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The Jakarta Post | Fri, 07/24/2009 11:36 AM | People kapanlagi.com JAKARTA: The 2008 Puteri Indonesia winner Zivanna Letisha Siregar will have a tough job at the Miss Universe event in the Bahamas next month as she tries to assure the world that Indonesia is a safe place to visit following the bomb attacks last Friday. Zivanna said the Miss Universe event presented the perfect opportunity to launch the campaign and she’s ready to spread the word. “I think it [Miss Universe event] will be a great opportunity to revive Indonesia’s reputation,” said the 20-year-old. “I am going to tell the world that there is no need to be afraid [of visiting Indonesia].” Another key message she will try to convey to international audiences, she said, is that those who carried out the attacks do not represent the majority of Indonesians or any religion. “I am going to explain that the terrorists only wanted to damage peace in Indonesia,” said the Jakarta

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 07/20/2009 4:02 PM | National In the wake of attacks of two suicide bombers who detonated bombs at the JW Marriot and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta on Friday, a prominent religious figure said radicalism was born from individuals' misinterpretations of religious teachings. "Thus, if a Muslim decides to blow himself up and take innocent people’s lives with him, we cannot deem that such an act represents Islam," Nadhlatul Ulama (NU) chairman Hasyim Muzadi said during an inter-religion prayer near the Friday bomb sites in Kuningan, Central Jakarta, on Monday. "Indonesians are victims of misinterpretation that has given birth to acts of terrorism." Prabowo Subianto, the running mate of trailing presidential candidate Megawati Sukarnoputri said there were only a few radicals in Indonesia. "But they are capable of brutally devastating the country. We must remain alert," he said. ( h

Anand Krishna , Jakarta | Tue, 07/21/2009 2:28 PM | Opinion Some time after the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels were bombed last Friday, presidential spokesman Andi Malarangeng conveyed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's concerns on television, and said the President intended to visit the site immediately, but since it was "Friday, and almost prayer time", the visit would be postponed until after the prayers. The visit was eventually postponed to the next day, due to "security considerations", as stated by President Yudhoyono himself in his televised press conference. I am not talking religion here, I am just doing a little introspection: what would I do in a similar situation? What if someone I loved was staying in one of the hotels? All considerations aside, I would have rushed to the site. I would not need any scriptural sanction to prompt me to leave my prayers and do so. My answer is not hypothetical, but based on

By Julia Ritchey London 25 July 2009 At Paris' Eiffel Tower on 25 Jul 2009, demonstrators against Iran's election crackdown hold placards of Neda Agha Soltan, who was killed in anti-government protests last month Protesters gathered in dozens of cities across the world Saturday as part of a global day of action to spotlight, what the demonstrators say, are Iran's human and civil rights abuses. The organizers of the event, United4Iran, are calling for the release of what they say are hundreds of opposition activists arrested following the country's controversial election in June. About 200 people gathered along a sidewalk opposite the Iranian embassy in London, chanting, waving green flags, and showing support for Iranians seeking democracy. Drewery Dyke works with Amnesty International, one of the organizations that helped sponsor the day's event. He says the point of these protests is t

By VOA News 25 July 2009 Iran's Revolutionary Guards corps is warning it will respond to any attack by Israel with a strike on nuclear sites in the Jewish state. Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Ali Jafari told state-run media Saturday that Iran's missiles are now capable of hitting targets in Israel, and that any Israeli attack would be met with a "firm and precise" response. Israel sees Iran as a threat because of its nuclear program, and has been widely reported to be considering a pre-emptive strike. Like the United States, Britain and other Western countries, Israel does not believe Iran's claims that its program is for peaceful purposes. On Friday, Iran's first vice president stepped down after heavy criticism for comments he made about Israel. Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie said last year that Iran is a friend of all people in the world, including Israelis, even though Iran does not

By VOA News 25 July 2009 North Korea's envoy to the United Nations has signaled that his country is open to a dialogue with the United States, but will never again participate in six-nation disarmament talks. Ambassador Sin Son Ho told reporters in New York Friday that Pyongyang is ready for what he called "negotiations on issues of common concern." But he said his nation has made it clear that the six-nation disarmament talks are "gone forever." He said North Korea was "cheated" by other parties in the talks, who he said did not act as they had promised. Washington has refused all previous calls for bilateral talks with Pyongyang, supporting instead the six-party framework for disarmament talks. In addition to the United States, the talks involve North Korea's neighbors Japan and South Korea, as well as China and Russia. The last round of six-party talks in Beijing in December en

By VOA News 25 July 2009 Iranian reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi (file photo) Opposition leaders in Iran are calling on the country's top clerics to help end the crackdown that followed massive protests of Iran's June 12 elections. Defeated presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, along with former president Mohammad Khatami, sent a letter to clerics in the holy city of Qom Saturday, comparing the crackdown to the violent methods employed by the former shah before the 1979 Islamic revolution. A statement posted by Karroubi on his Internet site went even further, accusing Iranian security agents of using tactics more brutal than those he said were employed by the Israelis against the Palestinians. Rights groups say hundreds of people were detained during the post-election crackdown. At least 20 people were reported killed during the protests. One reformist Web site S

By Robert Berger Jerusalem 25 July 2009 The United States is sending senior officials to Israel for a week of high diplomacy. There are wide gaps to be bridged. Defense Secretary Robert Gates (File) Iran will top the agenda when American Secretary of Defense Robert Gates arrives in Israel on Monday. Gates is expected to urge Israel not to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, saying the planned U.S. dialogue with the Islamic Republic deserves time to bear fruit. But Israel is skeptical. Zalman Shoval, a former Israeli ambassador to Washington, says Iran could use the dialogue to buy more time to build a nuclear bomb. "What could happen is that the Iranians will go on in enriching uranium and reaching the stage where they can produce a bomb within a few weeks, or within a few months, and any controls or anything like that will be useless by then," he said. Iran says its nuclear program is for peace

By VOA News 25 July 2009 Sardar Tariq Masood (r), defense lawyer of one of five suspects in Mumbai terror attacks, talks with media at Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, 25 Jul 2009 A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has adjourned for more than a month a case against five men accused of being involved in November's terror attacks in India's commercial city of Mumbai. During a closed briefing Saturday, a judge heard brief statements from both sides before delaying the case until August 29. The five suspects appeared at a high-security facility, Adiala Jail, in Rawalpindi, a garrison city just outside of Islamabad. A defense attorney, Shahbaz Rajput, told reporters the suspects have not yet been formally charged. Relations between India and Pakistan have been strained since last year's deadly siege that killed 166 people in Mumbai. India blames the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, and says Pakistan has not don