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M. Continuo

Indonesia's house speaker submits resignation


    JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's house speaker resigned on Wednesday in a letter to a parliamentary council charged with determining whether he had committed ethical violations in a meeting with executives from Freeport McMoran Inc's local unit.

    House Speaker Setya Novanto has been at the centre of a probe into allegations he used President Joko Widodo's name in an effort to extort shares worth $1.8 billion in Freeport Indonesia.

    "Starting Dec 16, 2015, Setya Novanto declared his resignation from the position of house of speaker," Surahman Hidayat, the chairman of the council, said.

    (Reporting by Fransiska Nangoy; Writing by Nicholas Owen; Editing by Catherine Evans)