Three officials suspended in Indonesian energy graft scandal

A graft scandal engulfing Indonesia's energy regulator widened yesterday, with three top officials suspended and barred from travel, as media speculated the revelations could further damage the ruling party of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The latest suspensions came just hours after Yudhoyono told parliament in an annual address that his government would keep up its battle against Indonesia's endemic corruption.

The Corruption Eradication Agency slapped a travel ban on three senior officials of SKKMigas, which regulates Indonesia's huge oil and gas industry. The regulator then suspended them.

On Wednesday, the regulator's chairman, Rudi Rubiandini, was arrested on bribery charges, heightening the uncertainty over energy policy in Southeast Asia's biggest economy, where oil and gas production contribute a fifth of government revenue.

The heads of the regulator's crude and natural gas commercial divisions, Agus Sapto Raharjo, and Popi Nafis, and the chief of operations support, Iwan Rahman, were placed on temporary leave, said interim chairman Johanes Widjonarko, who replaced Rubiandini.