Louise Williams, Jakarta – The Indonesian Government has cancelled its invitation to foreign observers to monitor the May national elections, saying Indonesia will not be judged by foreign concepts of democracy.

John McBeth, Jakarta – Just back from Germany in early February, Science and Technology Minister B.J. Habibie was summoned to a five-hour meeting with President Suharto. As the minister took notes in a book he habitually uses for presidential tete-a-tetes, Suharto railed against Muslim leader Amien Rais, whom he accused of making "subversive" statements.

The New Order military regime apparently has still not ended its hunt for PRD cadre. Miranti, a Surabaya PRD cadre was kidnaped on 18 March by agents in civilian clothes, after she attended a session of the trial of Dita Sari and Coen Hussein Pontoh. Other PRD cadre saw Miranti being forced into a green coloured car about 300 metres from the court

Agencies in Jakarta – Police on Bali have detained four members of the Indonesian Democracy Party (PDI) who were planning to hold a political "long march" between Bali and Jakarta, a report said.

The police yesterday questioned the four, including the plan's initiator, Roch Basuki Mangunprojo, in Badung, Bali, according to the daily Suara Pembaruan.

A judge in Britain has blocked attempts to stop the government from selling military equipment to Indonesia. Judge John Laws says the campaign by three lobby groups was honourable, but purely political. The British government has given export permits for water cannon and armoured vehicles to Indonesia.

Jakarta – Forty-five people remained in detention in the East Timor capital on Monday, a day after a violent demonstration outside the hotel where a United Nations special envoy is staying for a key visit.

Residents said Dili appeared calm but the area around the downtown hotel where UN envoy Jamsheed Marker was staying remained heavily guarded by police.

Washington – The US has decided to postpone the sale of nine F-16 jet fighters to Indonesia because of human rights violations in the Southeast Asian country, the White House has announced.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Democracy Defense Team (Tim Pembela Demokrasi Indnesia, TPDI) has confirmed that four PDI pro-Megawati Sukarnoputri figures have been called by the police in relation with the PDI anniversary and the July 27, 1996 riots.

The United Nations special envoy on East Timor has held talks in Jakarta with East Timorese who had demanded the meeting after earlier forcing their way into the Austrian embassy.

Twenty-four of those arrested in connection with a demonstration at the Mahkota Hotel in Dili on 23 March 1997 remain in custody and are now facing charges for publicly expressing hatred against the government. The remaining 21 arrested on 23 March appear to have been released.

Semarang – Military authorities in this Central Java city are planning to deploy at least 20 pythons to safeguard the May general election and the March 1998 presidential election.

Agencies in Jakarta – A group of East Timorese youths gained a meeting with a UN special envoy yesterday after breaking into the Austrian Embassy in Jakarta and demonstrating for self-determination in their homeland.

Jakarta – The Indonesian military said on Wednesday 33 East Timorese youths now inside the Austrian embassy in Jakarta would be questioned once they left the mission, the official Antara news agency reported.

The agency quoted armed forces spokesman Brigadier-General Slamet Supriadi as saying the actions of the youths, who climbed over the embassy's fence, were improper.

Jakarta – The detention of Sri Bintang Pamungkas (General Chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Union Party (PUDI), Julius Usman (Chairman), and Saleh Abdullah (Secretary General), which has already lasted 20 days, as of Tuesday (25/3) has been extended with 20 days, to mid April next.

The prosecutor in the trial of Dita Indah Sari, chair of the Indonesian Workers Centre of Struggle PPBI, and Coen Pontoh, coordinator of the education and propaganda department of the National Peasants Union, has asked the court to pass down a sentence of eight years against Dita Sari and six years against Coen Pontoh.

Speaking to a huge crowd of about five thousand people, Megawati Sukarnoputri (the ousted leader of the PDI who has been excluded from contesting the elections on 29 May) said that the Executive Council of the PDI under her leadership would shortly be issuing an instruction on how to act in the run-up to the forthcoming general election.

From 48 anti integration people who attend the demonstration at Mahkota Timur Hotel, this Sunday (23/3), 24 of them were arrested and officially became suspects after being interrogate by the security forces. 10 others were immediately release, and 14 became witnesses. There are possibility that this 14 people will become suspects too, said Dili Chief of Police Lt. Col.

Surabaya – V/Brawijaya Commander Maj-Gen Imam Utomo has said that his party [the army] will forbid a PDI long-march which will who's route will go through Java-Bali.

"For the moment, political activities, approaching the 1997 general elections have not been given permission, or have an relation with the public interest", he said yesterday.

ASIET has received information from the Jakarta based Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) that seven East Timorese youth have been shot dead, four severely injured and 38 with lesser wounds at a peaceful gathering taking place inside the Mahkota Hotel in Dili.

Jakarta – Thirty-three East Timorese entered the Austrian embassy compound in Jakarta on Tuesday, demanding a meeting with visiting U.N. special envoy for East Timor, Jamsheed Marker.

Jakarta – The United States should set aside human-rights concerns and go ahead with the delayed sale of F-16 warplanes to Indonesia, former Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell was quoted as saying yesterday.

Police in East Timor say they have charged 24 people with showing hatred towards the Indonesian government.

Geneva – East Timor independence leader Jose Ramos Horta, quoting Catholic Church sources on the troubled island, said on Tuesday that Indonesian troops had seriously wounded 18 youths at a weekend demonstration.

Jim Erickson, with bureau reporting – Nuclear generating plants spew no pollutants into the atmosphere, they provide far more energy per unit of fuel than any other source, and spent fuel can be reused. But people fear the genie held captive beneath the cooling towers.

[The original chronology covered the dates March 24-26 1997 and it was assumed that the writer meant February not March. Some details in the original text were also unclear - JB]

Susan Schmidt, Washington – Three months after he left his Justice Department job in disgrace in 1994, Webster Hubbell scheduled a 7 a.m. breakfast meeting in Washington with an old friend just in from Indonesia, James Riady.

Dili – About 50 East Timorese staged a non-violent protest Monday against Indonesian rule of their territory, a day after hundreds of demonstrators clashed with police during a visit by a U.N. investigator.

There were no arrests at the protest, in a marketplace, which dispersed after about 30 minutes, said the local police chief, Col. Jusuf Muharam.

Jenny Grant, Jakarta – President Suharto has defended Indonesia's electoral process, insisting it is not a device to re-elect his Government.

"The election is not a ploy by the Government to maintain the status quo. It's a forum for the people to exercise their basic rights," he told a weekend gathering of the Indonesian Ulemas Council, the nation's top Muslim body.

Background

Ong Hock Chuan, Jakarta – With a ruling party victory a foregone conclusion in Indonesia's May 29 general election and President Suharto almost certain to stand for another term, speculation in Jakarta has focused on who will be the next vice-president and likely presidential successor.

Jakarta – The Minister of Justice, Oetojo Oesman, said that they [the ministry] always monitors the actions of all judges, including those trying the Peoples Democratic Party (PRD) activist in the Central and South Jakarta, and Surabaya state courts.

[Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and the Institute for the Study of the Press and Development (LSPP).]

On 20 March 1997 AJI will publish its second annual report, on this occasion in conjunction with the Institute for the Study of the Press and Development (LSPP). This summarizes its main findings.

[Chronology of Mahkota Hotel incident, Dili 23 March 1997. Received from Jakarta on 23 March.]

Seven East Timorese youth are thought to have died, seven were seriously wounded and 38 others wounded less seriously after failing to meet the UN Secretary-general's special representative for East Timor, Jamsheed Marker at the Mahkota Hotel in Dili.

Dili, E Timor – The UN Secretary General's special envoy for East Timor, Jamsheed Marker, said he will return to the province to gather more information.

"I am really impressed by the beauty of East Timor that I want to return to see the developments that will take place," Marker said before departing from the Comoro airport here Monday.

Dili, E Timor – The visiting UN Secretary General's Envoy on East Timor, Jamsheed Marker, said here Saturday he was satisfied with the explanations by Local Military Commander Col. Mahidin Simbolon on the role of the Indonesian Armed Forces in East Timor.

Amnesty International is concerned for the safety of at least 48 East Timorese currently in detention following a demonstration in Dili on 23 March.

East Timorese youths have held a second demonstration in Dili over their failure to meet a special United Nations envoy.

Police say the demonstration at Becora market in East Dili was small and non-violent and there were no arrests.

Dili, Indonesia – Indonesian security forces clashed Sunday with East Timorese activists trying to see a U.N. envoy, killing two people and injuring 38, a security official said.

Dili, Indonesia – Indonesian security forces clashed Sunday with East Timorese activists trying to see a U.N. envoy, killing two people and injuring 38, a security official said.

Seth Mydans, Jakarta – He owns forests, paper and plywood mills, airlines and banks, and last month he brokered a deal that gave him a major share in what may be the world's largest gold deposit.

But the biggest asset of Mohamad (Bob) Hasan is worth more than gold. As he said recently, "I've been friends with the president for more than 40 years."

From Reuters 23 March

According to the Indonesian version, 48 people have been arrested after taking part in a violent (sic) anti integrasi demonstration outside Mahkota Hotel. Shots were fired during the incident but these were 'warning shots' into the air according to procedure law down by law,' said Dili police chief, Colonel Atok Rismanto.

9.05 Students gather outside the Social and Political Sciences Faculty

9.30 Activist Helmi, with fist raised in air, starts the action calling on students to get involved.

9.40 Intelligence operatives identified taking notes behind a nearby car.

Patrick Walters, Baucau – The young men in black T-shirts came in their hundreds to the centre of Baucau. With sombre faces they linked arms and formed a protective cordon for the procession of the new Bishop of Baucau, Monsignor Basilio do Nascimento, to the town's newly consecrated Cathedral of St Antonio.

Joe Leahy, Dili – Nobel Peace Prize winner Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo said yesterday human rights abuses were continuing in East Timor despite renewed international concern over problems in the former Portuguese colony.

Asked about the status of human rights in East Timor since he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October, Bishop Belo said: "It's not very good."

Linawati Sidarto, Dili – A senior US government human rights official met with community leaders on the second day of a fact-finding visit to the troubled territory of East Timor on Friday.

In a country where the army makes no bones about channeling its support to the ruling political group, Golkar, talk of factionalism within Indonesia's military always causes concern. In the past, such groupings were described as fluid. But foreign military sources in Jakarta say they have spotted a worrying new trend.

Agencies in Jakarta – The UN special envoy to East Timor said yesterday that productive talks were needed to achieve an acceptable global solution over the former Portuguese colony.

"The important thing is that the dialogue should continue... and we have to find means of ensuring that... it is productive," envoy Jamsheed Marker said after meeting President Suharto.

We have just received a report that human rights activist Saleh Abdullah has been arrested as part of a general crackdown on non-governmental organizations in Indonesia.

Manchester Magistrates today sentenced Stuart Cooper, 27 of Garwoods Road, South Manchester, to 14 days at Risley Prison (617 Warrington Road, Risley, Cheshire, WA3 6BP) for his refusal to pay court costs. The costs resulted from his conviction for criminal damage to a security perimeter fence at British Aerospace Warton, Lancs, in July 1996.

How could it be, that nobody in Europe seems to mind that this Indonesian company, which is employing (or, rather, exploiting) female East Timorese workers, and is exporting its product to Portugal, regardless of the trade embargo between Indonesia & Portugal, is now becoming a NATO supplier?