SBY reads Jakartass

Less than a week after the country refused entry to American researcher Sidney Jones, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered the lifting of the ban on Tuesday, blaming the incident on the government of his predecessor Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said that Susilo had only learned about the expulsion from media reports (Jakartass?).

You may recall that I suggested, ever so politely, that the previous regime may have been responsible for Sidney's re-exile.

SBY sought an explanation from Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo Adi Sucipto and Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin.

"The ban was issued based on a decision made by the previous government. The President asked (the ministers) whether the ban was relevant to the current situation. It turned out that the reasons were irrelevant," Andi told reporters.

John Aglionby probably reads Jakartass

Yes, John and I do cover the same stories. It doesn't bother me too much that the Guardian's correspondent has a wider readership than I do, partly because by linking to his articles I can demonstrate my prescience.

On August 10th I suggested that troops withdrawn from Aceh and Maluku would be sent to West Papua.

In yesterday's Guardian, John reported on an announcement from the Indonesian military that a new division of some 10,000-15,000 troops of the élite strategic reserves would be created specifically to be based in West Papua.

The territory is home to the world's largest gold and copper mine, run by a subsidiary of the American firm Freeport-McMoran, and the Anglo-American oil giant BP is developing a massive natural gas field which is expected to be generating revenues of around £55m a year.

The military has yet to become an organ of the state and has to find some 60% of its own budget. Suharto allowed the military to establish business conglomerates in return for their backing of his regime.

That he left the country bankrupt means that the state has yet to have the financial resources to properly fund the military. The consequence is that they need to engineer problems in provinces rich in resources in order to keep going.

Foreign journalists and most researchers and aid workers are banned from Papua but, ironically, tourists are not.

Ironically, John? Tourists have money and generate income for the military-owned resorts. I doubt that your Guardian expense account is of interest to anyone but your editor.

PS
It's possible that both SBY and John read Indcoup too.
And the Jakarta Post.
 

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¶ 4:30 pm