Jakarta - Indonesia on Friday launched a major three-day counter-terrorist exercise in several cities and in the Malacca Strait.

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo Adi Sucipto said the operation in the Malacca Strait was designed to show Indonesia's readiness to protect one of the world's busiest waterways. "Security in the Malacca Strait is very important not only for Singapore and Malaysia but also Indonesia ... especially with regard to piracy threats," the state-run Antara news agency quoted Widodo as saying.

National police chief General Bambang Hendarso Danuri said more than 6,500 officers from the Indonesian Armed Forces and national police would take part in the counter-terrorist drill.

Jakarta  - Indonesia is confident its number of foreign tourists would increase up to 25 per cent next year despite previous downward expectations because of the global financial crisis, a media report said Friday.

Sapta Nirwandar, the Culture and Tourism Ministry's director general, said Indonesia's tourism industry would continue to grow because of higher spending on promotion combined with large numbers of regular visitors who came to the country to enjoy surfing, scuba diving, natural attractions and cultural pursuits.

Nirwandar said his ministry forecast 8 million foreigners would visit the country in 2009, up 1 million from an initial target. Such numbers would compare with a target of 6.4 million visitors this year.

Jakarta  - Indonesian police have arrested two Russians and a local man for their alleged involvement in abducting a Russian businessman, media reports said Thursday.

The two Russians, identified only as Alex and Igor, and Richard Sihite, an Indonesian citizen, were arrested Wednesday in Serpong, West Java.

Police freed the kidnapped Russian businessman, identified as Colavenko Alexandre, 37, and confiscated a laptop, 1,300 dollars and 50 million rupiah (4,560 dollars) in cash as evidence, The Jakarta Post reported.

Detective Senior Commissioner Muhammad Iriawan, Jakarta's police chief, quoted Alexandre as saying he came to Indonesia after receiving a business invitation through the internet.

Jakarta  - Indonesia has called on the European Union to lift its ban on the country's carriers from the 27-nation bloc's airspace after Jakarta passed a new aviation law, media reports said Thursday.

"There is no further argument for the EU not to lift the ban," Transport Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal was quoted as saying by the Indonesian daily Koran Tempo.

On Wednesday, the Indonesian parliament passed a bill to improve the country's air safety in response to demands by the EU after Indonesia saw a string of deadly air crashes.

The EU imposed a ban on all Indonesian airliners in mid-2007 after the crash landing of a Garuda Airline plane in Yogyakarta in Central Java in March 2007, which killed

Jakarta - The Indonesian parliament on Tuesday passed a new law on coal and mining that is expected to pave the way of international mining companies to exploit its mineral resources.

The endorsement of the Bill on Minerals and Coal Mining ending three years of deliberation at parliament, sometimes exacerbated by quarreling among lawmakers, but sparked uncertainty among miners.

Muhaimin Iskandar, deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, confirmed that the bill was passed despite objections from certain factions.

Jakarta  - Indonesian police named the female leader of a controversial cult as a suspect for religious blasphemy Tuesday, an offence punishable by up to five years in prison.

Lia Aminuddin, the leader of the "Kingdom of Eden," was brought to the Jakarta city police headquarters on Monday for distributing anti-religious leaflets urging the disbanding of all religions, including Islam.

Police also took 23 other people, including 11 children, to the Jakarta police headquarters for questioning, the Suara Pembaruan daily reported.