing by then-Indian prime minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee.

Since then, the two nations have pushed for greater
trade to tap a total consumer market of 2.3 billion
people. Bilateral trade reached 18.73 billion dollars
last year, up 37.5 percent from 2004, according to
Chinese statistics.

Nathu La was a major trading point between the two
countries before the 1962 war and its reopening is
aimed at restoring the region's former trading glory.

A study conducted by the Sikkim government said trade
via the pass could reach 12 billion dollars by 2015.

Chinese state press reports, citing Tibetan trade
officials, have given more modest assessments, saying
goods traveling through the pass could eventually make
up 10 percent of overall trade between the two
nations.

However, China intends to make Yadong, the border city
on the Tibetan side that is also known as Chomo in
Tibetan, the biggest free-market border town in
southwest China, state press said.

To this end, Beijing announced last week that it
planned to extend the just opened Qinghai-Tibet
railway that runs from the western outpost of Golmud
to the Tibetan capital of Lhasa another 460 kilometers
to Yadong within 10 years.

Chinese press reports further said China was eager to
import iron ore through the pass, instead of having
the resource shipped by sea to Chinese ports along its
eastern seaboard.

Nevertheless, business at the pass is initially
expected to be far more modest and resemble more the
goods that were traded during the Silk Road days.

India will able to export 29 items including textiles
and blankets, agricultural implements, liquor,
cigarettes, tea, barley, rice, vegetable oil and local
herbs.

Chinese traders will offer 15 items -- from horses to
goats and sheep, yak tail, yak hair, goat skin, wool,
and raw silk.

And under the agreement, trade will begin every year
on June 1 and continue only until September 30 --
after which the area becomes impassable due to heavy
snow, strong winds and freezing weather.

Indian traders Tuesday carried out mock trading at the
Sherathang market five kilometres below the Nathu La
pass, to test out facilities there that include a
customs and immigration post, a bank and
telecommunications outlets.

One man eagerly looking forward to the reopening of
the pass is 80-year-old Motilal Lakhotia, who used to
trade through the route before its closure and is
still a prosperous businessman in Gangtok, the capital
of Sikkim.

Lakhotia, now a prosperous businessman in Gangtok, had
a shop at Yadong, known in India as Yatung, before it
was shut down by the border war, and will travel to
Nathu La on Thursday.

"I am very excited to be part of history and for me
age is no deterrent. In fact I am feeling rejuvenated
after my name was proposed in the first list of
traders," Lakhotia told AFP by telephone from Gangtok.

"I dealt with items from cereals to blankets, textiles
and woolen clothing when I ran the shop from 1954 to
1961," said Lakhotia, who is fluent in both Mandarin
and Tibetan.

"At that time we were given silver coins in exchange
for goods sold."

Meanwhile, the two nations continue to negotiate over
the territorial dispute that sparked their 1962
conflict, although both sides say progress is being
made.

India says China occupies 38,000 square kilometres
(14,670 square miles) of Indian territory. Beijing
claims the remote Indian state of Arunachal.

--------------------------------------------------------

Agence France-Presse
Monday July 3, 2006 

Controversy over plan to mediate Malaysian leaders'
row: report

A plan by Malaysia's ruling UMNO to mend strained ties
between Premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and predecessor
Mahathir Mohamad has sparked controversy within the
party, a report has revealed.

Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin said last Friday
the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which
is led by Abdullah, was working to bring the two
together to patch up their differences.

At the weekend, The Star newspaper reported that
veteran politician Mohamad Khalil Yaakob, a former
minister under Mahathir, would serve as mediator.

But a senior UMNO leader shot down the idea,
questioning the need for intervention by an outside
party.

"Both leaders are just having a difference in opinion,
which I personally feel does not warrant the
involvement of a third party," Mahdzir Khalid, chief
minister of northern Perak state, was quoted Monday as
saying by The Star.

"Why do we need a third party to act as a champion?"

Mahathir has bitterly attacked Abdullah in recent
weeks, criticising his policy decisions and even
expressing regret that he had chosen Abdullah to take
over from him in 2003, saying he had been "stabbed in
the back."

The public rebukes have left members of the UMNO
reeling, raising fears of a party rift and growing
political instability.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, who also serves as
UMNO deputy president, said Zainuddin would be hauled
in to explain his mediation proposal.

But UMNO vice president Muhyiddin Yassin backed the
plan, saying Khalil could help resolve the dispute and
head off any negative repercussions for the party.

"He can get the two sides to sit together in the
spirit of family and to express their views openly and
without reservations," he said.

Another UMNO veteran, Ahmad Rithaudeen, said the idea
should be given a try, saying Mohamad Khalil was a
"suitable" person to sort out the dispute.

One senior cabinet minister, Nazri Aziz, last week
accused Mahathir of trying to bring down the
government and destroy UMNO, which has headed the
ruling coalition for half a century.

Mahathir began his attack on Abdullah's administration
in May after it scrapped a project to build a bridge
to Singapore due to the city-state's opposition.

But analysts have said that Abdullah's position
remains intact with the economy on track and the next
election not due until 2009.

-----------------------------------------
Joyo Indonesia News Service
------------------------------------------