Saturday, February 03, 2007
US ship locates black boxes from missing Indonesian airliner
by Nabiha Shahab
JAKARTA, Jan 25, 2007 (AFP) - A US Navy ocean survey ship has located the "black box" flight recorders from an Indonesian airliner which went missing on New Year's Day, the US embassy said Thursday.
The USNS Mary Sears detected ultrasonic pinger signals from the ocean floor on the same frequency as the black boxes from the missing plane, the embassy said in a statement.
"In subsequent sweeping of the ocean floor around the pinger location, the Mary Sears detected heavy debris scattered over a wide area and is currently analysing that debris to verify if it is from the missing aircraft," it said.
Flight data recorders, which are bright orange, are usually located in the tail of an aircraft to maximise their chances of surviving a crash.
The Adam Air Boeing 737-400 was carrying 96 passengers -- including an American and his two daughters -- and six crew when it went missing halfway through its flight from Surabaya on the central island of Java to Manado on Sulawesi on January 1.
Indonesia has mounted a massive air, land and sea search for the plane which has been concentrated off the western coast of Sulawesi where the aircraft disappeared from radar.
The search covered an area of tens of thousands of square kilometres (miles) -- greater than the size of many small countries -- and was hampered by bad weather.
Indonesian navy ships and the Mary Sears two weeks ago detected large objects at a depth of more than 1,000 meters (3,300 feet).
The search for the black boxes had been running against the clock as their emergency locator beacon usually emits an ultrasonic signal for just 30 days.
Officials said the government had now to decide whether to attempt the difficult task of retrieving the black boxes from the deep ocean floor.
"The next step is for me to report this finding to the government and the government will decide whether we will retrieve it or not," Setio Rahardjo, the chairman of the National Commission on Transport Safety, told AFP.
"We do not have the technology to retrieve the black boxes," he said.
"Assuming we have the funds, then we have to ask for a country who has sophisticated technology, such as the US."
In addition to US help, a Singapore air force plane also joined in the search.
A part of the tailfin, found by a fisherman, is the largest piece of debris from the plane recovered so far.
Dozens of small fragments of the plane and pieces of seats or folding tray tables have been washed up on the beaches and plucked from the sea, but no bodies have been found.
It is not yet known what caused the crash.
The pilot did not send a distress call but reported that the plane was being buffetted by cross-winds shortly before it disappeared from radar.
Preliminary assumptions were that the plane did not explode in mid-air, but may have broken into pieces as it crashed into the sea, a member of the National Committee for Transport Safety has said.
The search for the plane was marred by an embarrassing mix-up when officials wrongly reported wreckage and survivors had been found on a mountainside a day after it went missing.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has formed a special team to evaluate transport safety following the latest accidents.
Efforts are also continuing to locate a ferry carrying 600 people which sank off the coast of Java island just three days before the Adam Air plane disappeared.
Aircraft and ferry accidents are not uncommon in Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation stretching over 5,000 kilometres (3,100 miles) which is largely dependent on air and sea transport.
nsh/mtp/skj
by Nabiha Shahab
JAKARTA, Jan 25, 2007 (AFP) - A US Navy ocean survey ship has located the "black box" flight recorders from an Indonesian airliner which went missing on New Year's Day, the US embassy said Thursday.
The USNS Mary Sears detected ultrasonic pinger signals from the ocean floor on the same frequency as the black boxes from the missing plane, the embassy said in a statement.
"In subsequent sweeping of the ocean floor around the pinger location, the Mary Sears detected heavy debris scattered over a wide area and is currently analysing that debris to verify if it is from the missing aircraft," it said.
Flight data recorders, which are bright orange, are usually located in the tail of an aircraft to maximise their chances of surviving a crash.
The Adam Air Boeing 737-400 was carrying 96 passengers -- including an American and his two daughters -- and six crew when it went missing halfway through its flight from Surabaya on the central island of Java to Manado on Sulawesi on January 1.
Indonesia has mounted a massive air, land and sea search for the plane which has been concentrated off the western coast of Sulawesi where the aircraft disappeared from radar.
The search covered an area of tens of thousands of square kilometres (miles) -- greater than the size of many small countries -- and was hampered by bad weather.
Indonesian navy ships and the Mary Sears two weeks ago detected large objects at a depth of more than 1,000 meters (3,300 feet).
The search for the black boxes had been running against the clock as their emergency locator beacon usually emits an ultrasonic signal for just 30 days.
Officials said the government had now to decide whether to attempt the difficult task of retrieving the black boxes from the deep ocean floor.
"The next step is for me to report this finding to the government and the government will decide whether we will retrieve it or not," Setio Rahardjo, the chairman of the National Commission on Transport Safety, told AFP.
"We do not have the technology to retrieve the black boxes," he said.
"Assuming we have the funds, then we have to ask for a country who has sophisticated technology, such as the US."
In addition to US help, a Singapore air force plane also joined in the search.
A part of the tailfin, found by a fisherman, is the largest piece of debris from the plane recovered so far.
Dozens of small fragments of the plane and pieces of seats or folding tray tables have been washed up on the beaches and plucked from the sea, but no bodies have been found.
It is not yet known what caused the crash.
The pilot did not send a distress call but reported that the plane was being buffetted by cross-winds shortly before it disappeared from radar.
Preliminary assumptions were that the plane did not explode in mid-air, but may have broken into pieces as it crashed into the sea, a member of the National Committee for Transport Safety has said.
The search for the plane was marred by an embarrassing mix-up when officials wrongly reported wreckage and survivors had been found on a mountainside a day after it went missing.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has formed a special team to evaluate transport safety following the latest accidents.
Efforts are also continuing to locate a ferry carrying 600 people which sank off the coast of Java island just three days before the Adam Air plane disappeared.
Aircraft and ferry accidents are not uncommon in Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation stretching over 5,000 kilometres (3,100 miles) which is largely dependent on air and sea transport.
nsh/mtp/skj
Un premier film indonésien sur les attentats de Bali (MAGAZINE)
Par Nabiha SHAHAB
JAKARTA, 26 jan 2007 (AFP) - Un film sorti jeudi en Indonésie expose sous l'angle humain les attentats de Bali, en les abordant selon la perception des terroristes ou celle des victimes.
Long road to heaven ("Un long chemin vers le paradis", titre officiel pas encore fixé en français) traite d'un sujet très sensible dans le plus grand pays musulman du monde. L'Indonésie reste traumatisée par ce drame qui a révélé l'existence d'un islamisme intérieur.
Au soir du 12 octobre 2002, des attaques à la voiture piégée attribuées à la Jemaah Islamiyah, réseau d'Asie du Sud-Est réputé lié à Al-Qaïda, faisaient 202 morts dans une discothèque et un bar de l'"île des Dieux".
La majorité des victimes avaient été des touristes étrangers. Ces attentats restent parmi les plus meurtriers depuis ceux du 11 septembre 2001 aux Etats-Unis.
Parmi les personnages de cette oeuvre de fiction figure d'ailleurs une surfeuse américaine en quête d'apaisement après avoir perdu son fiancé lors du 11-Septembre.
Dans les autres rôles apparaissent un journaliste australien visitant l'île sept mois après les explosions dévastatrices et un chauffeur de taxi balinais qui a perdu un de ses proches.
Les attaques d'octobre 2002 avaient plongé dans la déprime Bali et porté un terrible coup d'arrêt à la première destination de loisirs d'Indonésie.
Les Balinais, à grande majorité hindouistes, ont conservé un fort ressentiment, en estimant avoir été frappés en raison de leur religion tandis que près de 90% des Indonésiens sont musulmans.
"Ce sujet est très fascinant et il se passe à Bali, un endroit qui évoque la paix", a déclaré à l'AFP Nia Dinata, la productrice du long métrage.
Le film "tente de dépeindre le côté humain, à la fois des auteurs et des victimes", a ajouté le réalisateur Enison Sinaro.
Le drame de 120 minutes a été tourné dans la capitale indonésienne Jakarta et dans l'île de Lombok, à l'est de Bali.
"A l'origine nous souhaitions tourner le film à Bali mais les autorités locales nous l'ont déconseillé", a relaté Enison Sinaro.
"Les Balinais restent traumatisés par ce qui s'est passé, qu'auraient-ils pensé en nous voyant procéder à une reconstitution des faits?", a-t-il interrogé.
En décembre 2006, le gouvernement indonésien a interdit la diffusion au Festival international du film de Jakarta (JiFFest) d'un film néerlandais sur les attentats de Bali, car il contenait des déclarations d'Imam Samudra, un islamiste considéré comme le cerveau de l'opération meurtrière.
Le réalisateur est bien conscient de la sensibilité du thème choisi: "Cela dépend des spectateurs. J'espère simplement que les gens ne vont pas juger le film avant de l'avoir vu..."
"C'est un événement historique, nous avons essayé de le décrire aussi près que possible de la réalité", a-t-il ajouté.
Trois islamistes -- Amrozi, Imam Samudra et Ali Gufron --, qui ont fièrement revendiqué leur participation aux attentats de Bali, ont été condamnés à mort. Leur exécution a été reportée sine die, leurs avocats ayant interjeté appel.
nsh/seb/mpd
Par Nabiha SHAHAB
JAKARTA, 26 jan 2007 (AFP) - Un film sorti jeudi en Indonésie expose sous l'angle humain les attentats de Bali, en les abordant selon la perception des terroristes ou celle des victimes.
Long road to heaven ("Un long chemin vers le paradis", titre officiel pas encore fixé en français) traite d'un sujet très sensible dans le plus grand pays musulman du monde. L'Indonésie reste traumatisée par ce drame qui a révélé l'existence d'un islamisme intérieur.
Au soir du 12 octobre 2002, des attaques à la voiture piégée attribuées à la Jemaah Islamiyah, réseau d'Asie du Sud-Est réputé lié à Al-Qaïda, faisaient 202 morts dans une discothèque et un bar de l'"île des Dieux".
La majorité des victimes avaient été des touristes étrangers. Ces attentats restent parmi les plus meurtriers depuis ceux du 11 septembre 2001 aux Etats-Unis.
Parmi les personnages de cette oeuvre de fiction figure d'ailleurs une surfeuse américaine en quête d'apaisement après avoir perdu son fiancé lors du 11-Septembre.
Dans les autres rôles apparaissent un journaliste australien visitant l'île sept mois après les explosions dévastatrices et un chauffeur de taxi balinais qui a perdu un de ses proches.
Les attaques d'octobre 2002 avaient plongé dans la déprime Bali et porté un terrible coup d'arrêt à la première destination de loisirs d'Indonésie.
Les Balinais, à grande majorité hindouistes, ont conservé un fort ressentiment, en estimant avoir été frappés en raison de leur religion tandis que près de 90% des Indonésiens sont musulmans.
"Ce sujet est très fascinant et il se passe à Bali, un endroit qui évoque la paix", a déclaré à l'AFP Nia Dinata, la productrice du long métrage.
Le film "tente de dépeindre le côté humain, à la fois des auteurs et des victimes", a ajouté le réalisateur Enison Sinaro.
Le drame de 120 minutes a été tourné dans la capitale indonésienne Jakarta et dans l'île de Lombok, à l'est de Bali.
"A l'origine nous souhaitions tourner le film à Bali mais les autorités locales nous l'ont déconseillé", a relaté Enison Sinaro.
"Les Balinais restent traumatisés par ce qui s'est passé, qu'auraient-ils pensé en nous voyant procéder à une reconstitution des faits?", a-t-il interrogé.
En décembre 2006, le gouvernement indonésien a interdit la diffusion au Festival international du film de Jakarta (JiFFest) d'un film néerlandais sur les attentats de Bali, car il contenait des déclarations d'Imam Samudra, un islamiste considéré comme le cerveau de l'opération meurtrière.
Le réalisateur est bien conscient de la sensibilité du thème choisi: "Cela dépend des spectateurs. J'espère simplement que les gens ne vont pas juger le film avant de l'avoir vu..."
"C'est un événement historique, nous avons essayé de le décrire aussi près que possible de la réalité", a-t-il ajouté.
Trois islamistes -- Amrozi, Imam Samudra et Ali Gufron --, qui ont fièrement revendiqué leur participation aux attentats de Bali, ont été condamnés à mort. Leur exécution a été reportée sine die, leurs avocats ayant interjeté appel.
nsh/seb/mpd
Indonesian film explores human side of Bali bombings
by Nabiha Shahab
JAKARTA, Jan 25, 2007 (AFP) - A new Indonesian movie exploring the devastating 2002 Bali bombings from the viewpoints of both victims and bombers opened here Thursday.
Long Road to Heaven, produced by acclaimed Indonesian filmmaker Nia Dinata, is the first feature film to examine the bombings, one of the worst terrorist attacks since the September 11, 2001 devastation in the United States.
The October 12, 2002 bombings of nightclubs on the resort island of Bali killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists, and put Indonesia in the spotlight of the "war on terror".
The film tackles the subject through the eyes of several characters.
They include an American surfer trying to find peace after her fiance died in the September 11 attacks, a Balinese taxi driver who lost a relative in the bombings and an Australian journalist who visits the island seven months later.
The film also explores the motivations and actions of the terrorists who planned and carried out the attacks on the previously tranquil island.
"The issue is very intriguing and it happens in Bali, a place where we imagine when we think of peace," Dinata told AFP.
Director Enison Sinaro said the film "tries to portray the human side, both from the perpetrators and the victims."
The subject remains a painful and delicate issue in Indonesia.
In December, the government banned a Dutch documentary because it shows statements by one of the bombers, who is on death row.
"It depends on the viewers ... I just hope people won't judge the film before watching it," Sinaro told AFP when asked whether he was worried about public reaction to the controversial issues in the film.
"This is a historical event, we are just trying to depict it as closely as possible to the truth," he said.
Sinaro said they carried out extensive research and received information from the Indonesian authorities.
"The team had gone through rigorous research before we made the film, I watched interviews with the accused Bali bombers and read books on terrorism," said Sinaro.
Samudra and his comrades Amrozi and Ali Ghufron face the firing squad over their role in the bombings.
None of the three has expressed remorse over the attacks, which were blamed on the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network.
The 120-minute drama was shot in Jakarta and on the island of Lombok, which neighbours Bali.
"Originally we wanted to shoot the film in Bali, but the local government advised us against it," Sinaro explained.
"The Balinese are still traumatised by what happened, what will they feel when they see us reconstruct what happened?"
Some early filmgoers said the movie did not answer their questions about the bombings, while others wondered whether enough time had lapsed since the attacks.
"I want to know what really happened, what I learned from the media does not explain enough," said Andri, after watching an afternoon screening.
"I am not satisfied, there are many questions still unanswered," he said.
"I know this is a fictional film but if they are brave enough to take on this theme, and it is a global theme, they should be honest about it," he said, querying the portrayal of one of the bombers.
"It is too early to be made into a film, they need deeper research."
Civil servant Eka said he was disappointed as he hoped to learn more about the actual events.
"Even if this is fiction, it is made for the victims of the Bali bombing. It should be able to tell us what really happened."
nsh/mtp/tha
by Nabiha Shahab
JAKARTA, Jan 25, 2007 (AFP) - A new Indonesian movie exploring the devastating 2002 Bali bombings from the viewpoints of both victims and bombers opened here Thursday.
Long Road to Heaven, produced by acclaimed Indonesian filmmaker Nia Dinata, is the first feature film to examine the bombings, one of the worst terrorist attacks since the September 11, 2001 devastation in the United States.
The October 12, 2002 bombings of nightclubs on the resort island of Bali killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists, and put Indonesia in the spotlight of the "war on terror".
The film tackles the subject through the eyes of several characters.
They include an American surfer trying to find peace after her fiance died in the September 11 attacks, a Balinese taxi driver who lost a relative in the bombings and an Australian journalist who visits the island seven months later.
The film also explores the motivations and actions of the terrorists who planned and carried out the attacks on the previously tranquil island.
"The issue is very intriguing and it happens in Bali, a place where we imagine when we think of peace," Dinata told AFP.
Director Enison Sinaro said the film "tries to portray the human side, both from the perpetrators and the victims."
The subject remains a painful and delicate issue in Indonesia.
In December, the government banned a Dutch documentary because it shows statements by one of the bombers, who is on death row.
"It depends on the viewers ... I just hope people won't judge the film before watching it," Sinaro told AFP when asked whether he was worried about public reaction to the controversial issues in the film.
"This is a historical event, we are just trying to depict it as closely as possible to the truth," he said.
Sinaro said they carried out extensive research and received information from the Indonesian authorities.
"The team had gone through rigorous research before we made the film, I watched interviews with the accused Bali bombers and read books on terrorism," said Sinaro.
Samudra and his comrades Amrozi and Ali Ghufron face the firing squad over their role in the bombings.
None of the three has expressed remorse over the attacks, which were blamed on the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network.
The 120-minute drama was shot in Jakarta and on the island of Lombok, which neighbours Bali.
"Originally we wanted to shoot the film in Bali, but the local government advised us against it," Sinaro explained.
"The Balinese are still traumatised by what happened, what will they feel when they see us reconstruct what happened?"
Some early filmgoers said the movie did not answer their questions about the bombings, while others wondered whether enough time had lapsed since the attacks.
"I want to know what really happened, what I learned from the media does not explain enough," said Andri, after watching an afternoon screening.
"I am not satisfied, there are many questions still unanswered," he said.
"I know this is a fictional film but if they are brave enough to take on this theme, and it is a global theme, they should be honest about it," he said, querying the portrayal of one of the bombers.
"It is too early to be made into a film, they need deeper research."
Civil servant Eka said he was disappointed as he hoped to learn more about the actual events.
"Even if this is fiction, it is made for the victims of the Bali bombing. It should be able to tell us what really happened."
nsh/mtp/tha
