Word: wahid
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...dead and sent thousands of Madurese refugees fleeing the province. Local Dayak government officials were blamed for inciting the violence, which soon became a fearsome frenzy, as machete-wielding gangs mutilated helpless immigrants and set fire to their homes. The instability added to the woes of Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid. The World Bank last week warned that ethnic unrest threatens to dismember the world's fourth-largest country and precipitate its financial collapse...
Whatever the truth, Wahid probably cannot count on the military to back him in his tussle. During the crucial Thursday vote, the 38 military and police delegates in parliament went along with the warning motion. The vote, say military analysts, indicates that the armed forces are growing impatient with Wahid. They criticize his indecisive handling of secessionst uprisings in Aceh and Irian Jaya and of the fighting between Muslims and Christians in the Maluku islands, which has claimed more than 4,000 lives in the past two years...
With or without close military support, Wahid also needs to woo back Megawati Sukarnoputri, his Vice President and leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle. A populist and daughter of Sukarno, the country's first leader after independence, Megawati, 54, considers Wahid to be a longtime friend. She even whips up breakfast every Wednesday for him. The President insists that Megawati still supports him, but her party certainly does not. Diplomats in Jakarta say that her party satraps are not alone in telling Megawati she must turn against Wahid; the generals also are pledging their loyalty...
...fallback, Wahid may try to mobilize his Muslim supporters. His party ranks only fourth in parliament?behind both Megawati's group and Golkar, the former ruling party of Suharto?but as leader of Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's largest Muslim religious organization, Wahid can count on more than 40 million followers, mainly in Java. The clergymen within the organization are already preparing the faithful for Wahid's hard times. In mid-December, when Wahid's troubles were mounting, 40 clerics told their congregations they had all shared a prophetic dream: Wahid was sitting atop a coconut tree in a storm...
...Losers ABDURRAHMAN WAHID People Power III? Like Estrada, Indonesia's P.M. is losing allies and sliding toward impeachment AUGUSTO PINOCHET UGARTE Quick, act sick! Judge puts Chile's ex-dictator under house arrest on murder and kidnap charges SEGA Dream-cast aside. Company to halt production of console. What's a hedgehog to do? Verbatim...