Jakarta - Hundreds of white-clad Indonesian Muslims rallied Monday outside the presidential palace in Jakarta, demanding the government immediately outlaw a minority Islamic sect branded by the country's top clerics as "heretical."

Organized by the Islamic Forum of Ummat (FUI) - a broad coalition of fundamentalist Islamic groups in Indonesia - the protestors chanted slogans, shouted "Allahu Akbar," 
("God is Great") and unfurling banners denouncing the Ahmadiyah sect.

Jakarta - Rescue workers searched Sunday for eight missing people after a ferry sank in rough waters in eastern Indonesia, state media said.

Eight bodies were picked up from the sea and 48 other people survived the MV Mole ferry overturned near the Sula Islands district in North Maluku province Thursday, the state-run Antara news agency reported.

Jakarta - Indonesia's Attorney-General's Office (AGO) on Friday insisted it would proceed with plans to execute by firing squad three Muslim militants sentenced to death over the 2002 Bali bombings, despite their lawyers' protests that such a method amounts to "torture".

Junior Attorney-General Abdul Hakim Ritonga said the executions of of Imam Samudra, Amrozi bin Nurhasyim and Ali Ghufron were legal, based on the Supreme Court's decision to reject the bombers' first appeal.

Jakarta - More than 300 Muslim leaders from around the world kicked off a three-day meeting in Jakarta Wednesday to discuss the role of Islam in conflicts in Muslim-populated countries.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in his keynote remarks that Muslims throughout the world are responsible for fostering global peace through religious tolerance.

"Too much attention and energy has been spent on resolving conflicts but still not enough on preventing them," Yudhoyono said.

Jakarta - At least 14 workers, most of them Thai citizens, died of suspected alcohol poisoning after having mixed drinks during a party in Indonesia's eastern province of Papua, a police spokesman said Tuesday.

National police spokesman Sulistyo Ishak said the incident took place Sunday night in the Merauke district of Papua. The alcohol also also caused up to 90 other people to fall sick.

"Fourteen workers have died after they drank the drink. There are some Thai workers among the dead people," Ishak said, adding that the the workers mixed several types of drinks.

Jakarta - Crude oil prices above 120 dollars a barrel are "abnormal" but they could fall to around 78 dollars under the right circumstances, the president of OPEC said Tuesday.

"If the dollar continues to strengthen and the political situation improves, then the long-term prices will be about 78 dollars," Chakib Khelil said while on a visit to Indonesia.

He added that the market was well-supplied with oil, refuting arguments that there is a world shortage of the commodity and members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) should increase production.