International18 FRIDAY, JANUARY 1, 2016

Indonesia arrests three with IS links

JAKARTA: Indonesian police yesterday ning bomb attacks over the holiday requests for comment on the Antara to Islamic State, may be an inspiration arrested three men with suspected links period were arrested in a series of raids report. Azis said a hunt for Santoso and for would-be jihadis and militants to Islamic State as part of an operation recently, and the hunt is on for their about 30 of his followers would con- returning from fighting with the group in the province of Central Sulawesi to ringleaders. clude on Jan. 9. He said seven suspect- in Syria. capture the country’s most-wanted “This morning my team just reported ed militants as well as two policemen However, some believe there is a big- man, state media reported. that they had captured three more peo- and an army officer had been killed in ger threat closer to the capital, Jakarta, The arrests came as the US embassy ple,” the Antara news agency quoted the operation. on the populous island of Java, where in Jakarta issued an “emergency mes- Central Sulawesi police chief Idham Azis US authorities on Wednesday noted most of the recent arrests were made, sage” for US citizens warning of poten- as saying. He gave no details of the arrests made by authorities in Turkey, and say militants could increasingly tar- tial security threats at tourist beaches arrests or the identities of the men, but Belgium and Indonesia in connection get Westerners. The US embassy mes- on the island of Lombok surrounding said they are thought to be linked to with suspected plots by Islamic State sage did not spell out the security threat the New Year’s celebrations. Counter- militant leader Santoso, who has eluded operatives or sympathizers to launch on Lombok, whose beaches are popular terrorism officials believe there are at capture for years and is holed up in jun- attacks over the holiday, and said they with Western holidaymakers, but it did least 1,000 sympathizers of the radical gles near Poso town in Central Sulawesi. were monitoring investigations. mention specifically Senggigi Beach, the jihadist group across Indonesia. More A National Police spokesman did not Analysts say that Santoso, the first main tourist strip on the west of the than a dozen men suspected of plan- immediately respond to Reuters Indonesian to publicly pledge loyalty island. — Reuters

Expelled journalist ‘surreal’ building ahead of China departure aircraft carrier : China is building its second aircraft carrier, the defense ‘A very strong feeling of surreality’ ministry said yesterday, as Beijing expands its naval capabilities amid maritime disputes with neighbors in the East and South China Seas. “This aircraft carrier is being developed according to BEIJINGL: A French reporter forced to entirely domestic designs,” defense ministry spokesman Yang leave China by authorities after she Yujun told a regular briefing, adding it was under construction in criticized government policy in vio- Dalian, a northeastern port. lence-wracked, mainly Muslim The official confirmation comes after months of rumors and , said she had been left with a hints from military officials. Beijing has rapidly expanded its mili- feeling of “surreality” yesterday ahead tary in recent years, rattling its neighbors and attracting the atten- of her departure. tion of the United States, which is making a foreign policy “pivot” Beijing accused Ursula Gauthier, the towards Asia. China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, is a second- hand Soviet ship built more than 25 years ago. It was commis- China correspondent for France’s sioned in 2012 after extensive refits. L’Obs news magazine, of supporting “The design and construction of the second aircraft absorbed terrorism after she wrote an article the useful experience of research and training from the Liaoning,” questioning official comparisons Yang said. “This led to many areas of improvements and enhance- between global Islamist violence and ments,” he added, without providing details. The new vessel will the unrest in the homeland of the have a displacement of 50,000 tons and use “conventional power”, Uighur ethnic minority. It then refused Yang said, as opposed to being nuclear-driven. to renew her credentials, obliging her It will carry China’s indigenous J-15 aircraft along with other to leave when her visa expires. planes, he added. Reactions on social media were overwhelming Gauthier had “a very strong feeling positive and nationalistic. “This is a very good New Year’s gift for of surreality” on her last day in Beijing, the motherland!” wrote one commenter on Sina Weibo, a Chinese she told AFP as she carried out her final version of Twitter. But others warned that having just two such packing and finished an article ahead ships was not enough to counter the naval power of China’s rivals. of going to the airport for a late-night “Once we have equipped each of our fleets with aircraft carriers, flight. “Everything which happened the US and Japan will wake up from their dream,” another com- was so quick and strange,” she added, menter wrote. adding it was hard to take in. In her story for L’Obs, Gauthier questioned BEIJING: This picture taken on December 28, 2015 shows Ursula Blue water China’s motives in expressing sympa- Gauthier, the Beijing-based correspondent for French news maga- Beijing’s forces have been involved in sometimes tense con- thy for the victims of the November 13 zine L’Obs, looking on during an interview in her apartment. — AFP frontations with Japanese and Philippine units over maritime dis- Paris attacks, writing that they were putes in the East China Sea and South China Sea respectively, prompting fears that the disputes could result in armed clashes. calculated to tie Beijing’s harsh policies media and officials heavily criticised criticized by press freedom groups Beijing claims almost all the strategically vital South China Sea, in Xinjiang into the fight against global her article, with the Communist Party- such as Reporters Without Borders. even waters close to the coasts of other states, and has turned a terrorism. affiliated saying it “The government is yet again put- The veteran reporter, who has spent series of reefs and outcrops in disputed waters into artificial islands “severely distorted the reality in ting pressure on journalists who criti- capable of hosting military facilities. years in China, suggested that violence Xinjiang” and represented a “double cize its policies,” the organization said In recent months, US ships and planes have approached the by Uighurs against civilians in the standard” on terrorism. in a statement last week. L’Obs direc- new islands to assert international rights to freedom of navigation, region-where clashes have killed hun- The journalist said her home tor Matthieu Croissandeau told AFP: with a B-52 bomber on one occasion unintentionally flying within dreds in recent years-was in part driv- address was posted online alongside “This is an unacceptable attack on free- two nautical miles of one of them. en by resentment of government poli- death threats from angry readers. dom of information and creates a real “International seas and airspace belong to everyone and are cies. “I didn’t write that I supported ter- China’s foreign ministry said she “fla- obstacle for journalism in China.” not the dominion of any single nation,” US Admiral Harry Harris rorism, I never supported terrorism in grantly championed acts of terrorism... France said that the denial of a visa said at the Stanford Center at Peking University last month. “Our my article,” she told AFP earlier. “I was triggering the Chinese people’s out- was “regrettable”. Le Monde newspa- military will continue to fly, sail, and operate whenever and wher- simply explaining that the Uighurs’ rage”. Asked whether Gauthier would per in an article signed by editors and ever international law allows. The South China Sea is not-and will anger came from somewhere, just like ever be allowed to return to China, reporters from multiple French media not-be an exception,” he added, according to a transcript. we can explain the origin of the anger ministry spokesman Lu Kang left the said the expulsion was “unjustifiable”, Beijing is seeking to build a “blue water” navy capable of oper- of young Arabs who become radical- issue open yesterday, telling a regular calling on the French government to ating in distant seas and has embarked on an extensive project to ized, there are roots to it,” she added. briefing: “It entirely depends on her.” make a stronger protest. modernize its two million-strong military, the world’s largest. Foreign correspondents’ visas in France’s current focus on improving China legalized overseas counter-terror operations by its military ‘Designed to intimidate’ China are tied to their official creden- economic ties with China “guaranteed this week as part of a controversial new law, which said Beijing Gauthier views her treatment as an tials, so that the ministry’s refusal to in a way that Paris would allow Ms “may send personnel outside the border to carry out anti-terror attempt “to intimidate foreign corre- renew her press card meant her right Gauthier to be expelled without mak- activities” when the “relevant country” agrees. The measure spondents in China, particularly on to remain in the country would expire ing too much of a fuss”, it said. “The applies to the People’s Liberation Army, which includes the navy, issues concerning minorities, especial- on December 31. The decision to effec- lack of firmness of the French authori- as well as the People’s Armed Police and employees of the coun- ly in Tibet and Xinjiang”. Chinese tively expel Gauthier has been widely ties is irresponsible,” it added. — AFP try’s public security organs. — AFP