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Indonesia's president Abdurrahman Wahid has criticised the United States for its embargo on weapons sales to Indonesia and said the military would procure arms elsewhere to deal with the crises threatening the country's unity. 
Speaking after the commemoration of the 55th anniversary of the Indonesian Air Force, Mr Wahid said Indonesia should not give in to intimidiation from any country.
The Clinton administration froze military ties and weapons sales after the violence in East Timor in 1999
Indonesia's military said the ban had hampered its ability to deal with escalating separatist rebellions in Aceh and Irian Jaya provinces, a sectarian conflict in the Maluku islands, and intercommunal violence on Borneo island.

HeraldSun (Australia): A HARDLINE stance by East Timor is threatening billions of dollars of new investment in the Timor Sea.

The East Timorese are playing hard ball over a lucrative royalty deal covering rich oil and gas fields in waters between Australia and the one-time Indonesian province.
And they warned yesterday the affected area of the Timor Sea, known as the Timor Gap, would effectively remain off limits to new projects until Australia came up with an appropriate offer.
"The Timor Gap is closed for business and I cannot say when the Timor Gap will open for business," said Peter Galbraith, political affairs minister for the United Nations Temporary Administration for East Timor (UNTAET).

It had been assumed East Timor and Australia would simply roll over the 1989 Timor Gap Treaty between Australia and Indonesia, which invaded East Timor in 1975.
That agreement laid out the fiscal terms for the shared Timor Gap waters and stipulated that oil and condensate royalties be split equally between Canberra and Jakarta.
But it has now emerged that East Timor has argued for a completely new deal on the basis that since Indonesia illegally occupied East Timor, it had no right to sign a treaty over East Timor's oil and gas.
"As the product of an illegal occupation, the Timor Gap Treaty is itself illegal," Mr Galbraith told the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association's annual conference in Hobart.
He stressed that any new fiscal regime would be "no more onerous" than the existing arrangement, but industry observers said the 1989 treaty did not cover big gas fields now slated for development.
And there was concern at implied threats by Mr Galbraith that East Timor might seek to draw up new sea boundaries with Australia if it did not get more concessions by its July 15 deadline, when it begins the electoral process towards independence, probably early next year.

Such a move, which East Timor said it was confident would be ratified by relevant international bodies, would have implications for Australia's boundaries with Indonesia and could see several big Australian projects and their royalty streams transferred to East Timorese jurisdiction.
But APPEA insiders said East Timor's threat was just part of its negotiating strategy to secure almost all of the royalties from the ZOCA fields, which are closer to East Timor than Australia.
Australia, aware of public sympathy for East Timor's dire financial situation, is believed to have offered to split the ZOCA royalty streams 80-20 in East Timor's favour.
East Timor is understood to want more, and management control of the area.
"I realise many key investors are looking to have greater clarity by mid-year," Mr Galbraith said, and East Timor was prepared "to continuously negotiate with the Australian Government to resolve these matters".

Federal Resources Minister Nick Minchin said Australia was keen to resolve the issues in the next few months.

Indonesian Maid Survives

SINGAPORE (Agencies): An Indonesian maid cleaning windows in Singapore survived an eight-story plunge with just a broken arm and heavy bruising.
Simah Sarmono, who arrived in Singapore two weeks ago, fell from her employer's apartment while cleaning windows on Saturday.

The 21-year-old landed on the roof of a walkway at the foot of the building and rolled onto an area of lawn.
"It's painful -- I hurt all over," Simah Sarmono, 21, told Monday's Straits Times newspaper from a hospital bed. "I want to go back to Indonesia."
"I screamed, and when I landed I blacked out," she said.
"When I woke up I was already in hospital."

Simah broke here left arm in the fall and severely bruised her right leg and abdomen.
Cases of foreign maids falling to their deaths are quite common in built-up Singapore, prompting a recent booklet by the government to educate employers about the dangers of high-rise domestic acrobatics.
Last October, an Indonesian maid survived a nine-story fall in Singapore after landing on a metal canopy on the ground floor.

JAKARTA (JP): The Iskandar Muda Air Force fleet based in Blang Bintang area of Aceh Besar regency will soon launch a joint Rencong Operation with the existing military and police units in Aceh in a bid to restore law and order in the disputed province, an official said Monday.

Commander of Iskandar Muda Air Base Maj. Eris Widodo was quoted by Antara in Banda Aceh on Tuesday as saying that the operation scheme was being discussed between related authorities of the Army, Police and Navy.
"Before the operation take place, we (the Air Force) will launch a routine air patrol in Aceh throughout this year," officer Eris said.
He said no exact date has been set for the Rencong Operation to begin.

According to Eris the Rencong Operation would be based in neighboring Medan capital of North Sumatra, involving three jet fighters, a Cassa for air surveillance and a rescue helicopter.
"We are still jointly discussing details on the operation's targets with the other security elements," he said after the celebration of the 55th anniversary of the Indonesian Air Force in Iskandar Muda airport in Banda Aceh.

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