Thursday 24 November 2005

Bi-weekly report from the Nautilus Institute at RMIT, Australia.

1. Bundle Of Secrets Revealed In Raid On Bomber’s Home
2. Tamil Book Seized In Police Raids
3. America Restores Military Ties With Jakarta
4. Customs Officers To Be Armed At Ports
5. Northern Territory Nuclear Dump Controversy Continues
6. Special Report: Singapore Accused Of Hypocrisy On Drug Stance

1. Bundle Of Secrets Revealed In Raid On Bomber’s Home,
   Marian Wilkinson, SMH, 2005-11-22

   Police uncovered targets for new terrorist attacks, and sophisticated surveillance plans, when they raided the house where the Jemaah Islamiah bomb-maker, Azahari Husin, was killed two weeks ago, according to the Federal Police Commissioner, Mick Keelty.

2. Tamil Book Seized In Police Raids,
   Selma Milovanovic and Brendan Nicholson, Age, 2005-11-24

   Australian Federal Police raided several Melbourne properties investigating possible local links with Sri Lankan separatist movement the Tamil Tigers. The raids come a month after Charles Gnanakone, who holds dual Australian and Sri Lankan citizenship, was arrested over the assassination of the country’s former foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar.

3. America Restores Military Ties With Jakarta,
   Mark Forbes, Age, 2005-11-24

   America has restored military ties with Indonesia, lifting a 13-year ban imposed because of human rights violations. The decision will provide an immediate boost to Indonesia’s military. Bans on spare parts for its fleet of F-16 fighters have seen most of the planes grounded.

4. Customs Officers To Be Armed At Ports,
   AAP, Age, 2005-11-22

   80 armed customs officers will be deployed nationally according to risk levels at each port. Officers will carry Glock 17 semi-automatic handguns, personal body armour, batons, capsicum spray and handcuffs. The use of arms will be dictated by provisions in the Customs Act.

5. Northern Territory Nuclear Dump Controversy Continues

   N-Dump Set To Get High-level Waste,
   Nassim Khadem and Josh Gordon, Age, 2005-11-23
   Nuclear waste dump in the Northern Territory would house the highest level of radioactive wastes in Australia and allow terrorists access to materials to make “dirty bombs”, a Senate inquiry has been told.

   Aboriginal Group Backs Waste Dump,
   John Breusch, AFR, 2005-11-23
   Northern Lands Council chief executive Norman Fry told a Senate inquiry in Canberra that the government’s chief nuclear agency had satisfied his organisation that a waste dump * near their land would be safe, and confirmed his willingness to discuss the proposal with the federal government.
   *subscription required

   Of related interest: Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Bill 2005 Senate Inquiry Testimony from:
   1. Northern Land Council (NLC)
   2. Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF)
   3. Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO)

6. Special Report: Singapore Accused Of Hypocrisy On Drug Stance,
   Connie Levett and Rachel Kleinman, Age, 2005-11-23

   Singapore’s Government has been accused of hypocrisy in its pursuit of the death penalty against minor drug traffickers while retaining strong economic ties to Burma, a global heroin supplier. “Some of Burma’s closest economic relations are with Singapore” Professor Desmond Ball of ANU’s Strategic Defence Studies Centre said, “A lot of electronic transaction services in Burma are run through Singapore”.

   Of related interest:

   1. Singapore’s Blood Money: Hanging Drug Couriers But Investing With Their Suppliers, Dennis Bernstein and Leslie Kean, The Nation (US), October 20, 1997

   2. Beating The Sanctions, Bruce Hawke, Irrawaddy News, Vol 12. No. 4, April 2004 “The tight American sanctions that came into effect in 2003 make international trading in Burma more complicated and expensive. But, with help from at least one Singaporean bank, Rangoon’s entrepreneurs have found ways around them”.

   3. Burma And Drugs: The Regime’s Complicity In The Global Drug Trade, Desmond Ball, ANU, Strategic and Defence Studies, Working Paper 336, 2000

   4. Burma’s Secret Military Partners, Andrew Selth, Canberra Papers on Defence, 136, 2000

   5. Business Is Blooming: Is Myanmar Asia’s first narco-state? Compelling evidence points to that dubious distinction, Anthony Davis and Bruce Hawke, Asiaweek, Jan 23, 1997 Vol. 24 No. 3

   6. Some Further Developments In Burma’s Financial Sector, Sean Turnel, Burma Economic Watch 2/2004 (pdf)

   Contact editor: Jane Mullett: jane.mullett@rmit.edu.au