Mathias Hariyadi

The 7.4 magnitude quake struck the North Sulawesi province. The alarm for a possible tsunami generated panic among the population. 64 aftershocks followed the original quake. Homes and churches in the area are damaged.

The accusation is that they finance Israel secretly, and represent Freemasonry in Indonesia, prohibited under Sukarno. Threats also against Muslim members of the two organizations: "they can consider themselves infidels."

Religious leaders and representatives of society call the directives "unconstitutional and unnecessary," because they risk destroying the idea of "national unity." In the past, the council of the ulemas has issued controversial edicts, contrary to pluralism.

The New Year was declared a national holiday a few years ago. The Chinese community were targeted under the dictatorship of Suharto. Now even the Indonesians visit Chinese Buddhist temples for the Hew Year.

This morning firefighters finally put out the blaze at a Pertamina fuel depot, north of Jakarta. Losses are around US$ 1.4 million. Government sends an investigative team to find out what happened. Terrorists had already targeted the fuel depot in the past.

The ferry ignored storm warnings. 45 people were not registered on passenger list. The Ferry was over burdened with people and cargo. Survivor’s stories of saving themselves by clinging on to a bunch of bananas and swimming for hours through the dark.

The ferry sunk yesterday. The Indonesian Navy and local fishing vessels are employed in the search. There is little hope given stormy sea conditions. Disaster caused by storm but also by overcrowding.

A fundamentalist minority launches propaganda to highlight the conflict between Christians and Muslims in the Middle East. Protest marches, flags burned, a house used as a synagogue and American chain stores attacked in East Java and central Sulawesi. Humanitarian aid from Indonesia for Palestinians in the Strip.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono speaks for the first time about the conflict between Israel and Palestine. He explains that this is the result of "political problems," over the "control of the territories," and excludes motivations of a confessional character. The government has provided for the sending of humanitarian aid; Islamic extremist fringe groups are recruiting "volunteers for jihad."

Thousands of refugees have abandoned their homes out of fear of more collapses. The area is isolated, making the situation difficult for teams of aid workers. A government delegation has gone to the spot of the tragedy, one of the most poor and backward in the country.

Violence is sparked when a group of Muslims accuse a teacher of blasphemy. Intervention by anti-riot police re-establishes order, but tensions remain high. Stores and offices are closed.

In the early hours of Sunday, the attackers were killed by firing squad who in 2002 killed 202 people in Bali. Protests and clashes with the police at the funerals. Alert all over Indonesia for the risk of attacks and new demonstrations. But analysts say that the danger of terrorist attacks is not high. Meanwhile, Indonesian ulemas say: "The three are not martyrs."