Jakarta – Indonesia was urged on Thursday to carefully preserve and manage its peat forests to avoid environmental disasters such as that which has covered much of Southeast Asia in choking smog.

John McBeth, Jakarta &150; Almost nightly on Indonesian television, thousands of firefighters armed with little more than water-filled backpacks are shown trying to beat back the blazes that are blanketing Southeast Asia in smoke. Growing alarm has led Malaysia to send 1,200 firefighters to join the assault and Japan to offer pumping equipment and waterjet shooters.

Jay Solomon &150; The playful smile on President Suharto's face as he gave the new "national motorcycle" a spin around his palace late last month could give the impression that all is well in Indonesia.

David Jenkins &150; President Soeharto's decision to call in the IMF and the World Bank, his second attempt in as many weeks to staunch a hemorhaging rupiah, has sent what should be a convincing message to the financial markets.

Jim Della-Giacoma, Jakarta &150; Two died in fighting at an East Timor mountain shrine including a man who tried to erect a banner bearing the guerrilla movement Fretilin's flag, military sources said on Wednesday.

Michael Shari &150; For years, environmentalists have pleaded with governments in Southeast Asia to save the region's vast rain forests. Officials responded that if wealthy western nations were so concerned, they should foot the cleanup bill. They also downplayed the damage loggers and planters caused by lighting fires every dry season to clear land on Sumatra and Borneo.

Buyung Rachmad Buchori Nasution, private secretary of the writer and politician Soebadio Sastrosatomo, who is on trial in the South Jakarta district court, has for a second time refused to attend a court hearing because the judge is still refusing to accede to his request that the injured party [ie, Suharto] in the case be ordered to attend.

Louise Williams, Jakarta &150; The Soeharto Government was facing an unprecedented crisis last night as a wave of public criticism over its handling of the fire emergency coincided with a dramatic fall in the rupiah and warnings of serious economic problems ahead.

Jakarta &150; Father Sandyawan Sumardi SJ, 38, said, after a hearing of the trial in which he and his brother Benny are the accused, that their trial is a test for the Indonesian government and for the rule of law.

Lisbon &150; Jose Ramos-Horta, 1996 Nobel Peace Prize co-laureate, emphatically denounced the recently reported murder, in East Timor, of one elementary school teacher, Jacinto da Trindade. His colleague, Jzlio Pereira, was seriously injured in the assault and was taken to the military hospital in Dili. Mr.

Jakarta – One hundred construction workers have died in work-related accidents in the city [of Jakarta] already this year. Last year 101 workers died.

Amidst the fires furore, spare a thought for Forestry Minister Jamaludin Suryohadikusumo. As official custodian of Indonesia's vast but shrinking forests, he has both to maximise state revenue from the forests, as well as maintain them for the future. This makes him both partner and policeman to well-connected timber tycoons like Bob Hasan, Prayogo Pangestu and Eka Tjipta Widjaya.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – Air-particle pollution levels in Jakarta were nine times above the safe limit yesterday and meteorologists issued a warning to ships and aircraft as changing wind patterns pushed the smoke haze into the Indonesian capital. It was the first time air pollution levels for Jakarta were published.

Jakarta – Indonesia's currency crashed to a new low today when it hit 3,725 rupiahs against the U.S. dollar before recovering slightly.

The plunge carried over into the Jakarta Stock Exchange, where the main index dropped 4 percent, or 21.447 points, to 515.477 points.

Robin Cook, the foreign secretary, has been told by the prime minister to moderate his policy of blocking arms sale to countries accused of serious human rights violations.

Adjidar Ascha, the father of imprisoned trade union activist, Diti Indah Sari, has lodged a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission regarding the treatment of his daughter who is jailed in Malang Prison, East Java.

Margot Cohen in Jakarta and Murray Hiebert in Kuala Lumpur – President Suharto's unprecedented apology for the forest fires that are spewing smoke over neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore has drawn praise as a sign of Indonesia's readiness to tackle the annual "haze." In his September 16 speech to an Asean meeting, however, Suharto cited "obstacles that are not easy to overcome," pa

Catherine Shepherd – Blue skies? Sunshine? Millions of people in Malaysia and Indonesia have a hard time remembering what that looks like. After months of persistent smog, the hospitals are full of patients with breathing problems, productivity is down and tourists are turning away in droves.

On 29 September, the Indonesian Ministry of the Interior announced that the PRD, the People's Democratic Party, and all its associated organisations, have been banned. This includes the PPBI, the Indonesian Workers Struggle Centre, and the STN, the Indonesian Peasants Association.

Friends of the Earth International today called for immediate and effective action by the Indonesian government to combat the continuing forest fire crisis.(1)

Kevin Dunion, Chair of Friends of the Earth International, said:

Jakarta – The government's decision to ban the Peoples' Democratic Party and all its affiliates will not affect the activities of the organisations. They will continue with their actions until their aims have been achieved, the PRD chairman, Budiman Sudjatmiko told Siar in Salemba Prison, Jakarta.

[The original source of this posting (other that the individual's e-mail address and period that the report covers) was not specified - JB]

George J. Aditjondro &150; The haze enveloping our northern neighbours should not be allowed to obscure a lesson for their ruling elites, who are largely to blame for the disaster.

[Based on reports in Kompas and Republika, 30 September 1997]

The government has at last (!) banned the People's Democratic Party (PRD) and all the organisations associated with it.

Jakarta – Indonesia's new national parliament, its members including 10 relatives of President Suharto and a number of his business associates, was sworn in for a new five-year term on Wednesday.

Jakarta – The government has officially banned the Peoples' Democratic Party (PRD) along with its affiliated organisations according to Department of Home Affairs decision No 210-221, dated September 29, 1997.

Bekasi – The trial of Romo Sandyawan Sumardi SJ and his older brother, Benny Sumardi, started yesterday (29/9) at the Bekasi State Court. Romo Sandy, as he is usually known, and Benny, are being tried for hiding the fugitives Budiman Sujatmiko, chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (PRD) and Petrus Haryanto, the Secretary General of the PRD.

David Miller, Sumatra – Malaysian firefighters eager to get on with the job of fighting the forest and peat fires here have been forced to play a waiting game.

The Straits Times, which followed one team of firefighters over the weekend, found that it has only handled a handful of peat fires.

Derwin Pereira, Indonesia – has rejected blame for the haze blanketing large areas of South-east Asia, saying that one of the culprits is the El Nino climatic phenomenon that no one could have prevented.

In a new report, "Deteriorating Human Rights in East Timor," Human Rights Watch/Asia says the conflict in the disputed territory has intensified since a series of guerrilla attacks around the Indonesian parliamentary elections last May.

Mrs Wilhelmina Rennie, now of Ramsay, Isle of Man, flies to Australia on Friday October 10 to give evidence on the cover-up of her son's murder by Indonesian forces in Balibo, East Timor. Her only son, Malcolm, was a reporter for Australian Channel 9 TV. Killed with him on October 16 1975, were his cameraman, Brian Peters from Bristol and the 3-man crew from the rival Channel 7.

Eugene Moosa, Tokyo – Aviation experts discount the theory that zero visibility in dense smog could have caused the crash of an Indonesian Garuda airliner, but they have not ruled out another theory: engine failure caused by smog intake.

[The following is a translation of an interview sent to ASIET by the underground Peoples Democratic Party (PRD)]

Azhar Basri, Jakarta – An Indonesian ministerial report has blamed 176 logging and plantation firms over the huge forest fires which had already choked most areas in southeast Asia, saying that those companies had conducted the dangerous slash-and-burn practice to clear their land.

John Vidal – The scale of one of the world's greatest manmade environmental catastrophes was becoming clear last night as poisonous fog blanketed up to 70 million people in six south-east Asian countries and scientists warned of long-term climate disruption.

Yesterday morning, September 25, 30 activists from the National Committee for Democratic Struggle (Komite Nasional Perjuangan Demokrasi, KNPD) and workers from PT. Sindol and Mega Beta Pratama loged a complaint because of military mistreatment against them which occurred at an action on September 23.

Lewa Pardomuan, Jakarta – Forest fires in Indonesia have spread to rubber and palm oil plantations and are likely to hit output, officials and traders said on Friday.

Agriculture Minister Syarifuddin Baharsyah said 173 plantation areas were reported to be on fire, 73 of which had actually made reports to the ministry.

Ian MacKenzie, Jakarta – Burning forest peat, too hot and thick to be put out by fire-fighting equipment alone, is now the major cause of choking smog spreading across Southeast Asia, diplomatic sources said on Friday.

"Peat is causing the majority of the smoke problem. It is causing the vast majority of the smoke," a Western source in contact with forestry experts said.

The announcement in New York yesterday by Foreign Secretary Robin Cook that the Foreign Office has blocked the sale of military equipment to Indonesia is being taken as a sign that the Labour Government is beginning to implement its ethical policy regarding arms sales to repressive regimes.

Sydney – More than 10,000 Australians have said to be ready to provide shelter to East Timorese refugees facing deportation, despite risking two-year jail terms.

Jakarta – More than 1,300 workers at two shoe factories in North Jakarta went on strike yesterday and demonstrated at the House of Representatives, demanding welfare improvements. The strikers, mostly female employees of PT Sindoll Pratama and its subsidiary PI Mega Beta Pertiwi, both located on J1. Kapuk Muara arrived at the House at about 9 a.m.

Jakarta – Indonesian Footwear Manufacturers' Association (Aprisindo) contested yesterday U.S. shoe giant Nike Inc's reason behind the termination of contracts with its four Indonesian partners.

Jakarta – Bureaucratic problems are blocking the departure of six East Timorese who have sought sanctuary in the Austrian embassy in Jakarta and asked to leave to Portugal.

The Austrian ambassador said on Tuesday the "biggest problem is setting the exact identity of those people", stressing the administrative procedures were "complex and long".

The twenty two year old conflict in East Timor can come to an end if the two main parties engaged in armed violence in the territory are inspired by the higher interest of peace and the well being of the people.

The International Secretariat of OMCT has received new information on the detention and trial of Mr Mochtar Pakpahan in Indonesia.

Background

[The following is an abridged translation of a leaflet sent to ASIET by the National Committee for Democratic Struggle (KNPD) which was distributed during the strike actions by workers from PT. Sindol and PT. Beta Mega Pertiwi.]

Jakarta – The wife of Dwi Sumaji, alias Iwik, the defendant on the murder of Bernas daily's reporter Udin, said that her husband was at home in the night it happened.

Sunarti, Iwik's wife, yesterday was present in Bantul district court, Yogyakarta, as a witness to unveil Iwik's alibi.

Jakarta – Indonesian police have officially closed their investigation into the 1993 slaying of female labor activist Marsinah, which had sparked a controversy in the country and abroad after they failed to prove the latest evidence, an English-language newspaper said Tuesday.

Geoff Spencer, Jakarta – A drought that has destroyed crops across the Indonesian archipelago and other Pacific islands could force villagers to begin eating a famine diet of insects, banana tree roots and leaves, an aid official said Tuesday.