Mr Walterfang packed his scuba gear and flew to Indonesia with his employee. The trip was intended to be only a summer holiday diving adventure but it changed Mr Walterfang’s life.He chucked in his job and moved to Indonesia. Now he presides over a multimillion-dollar haul of Chinese treasure discovered in the seas of south-east Asia.Mr Walterfang’s fascination with submerged wrecks began when an Indonesian employee described the translucent, reef-strewn waters of his native island of Belitung, between Borneo and Sumatra. It ended with cities bidding for the world’s largest collection of ninth-century Chinese treasure
Tilman Walterfang, 47, was works director at the concrete company, miles from the sea in Germany.

The journey began in a noisy, provincial factory that churns out concrete pillars for the German building industry. There were thought to be 1,500 active supporters of the 30-year-old cleric within Najaf.”We’ve got to get this right. If we get this wrong, we will piss off the whole Muslim world between Morocco and Indonesia,” said Col Dana J H Pittard, commander of US forces in the city.. The US forces in Najaf dwarf the marine force besieging Fallujah. President Mohammad Khatami formally withdrew two key reform bills yesterday, while a man reviled by reformers as a killer of press freedom was publicly honoured as the “best manager” in the Iranian judiciary – small signs of the waning strength of the reform movement.
The bills, which Mr Khatami said last month he would remove from further parliamentary consideration, had sought to bring democratic change to Iran’s theocracy. But I call on the Iraqi people not to let my killing put an end to their rejection of the [US] occupation.” The strategy of a possible attack on the city was likely to enrage Iraqis and Shias around the world, resulting in a transformation from a relatively confined revolt by a single militia to an outright Shia rebellion. We have very great respect for the shrines, for the Shia.”Sadr, who was confident of the protection of the Imam Ali Shrine – the city’s holiest site – only metres from his office, told Lebanon’s Al Manar television station: “I fear only God I am ready to sacrifice my blood for this country.

SIX DAYS OF KIDNAPPING8 AprilA video shows three Japanese – a student, Noriaki Imai, 18; an aid worker, Nahoko Takato, 34; and a photojournalist, Soichiro Koriyama, 32. The captors had threatened to burn the hostages alive unless Japan withdrew its troops. Iranian television airs footage of Nabil George Razuq, 30, a Palestinian from East Jerusalem, and Fadi Ihsan Fadel, a Canadian aid worker, said to be held by the Ansara-Din group, which describes them as Israeli spies. Seven South Korean evangelical church pastors are freed.9 AprilInsurgents attack a US convoy in Abu Ghurayb, near Baghdad. Three days later, Lt-Gen Ricardo Sanchez, commander of US forces in Iraq, says seven contractors for Kellogg, Brown & Root and two US soldiers went missing. An American being held, Thomas Hamill, says he was the only survivor of the convoy attack.10 AprilA group says it is holding 30 foreigners and threatens to behead them unless US forces lift a blockade of Fallujah. The German Foreign Ministry says Tobias Ritrath, 25, and Thomas Haffenker, 38, died escorting diplomats from Jordan to Baghdad.11 AprilGary Teeley, 37, a British civilian missing in Nasiriyah, is freed.

Eight others – three Pakistanis, two Turks, a Filipino, an Indian and a Nepalese – are freed.12 AprilTwo Czech TV journalists may have been kidnapped, their company says. In addition, Czech state radio reporter Vit Pohanka is unaccounted for.Seven Chinese nationals who had been abducted in Fallujah the day before are released.Five kidnapped Ukrainians and three Russians are freed.13 AprilFour men described as Italians are held by the Mujahedin Brigades, which demand Italy withdraws troops.THE HOSTAGESCONFIRMED KIDNAPS (NOT YET RELEASED):3 Japanese1 Palestinian1 Canadian1 American4 ItaliansCONFIRMED KIDNAPS (RELEASED):7 South Koreans1 Briton3 Pakistanis2 Turks1 Indian1 Nepali1 Filipino7 Chinese5 Ukrainians3 RussiansREPORTED MISSING2 Germans (believed dead)3 Czechs2 US soldiers7 Contractors (presumed US, believed dead)UNCONFIRMED KIDNAPS30 foreign hostages (no proof from kidnappers). The scene was set for a bloody showdown last night between American forces and the Shia cleric Muqtada Sadr as 2,500 US soldiers massed on the outskirts of the city of Najaf. “Preliminary plans are to evacuate 553 Russian citizens and 263 citizens from countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, who are working on Russian contracts at facilities in Iraq,” the Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov was quoted by Interfax as saying.