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Fired Nazaruddin Lashes Out at Democrats

Muhammad Nazaruddin on Tuesday struck back at the Democratic Party for having dumped him as its treasurer, accusing other members of having also violated its code of ethics.

Nazaruddin said his dismissal as general treasurer by the party’s ethics council on Monday was unfair and that many other Democrats, including Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Andi Mallarangeng and ethics council secretary Amir Syamsuddin, had also conducted shady deals.

“Speaking about violations of the party’s code of ethics, many other Democrats are at it as well,” he told reporters.

“For example, Amir was also a lawyer for a client that had misused the BLBI [Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance] program.

“He’s always selling the party’s name at the Supreme Court. That’s surely in violation of the party’s ethics.”

Nazaruddin said he was sure Amir and Andi were behind the decision to remove him as treasurer in order to divert attention from a recent bribery scandal involving the Sports Ministry. He also accused Janedjri M. Gaffar, secretary general of the Constitutional Court, of having repeatedly abused his authority for personal gain in relation to court projects.

Janedjri earlier accused Nazaruddin of giving him an “unsolicited payment” of 120,000 Singapore dollars ($96,000) in September, which he says he promptly returned.

“I know it all and will reveal it publicly,” Nazaruddin said. “It’s just like a thief calling someone else a thief.”

A source close to Nazaruddin who declined to be identified told the Jakarta Globe that his camp believed Andi had been trying to distance himself from a graft case allegedly involving his ministry’s secretary general, Wafid Muharram.

Wafid was arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) over a suspect deal linked to a project to build the athletes’ village in Palembang for November’s Southeast Asian Games.

Mohammad El Idris, an executive from the private contractor awarded the contract for the project, and suspected broker Mindo Rosaline Manullang have also been arrested for their alleged roles in the case.

“They don’t want the case to unravel all the trickery of his ministry,” the source said.

Andi, meanwhile, has denied the allegations.

“I don’t know how the decision [to dismiss Nazaruddin] was made because it was taken entirely by the ethics council,” he said.

Andi said allegations by Nazaruddin that he had abused his authority to appoint companies owned or linked to his brother, Choel Mallarangeng, to deal with projects related to the opening ceremony of the SEA Games were untrue. “The accusations are fabricated,” he said.

In a statement sent to the Globe, Choel also denied the accusations, dismissing them as “empty accusations not based on any facts.”

“I understand that Nazaruddin is currently panicking in the face of a number of issues affecting him, but those cases should be faced wisely and by always relying on legal facts and not by rather indiscriminately throwing baseless accusations around,” he said.

Choel said that the Mallarangeng family “has never sought profit from his [Andi’s] position as sports and youth minister.”

Andi also denied that rival factions had caused rifts within the Democratic Party and were bent on pulling the rug from under each other’s feet. “Our party has been solid until now,” he said.

E.E. Mangindaan, a senior member of the party’s ethics council, meanwhile, said Nazaruddin should back up his accusations with evidence.

Earlier on Tuesday, KPK deputy chairman M. Jasin told reporters that the Constitutional Court had filed a report on its claims against Nazaruddin and that the matter would be probed thoroughly.

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/fired-nazaruddin-lashes-out-at-democrats/443050

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Soal Nazaruddin, Mahfud Tak Ambil Pusing

Nazaruddin Dicopot dari Bendahara Umum Demokrat

Tak Terima, Nazaruddin Akan Buka-bukaan

Muhammad Nazaruddin Lengser, Akan Ada Politik "Buka Kartu"

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Boediono Lays Out Ambitious Growth Plans For Airport

Soekarno-Hatta International Airport will get increased capacity and two rail lines as part of development plans now being drafted, Vice President Boediono said on Tuesday.

“The development of Soekarno-Hatta should be a national priority,” he said in a meeting with ministers.

“The longer we delay the work, the more difficult it becomes.”

The airport was built to handle around 22 million passengers a year. In 2010, however, it served 44.2 million passengers.

Yopie Hidayat, Boediono’s spokesman, said addressing that gap was the focal point of the development plan.

“The target is to increase Soekarno-Hatta’s capacity to 62 million passengers per year by 2014,” he said.

“That will mean increasing the apron capacity from the current 125 aircraft to 174 aircraft.”

He said the government did not plan to add another runway in the near future, but would reconfigure the existing two runways to make optimum use of them.

State-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura II has been appointed to draft the redesign and has been given two weeks to submit it for approval.

Part of the plan includes completing the development of Terminal 3 by 2013, renovating Terminals 1 and 2, building a new cargo terminal by 2013 and completing the integration of all terminals with supporting facilities by 2014.

The project has been budgeted at around Rp 11.75 trillion ($1.4 billion), which will come from a combination of loans from state banks and investment organized by Angkasa Pura.

Yopie said the next phase of development for Soekarno-Hatta would include the building of Terminal 4 and a third runway, but that was contingent on the results of a feasibility study to be announced next year by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

“Clearly the biggest challenge to this project will be the appropriation of land for the new facilities, which will require 820 hectares,” he said.

There were currently 2,000 homes built in the area where the new runway and terminal were expected to be built, he added. Acquiring that land is expected to cost the government Rp 4.5 trillion, while another Rp 2.5 trillion will also have to come from the state budget to build the runway.

The funding for Terminal 4 will come from Angkasa Pura, likely through loans and outside investment.

Should this project fall through, the government says the alternative is to build a new airport in East Jakarta to handle 100 million passengers a year. Under this plan, the new airport is expected to be in operation by 2019.

Yopie said another major development for the airport would be the construction of two commuter rail lines, one connecting the airport to Tangerang and the other to Pluit in North Jakarta.

He said the seven-kilometer link to Tangerang would be built by state railway operator Kereta Api Indonesia at a cost of Rp 2.3 trillion, including the acquisition of land.

“It will serve five million passengers a year, on the basis of operating hours of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.,” Yopie said.

He said the rail link to Pluit, which is still being discussed, would be funded under a public-private partnership. It is expected to serve 10 million passengers a year operating from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., or 20 million working around the clock.

To address overcapacity at Soekarno-Hatta in the short term, the government says it is considering moving some airlines to Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport in East Jakarta or to Pondok Cabe Airport in South Tangerang for those serving only domestic flights.

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/boediono-lays-out-ambitious-growth-plans-for-airport/443030

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Soal Nazaruddin, Mahfud Tak Ambil Pusing

Nazaruddin Dicopot dari Bendahara Umum Demokrat

Tak Terima, Nazaruddin Akan Buka-bukaan

Muhammad Nazaruddin Lengser, Akan Ada Politik "Buka Kartu"

Agum Siap Sampaikan Aspirasi APSI

PSSI Kisruh, Pemain Muda Korbannya

Kongres Kisruh, Mantan Pemain Timnas Sedih

Chelsea Pecat Ancelotti

Ronaldo: 40 Golku adalah Buah Kerja Teman-teman

Ronaldo: "El Pichichi" Milik Semua

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Ronaldo Senang Madrid Cetak 102 Gol

"Setan" Pun Tak Bisa Hentikan Messi

Van der Sar Tak Mau seperti Van Bronckhorst-Zidane

Lawan MU Seolah Jadi Laga Terakhir Messi

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Malaysian Police Arrest 105 Indonesian Migrants

Malaysian police arrested 105 suspected illegal Indonesian migrants who were on a boat trying to sneak out of the country to return home, an official said Thursday.

Marine police detained the fiberglass boat after a 30-minute chase off southern Johor state before dawn Tuesday, said N. Kalai Chelvan, a marine police deputy commander.

He said 89 men and 16 women, all without documents, were arrested but the boat's skipper managed to jump overboard and swim to the nearby shore to escape. He said police were acting on intelligence reports.

"This is a hot spot area," Kalai told AFP. "This is the third [seized boat] this year. But this is the biggest group."

He said marine police earlier this year had stopped two boats with about 40 people on board each time.

Around 1.2 million Indonesians are employed legally on Malaysian construction sites, in factories and other sectors, but Indonesian embassy officials estimate some 800,000 more are working illegally.

The waterway between Malaysia and neighboring Indonesia is a popular smuggling route, also used by people from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and other troubled countries who try to sneak into Australia via Indonesia.

Numerous boats have sunk in recent years.

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/malaysian-police-arrest-105-indonesian-migrants/443296

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Soal Nazaruddin, Mahfud Tak Ambil Pusing

Nazaruddin Dicopot dari Bendahara Umum Demokrat

Tak Terima, Nazaruddin Akan Buka-bukaan

Muhammad Nazaruddin Lengser, Akan Ada Politik "Buka Kartu"

Agum Siap Sampaikan Aspirasi APSI

PSSI Kisruh, Pemain Muda Korbannya

Kongres Kisruh, Mantan Pemain Timnas Sedih

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Ronaldo: 40 Golku adalah Buah Kerja Teman-teman

Ronaldo: "El Pichichi" Milik Semua

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Ronaldo Senang Madrid Cetak 102 Gol

"Setan" Pun Tak Bisa Hentikan Messi

Van der Sar Tak Mau seperti Van Bronckhorst-Zidane

Lawan MU Seolah Jadi Laga Terakhir Messi

Selengkapnya...

Special Hotlines for Communications with Indonesians in Egypt

Deputy Foreign Minister Triyono Wibowo said the government is greatly concerned about the fate of the 6,045 Indonesians in Egypt where the situation is still very tense.

"We hope the situation in Egypt could be well under control, while actually we did not wish to middle in the situation in that country, and we are therefore deeply concerned about the fate of our 6,045 people there," he said here on Sunday.

On the sidelines of a discussion on regional border at the University of Narotama (Unnar) here, he said the government’s attention to its citizens in Egypt is seeing that Indonesians are free from suffering.

"Some of our people in Egypt are students, workers, and many have other professions, but since the last couple of days (Jan 28) our government has issued an official notification in the website of the Indonesian mission in Egypt," he said.

The notification hoped Indonesians need to remain calm and stay home and avoid points of restlessness, and at any time may contact Indonesian representative mission there if they knew something bad had happened.

"Up till now none of our people had been hurt, especially that in addition to the 6,045 Indonesians officially listed at Indonesian representative offices, some had yet to be registered," he said.

In the meantime, Indonesian ambassador to Egypt A.M. Sachir said he has asked the military authorities in Egypt to protect Indonesian nationals.

"We have asked the Egyptian military authorities to take over security to protect Indonesians," Ambassador Sachir said.

So far all Indonesian citizens in Egypt are in a safe condition, he said, although some demonstrations were still flaring in several parts of Egypt. The Indonesian embassy opened a command post and provides special hotlines no 20227947200 and 27947209 for communications with Indonesians there.
• kompas.com

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Top of The Google Trends

Take That ticket sales, the iPad launch, Cheryl Cole's divorce and the World Cup - these were the events the nation most wanted to know about this year. Internet users sought information on the election, rail strikes, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry, according to Google's Zeitgeist for 2010.

Zeitgeist means spirit of the times and the list of biggest search terms gives a clue to the hottest celebs and sites around. So there's no surprise to see MailOnline making an appearance.

In the Top Ten for news and current events, Daily Mail Showbiz comes in higher than the three main political parties and the One Show's Alex Jones. In overall searches 'Mail' comes in at No.9, thanks no doubt in part to MailOnline, which this year broke the 50million barrier for the number of monthly unique users.

Meanwhile, the fastest-rising search term is Chatroulette, a site that allows users to randomly see and speak to strangers from around the world. It was closely followed by the question-and-answer site Formspring, which is mostly uses by schoolchildren.

But there are a few surprises. The fastest rising people section is topped by Kristian Digby, the BBV TV presenter who died at his home in March after a solo sex game is believed to have gone horribly wrong.

The late fashion designer Alexander McQueen also features while showbiz staples Nicki Minaj, Kesha and Kim Kardashian are also surprisingly popular. The Liberal Democrats are the nation's most searched for political party, trailed by Labour and then the Conservatives.

But despite the popularity of last summer's World Cup in South Africa in the survey, England's football team is conspicuously absent.

The number one search term is, not surprisingly with 500million users worldwide, Facebook, with BBC, YouTube, Hotmail and eBay taking up the top five. Google's compilers will have been disappointed to note they came in sixth place.
Sumber : The Daily Mail (KOMPAS)

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Jakarta police meet military to discuss Obama security

Jakarta Police Insp. Gen. Sutarman on Monday afternoon was scheduled to host a briefing with the Jakarta Military Commander’s Office military personnel, led by Maj. Gen. Marciano Norman, to discuss final preparations for the planned visit of US President Barrack Obama.

Around 9,000 police officers were being prepared to secure Obama’s first visit as president to his former hometown, Jakarta, including for his visit to the University of Indonesia (UI) for a special lecture, Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli said Monday.

Jakarta Police Traffic Directorate chief Sr. Comr. Royke Lumowa said roads to be traveled by Obama’s entourage would be closed to other traffic and undergo strict security operations.

“The route is from Halim to the State Palace via the Semanggi tollway exit. Later the route taken will be between the State Palace and the Shangrila Hotel, and then back to the Palace again. The following day [Obama] will visit Istiqlal Mosque and then the University of Indonesia via Lenteng Agung tollway.”

“Obama will drop in at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetary, and from there travel straight to Halim airport," Royke said, adding that there would be around 4,000 traffic officers on duty.

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Mentawai death toll revised to 445

The death toll from the Mentawai earthquake and tsunami is officially 445 as of Saturday, the West Sumatra Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) said.

“The BPBD reported that 445 people died, 58 people were still missing, 173 people sustained heavy injuries, 325 people sustained light injuries and 15,353 successfully evacuated during the Mentawai tsunami,” Andi Arief, the special presidential aide for disaster management, was reported as saying by news portal detik.com.

An earthquake triggered tsunami, with waves reaching 10-feet high, hit the Mentawai Islands off the coast of Sumatra on Oct. 25.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, accompanied by First Lady Kristiani Herawati and several ministers, visited Mentawai three days after the disaster struck to ensure that victims received relief aid.

Betumonga village in North Pagai district sustained the highest death toll, with 114 and 121 deaths in the hamlets of Muntie and Sabeugunggung respectively, the BPBD said.

With 58 deaths, the hamlets of Balerak Sok and Taparaboat in the village of Malakopa sustained high casualties as well, news portal kompas.com reported.

The remaining casualties were from the villages of Bosua and Beriuleu in South Sipora district, Bulasat in South Pagai, Silabu in North Pagai and Taikako in Sikakap district.

The Head of the West Sumatra Disaster Management Operation Control previously claimed the death toll was lower than earlier numbers because several people, who had been listed as dead, were found alive.

Two weeks ago, 449 people were reported as dead, four more than the latest figures.

Despite the gravity of the disaster and ensuing chaos of the relief efforts, West Sumatra Governor
Irwan Prayitno still had time for an overseas trip without the President’s consent, which incited
a harsh response from State Secretary Sudi Silalahi, ministers and legislators.

“Give me a week to study the matter first,” Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi said Saturday in reference to possible sanctions against Irwan.

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Eruption of Merapi Like The Movie "2012"

Frightened residents in a bustling city of 400,000 at the foot of Indonesia’s rumbling volcano headed out of town Monday, cramming onto trains and buses and even rented vehicles to seek refuge with family and friends far away. Images of a mass burial for many of the 141 people killed in the last two weeks served as a reminder of the mountain’s furor.

“My parents have been calling ... saying ’You have to get out of there! You have to come home!”’ said Linda Ervana, a 21-year-old history student who was waiting with friends at a train station in the university town of Yogyakara, 20 miles (30 kilometers) from Mount Merapi. After failing to get tickets, they finally decided to rent a minibus with other classmates.

“It feels like that movie ’2012,”’ said her 22-year-old friend, Paulina Setin. “Like a disaster in a movie.” The notoriously unpredictable mountain unleashed its most powerful eruption in a century Friday, sending hot clouds of gas, rocks and debris avalanching down its slopes at highway speeds, smothering entire villages and leaving a trail of charred corpses in its path.

Concerns over the risk posed by ash lingering in the air prompted many international airlines to cancel flights to the capital, Jakarta, just days before President Barack Obama’s planned trip to Indonesia — his second stop in a 10-day Asian tour. All were back in the air Monday and White House officials said Obama was still scheduled to touch down on Tuesday.

Mount Merapi, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, has erupted many times in the last century, killing more than 1,400. But Friday was the mountain’s deadliest day since 1930, with nearly 100 lives lost.

Islam mandates that the dead be buried quickly, so authorities gave relatives three days to identify their loved ones. To speed up the process, most families chose to have their relatives interred in a mass grave — a common practice in Indonesia following a disaster.

One by one the bodies — some too charred to be identified — were lowered into a massive trench, dug into a large green field in the shadow of the volcano. Some were in plain wooden coffins, others still in the morgue’s yellow body bags.

Merapi, meanwhile, showed few signs of tiring Monday, sending out thunderous claps as it shot clouds of gas and debris high into the air. The Indonesian government has put Yogyakarta on high alert.

The ash hung so thickly that breathing became painful and clothes stunk of smoke after any time spent outdoors, and the city’s airport was closed yet again on Monday. Though there have been no orders to evacuate, many residents decided to go on their own. They were seen packing up their homes and piling into cars and motorcycles.

“What choice do we have?” asked Sukirno, 37, as he sped away with his wife and their 8-year-old daughter, saying he worried about the effect of the ash on their health. The biggest threat to the city, experts say, is not searing gas clouds, but the Code River, which flows right into the city’s heart from the 9,700-foot (3,000-meter) mountain.

It could act as a conduit for deadly volcanic mudflows that form in heavy rains, racing at speeds of up to 60 mph (100 kph) and destroying everything in their path. A thick, black volcanic sludge has already inundated one city neighborhood that starts at the river bank and climbs a hillside. In Romomangun, the mud burst the banks and poured into buildings.

It has filled a path that runs along the river — which is usually about three feet (a meter) below a retaining wall but is now even with it. The sludge also rushed into a small, one-room building on the bank that houses a public bathroom. The top of the entry door is now at waist level.

Merapi’s latest round of eruptions began Oct. 26, followed by more than a dozen other powerful blasts and thousands of tremors. The National Disaster Management Agency said the overall death toll from the volcano climbed from 138 to 141 on Monday after search and rescue teams found more bodies on the mountain.

Nearly 280,000 people — many of whom normally live on the fertile slopes of the volcano — have jammed into emergency shelters. Many have complained of poor sanitation, saying there were not enough toilets or clean drinking water.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 235 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanoes because it sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped string of faults that lines the Pacific Ocean.
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U.S. Officials Monitoring Travel Conditions in Indonesia Closely

The White House says President Barack Obama still plans to visit Indonesia despite recent eruptions from Mount Merapi volcano that have killed more than 130 people.

Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said Monday morning that U.S. officials are monitoring travel conditions closely, but are “proceeding with plans to depart for Indonesia” on Tuesday. Concerns over the ash spewed by the volcano have prompted some international airlines to cancel flights to the capital of Jakarta.

Indonesia is scheduled to be the second stop on Obama’s four-country trip through Asia. He canceled two previously scheduled visits because of the health care debate in Congress and the Gulf oil spill. Obama lived in Indonesia for several years as a boy.

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Yogyakarta on Highest Merapi Alert

With Central Java’s Mount Merapi experiencing its worst eruptions in more than a century, the Indonesian president and his three top ministers on Friday arrived in Yogyakarta to reassure residents and ensure a quicker response to the unfolding disaster.

The volcano, which has been continually erupting since Oct. 26, sent deadly heat clouds down its slopes on Thursday night and Friday morning, killing 64 people and destroying villages previously thought to be safe.

The deaths brought the toll to 122, with more than 150,000 people displaced, presidential staffer Andi Arief said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono arrived in Yogyakarta on Friday night and had set up his command post at Gedung Agung, the presidential residence there. The city of 400,000 people is 30 kilometers south of the volcano.

Yogyakarta Mayor Herry Zudianto late on Thursday declared that the city was at the highest alert level.

The authorities also widened the radius of the danger zone around the mountain for the second time in a week, from 15 km to the present 20 km.

It was at 10 km immediately after the eruption cycle began.

Lahar, or cold lava washed down by heavy rains, on Friday afternoon begun to flow through the Code River that runs down the southern slope of Merapi and through the heart of Yogyakarta, causing panic among those living on its banks.

“Since Friday at dawn, residents in seven subdistricts have been told to be ready to be evacuated at any time,” Zudianto said.

Yogyakarta’s international airport was closed as ash clouds billowed from the 2,914-meter peak to the altitude of cruising jetliners and the runway was covered in grey soot. Officials said the airport remain shut until at least Saturday.

Forty-one flights between Jakarta and Yogyakarta were canceled on Friday.

Yudhoyono, who was accompanied by State Secretary Sudi Silalahi and all three coordinating ministers, did not say how long he planned to stay in Yogyakarta.

“I have to be with the people there to assure them, as well as for quick decision-making,” he said. “In a crisis situation like this, I don’t want decision-making to take long.”

Journalists who cover the palace have been told to prepare to stay in Yogyakarta until Sunday at the earliest, but the president was scheduled to be back in Jakarta to greet visiting US President Barack Obama on Tuesday.

The president also said that coordination of disaster mitigation for the eruption had been tasked to Syamsul Maarif, the head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).

“Looking at the scale and the continuity of the disaster, I decided that the command is now in the hand of the BNPB head with the help of the Yogyakarta and Central Java governors, the Diponegoro military commander and the heads of the police of Central Java and Yogyakarta,” he said, adding that the decision was effective as of Friday.

Yudhoyono said he had also assigned Agung Laksono, coordinating minister for people’s welfare, to coordinate aid from the central government.

Meanwhile, the military is preparing a brigade to build makeshift hospitals and public kitchens to serve the growing number of displaced.

“The Indonesian Armed Forces [TNI] will also mobilize vehicles for [evacuations],” Yudhoyono said.

He added that the National Police were also preparing a task force to assure a smooth flow of traffic as people moved to safety.

Sukhyar, head of the geological agency, said officers at observation stations had been withdrawn for safety reasons.

The Transportation Ministry has ordered pilots to stay at least 12 km away from the rumbling volcano, and several flights linking Central Java to Singapore and Malaysia have been canceled this week.

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Indonesia Volcano Death Toll Soars Past 100; 'Many Children Dead'

Indonesia’s Mount Merapi volcano killed 58 people and injured dozens when it erupted again on Friday, with scores more suffering severe burns and breathing problems, officials said.

The latest deaths bring the total toll to more than 100 since the country’s most active volcano started erupting on Oct. 26.

“The death toll rose to 58, including seven toddlers,” said doctor Suseno Wibowo at Sarjito hospital in Yogyakarta, south of the volcano in central Java.

Hospital spokesman Banu Hermawan said earlier: “The evacuation process is still ongoing now. We’re afraid there’ll be more deaths as some locations are still inaccessible due to hot ash and volcanic material.”

Many of the dead were children from Argomulyo village, 18 kilometers from the crater, according to emergency response officials and witnesses.

"Sixty-six people are being treated for burn injuries,” said Banu Hermawan, a spokesman for Sarjito general hospital in Yogyakarta, south of the volcano.

“Argomulyo village has been burned down to the ground by the heat clouds. Many children have died there. When I was in the village the ground was still hot,” Yogyakarta police force medic Teguh Dwi Santosa said.

A river running through the village overflowed with a thick mixture of mud and ash, and several bodies lay unclaimed in the debris, witnesses said.

Ash, deadly heat clouds and molten debris gushed from the mouth of the 2,914-meter mountain and shot high into the sky for most of the night and into the morning.

There was panic and chaos on the roads as people tried to flee in the darkness, rescue workers said.

The ranks of evacuees swelled past 100,000 people, with 30,000 moved into a sports stadium about 25 kilometers away from the peak.

“The emergency shelters are now overcrowded,” emergency response field coordinator Widi Sutikno said.

The international airport at Yogyakarta was closed as ash clouds billowed to the altitude of cruising jetliners and the runway was covered in gray soot, officials said.

Government volcanologist Surono said Friday’s blasts were the largest yet.

“This is the biggest eruption so far. The heat clouds went down the slopes as far as 13 kilometres and the explosion was heard as far as 20 kilometers away,” he said.

The exclusion zone was widened from 15 to 20 kilometers around the mountain and everyone living in the area was ordered to evacuate their homes and shelters immediately, he said.

Indonesia’s transport ministry has told pilots to stay at least 12 kilometers away from the rumbling volcano and several flights linking central Java to Singapore and Malaysia have been cancelled this week.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited people displaced by the volcano on Wednesday as the disaster-prone country struggles to cope with dual natural disasters following a tsunami off Sumatra on October 25.

The three-metre wave smashed into villages on the remote Mentawai island chain following a 7.7-magnitude earthquake off the coast, killing 428 people and leaving 15,000 homeless.

Another 74 people remain missing, feared dead.

Bad weather and poor communications on the undeveloped islands — a legendary destination for foreign surfers — have hampered efforts to bring food, shelter and medicine to the affected areas.

“We have to use rubber boats to reach isolated villages. We even have to swim to bring the boat over coral reefs,” Indonesian Red Cross spokeswoman Fitriana Sidika said on Wednesday.

Three New Zealand yachtsmen who had not been heard from since the tsunami turned up safe and sound, their families said on Friday.

The Indonesian archipelago has dozens of active volcanoes and straddles major tectonic fault lines from the Indian to the Pacific oceans. The 2004 Asian tsunami killed almost 170,000 people in Indonesia alone.

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Doubts Cast on Obama’s Indonesian Mosque Visit

With four days to go to US President Barack Obama’s visit to Indonesia, it remains unclear whether he will visit the country’s largest mosque, Istiqlal, as the White House suggested last week.

“It is still tentative,” Julian Aldrin Pasha, a spokesman for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday.

“He has plans to go there, but we heard that it is not yet confirmed. It will be decided directly by the White House.”

A schedule obtained by the Globe on Thursday showed the mosque was not on the itinerary.

Such a visit, in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, had been seen as a symbolic gesture to engage Muslim communities around the world.

The visit to Indonesia in itself has been seen as a good opportunity for Obama to once again send a message of peace to the Muslim world, that the United States is not waging war against Islam.

On Tuesday, Obama is scheduled to meet with Yudhoyono, and a visit to the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery in South Jakarta is planned for early the next day.

He is also scheduled to give a speech at University of Indonesia before leaving later in the day for South Korea to attend the Group of 20 summit in Seoul.

Yudhoyono on Thursday chaired a meeting with several of his ministers, including the three coordinating ministers and the foreign minister, to discuss preparations for Obama’s visit.

Meanwhile, Austrian President Heinz Fischer will be in the country from Tuesday through Thursday.

He is expected to be accompanied by his wife, a number of ministers, senior officials and a business delegation.

“There will be comprehensive partnership launched during Obama’s visit,” Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, told journalists after the meeting at the palace.

“Comprehensive means discussing all aspects, not only concerning political, security but also economy, trade, investment, people to people relation, cooperation in the fields of education, environment and regional problems.”

Marty said that among one of the issues the two sides hoped to work on was the sharp decline in the number of Indonesian students studying in the United States, now at around 7,000 from the previous 14,000.

“We will try to solve this so there would be a bigger possibility for Indonesians to study in the United States,” he said.

Hatta Rajasa, coordinating minister for economy, said that the focus of the economic cooperation is on Overseas Private Investment Corporation that has been agreed.

“[There will also talk] about clean energy that is our focus for the future,” Hatta said.

Regarding investment, Hatta said that US companies is one of the biggest investors in Indonesia, through company such as GE, Caterpillar and many others.

The recent election result in the USA, Mary said, did not influence the relationship of the two nations.

“The internal development in US will not impact the relationship of Indonesia and US,” Marty said.

“The comprehensive partnership between the two nations based on strong base and it is strategic for the future, so it would not be influenced on the internal situation in that country.”

• thejakartaglobe

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