Bali bomb plotter to get sentence cut

Jakarta, Indonesia A militant cleric jailed for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings will be among 53,000 inmates receiving sentence reductions to mark Indonesia’s independence day, authorities and media reports said Saturday.

Abu Bakar Bashir, alleged spiritual head of the al-Qaida-linked terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah, was convicted in March of conspiracy in the Bali bombings that killed 202 people, many of them Australian tourists.

Others convicted in the Bali blasts will also receive reductions in their prison terms, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin told the Jakarta Post.

“Convicts with a record of good behavior can get up to 10-months remission,” said Mayun Mataram of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights in Bali.

Nineteen of the 24 Bali bombers jailed on the tourist island will get sentence reductions, said Mataram.

The youngest son of former dictator Suharto, Hutomo “Tommy” Mandala Putra, is also expected to have his sentence for assassinating a judge reduced when Indonesia celebrates its 60th birthday on Wednesday, Hamid said.

The 43-year-old former playboy earlier this year had his 15-year sentence reduced by five years on appeal.

It is an Indonesian tradition to cut jail terms on holidays for some of the country’s 105,000 inmates who exhibit good behavior, with only those sentenced to death or life in prison excluded.

Group says 17 killed in protests in Kurdistan

Dubai, United Arab Emirates At least 17 people have been killed and many more wounded during anti-government protests in the western province of Kurdistan, a human rights group said.

Human Rights Watch blamed the casualties on Iranian security forces. Interior Ministry officials acknowledged deaths and detentions in the recent unrest in Kurdistan province, but they denied that the security forces fired on protesters.

“The Iranian government needs to conduct a full and impartial investigation into the violent response to the recent protests in Kurdistan,” said Hadi Ghaemi, the Iran researcher for Human Rights Watch, which reported the deaths on Thursday.

Human Rights Watch charged that the casualties occurred when security forces opened fire on demonstrators in Mahabad who were protesting the killing of a young Kurdish man.

The protests spread to several towns and cities, including attacks on government buildings, the report stated.

The authorities say the rioters broke shop windows and set cars on fire.

Human Rights Watch said it obtained a list of 17 protesters killed. Residents told the human rights group that cities in Kurdistan remain surrounded by Revolutionary Guard troops and that undeclared martial law is in force.

Gang chief negotiating for surrender to U.N.

Port-Au-Port, Haiti One of Haiti’s most powerful gang leaders said he would be willing to surrender if U.N. peacekeepers guarantee his safety.

Armed gang members controlled by the man known as General Toutou are believed to be behind many of the kidnappings and killings that have added to the instability in Haiti as the country prepares for fall elections to replace the interim government.

Toutou, in an interview Friday with the Associated Press, said he has begun talks on a possible surrender with the U.N. peacekeeping mission that came to Haiti to restore order following the ouster of the country’s first freely elected leader, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, in February 2004.

“If the (U.N. mission) is ready to guarantee our security, we’d be ready to give up the fight,” said Toutou, whose real name is unknown.

A U.N. official declined to discuss any possible deal to guarantee the Toutou’s safety, but said the peacekeeping mission was negotiating with gangs in Bel-Air, the sprawling slum where the gang leader commands a force of street fighters.

North Koreans blast joint military exercises

Seoul, South Korea North Korea on Saturday criticized joint military exercises involving South Korea and the United States.

North Korea said high-level military talks between it and South Korea cannot resume because of the military exercises.

The South Korean-U.S. military drills were a war rehearsal aimed at “finalizing preparation for pre-emptive attacks,” said a statement quoting an unidentified military spokesman. The U.S. military says the exercise is largely a computer-simulated war game.