Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – A bloody battle between security forces and rebels in Aceh looks imminent as the Indonesian government yesterday announced plans to declare a state of emergency to crack down on "terrorists" in the strife-torn province.

Separatist rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province have released 18 civilians they abducted late last month, a source involved in arranging the release said.

"They were released yesterday afternoon," the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP Friday, adding they are in good condition.

Banda Aceh – Apparently niggled by the continuing violence in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province, the government sent a strong signal on Thursday that the military operation in the restive province could be intensified.

Apriadi Gunawan, Jakarta – Approximately 20 percent of the forest in Mount Leuser National Park in North Sumatra had been illegally felled by the year 2000, local officials have announced, adding foreign investors might have been involved.

Jakarta – Over a hundred young supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) united on Thursday to reject the nomination of City Governor Sutiyoso in the upcoming gubernatorial election.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – The government said on Thursday that doors were open for a United Nations legal expert who has been assigned to assess Indonesia's legal system later this month.

[Achieving justice in East Timor for the victims of the violence after the 1999 independence vote, is not proving to be an easy task. With just six months to complete its investigations, East Timor's Serious Crimes Unit is facing almost insurmountable problems, as this report from Karon Snowdon reveals.]

Geoffrey Barker – Sixty influential Chinese business association leaders arrived in Dili from Macau last week to talk to East Timorese leaders about investing in the impoverished new nation.

Within days the group had flown home disappointed and frustrated: senior government leaders would not meet them to discuss investment opportunities and rules.

Geneva – East Timor's Health Minister, Rui Maria de Araujo, warned Friday that his newly-independent country was in danger of an AIDS epidemic, saying its low official figures were "just the tip of the iceberg".

The Indonesian Government has denied reports that the extremist Islamic Laskar Jihad army is operating in it's province of Papua, formerly known as Irian Jaya. It's been been investigating claims that the Islamic militants, who were involved in inter-religious violence in the Maluku Islands, had infiltrated Papua, but found no evidence to support the claims.

Police are awaiting a court's approval to question Tommy Suharto in prison over his claims that members of the security forces protected him while he was a fugitive last year.

"We are now waiting for permission from the Central Jakarta district court," said Commissioner Arismunandar on television Thursday.

Mark Dodd, Dili – At just four weeks old East Timor may be the world's newest nation, but its first big problem is how to deal with its past. Tensions over the treatment of veteran guerrillas who fought for its independence are challenging the authority of the country's new democratic government.

Raymond Bonner, Jakarta – The Bush administration's effort to re-establish military ties with Indonesia, which has been curtailed for nearly a decade because of its army's widespread human rights violations, has some unexpected support among Indonesians.

Muklis Ali, Jakarta – Indonesia's government on Thursday branded the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) a terrorist group for the first time, and hinted it may impose a civil emergency in the province of Aceh as violence there was getting out of hand.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Just four years ago, Mr Xanana Gusmao was Indonesia's most prized rebel prisoner. But yesterday, he returned as the head of state of an independent East Timor, saluted by the army that fought the separatist movement he led.

Lincoln Wright – Defence Minister Robert Hill has rejected claims from a whistleblower that the Defence Signals Directorate spied on journalists to discover who was leaking sensitive intelligence material about East Timor.

East Timor's foreign minister said Wednesday that he regretted the decision of the United States to withdraw its military observers from the newly independent nation over fears of possible prosecution of US military by the International Criminal Court.

Richard Norton-Taylor and John Aglionby, Jakarta – The Foreign Office was urgently investigating reports last night that British Hawk jets had been deployed by the Indonesian airforce in Aceh, against dissidents on a group of islands north-west of Sumatra who are engaged in a brutal struggle for self-rule.

Jakarta – Five armed people, allegedly members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), were killed when security officers launched an attack in Bayeuen district, East Aceh, some 460 kilometers away from Banda Aceh, a report said on Wednesday.

Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Wednesday instructed Iskandar Muda military Commander Maj. Gen. Djali Yusuf to sternly punish the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM). She also blamed GAM for disturbing the public order.

Bernie K. Moestafa and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The collapse of all hopes of a political inquiry into House Speaker Akbar Tandjung's alleged involvement in a graft case shows that the mighty flare sent up by the 1998 reform movement has turned into a damp squib.

Max Lane, Jakarta – The debate between minister Kwik Kian Gie, who is in charge of the National Economic Planning Board, and the other ministers in President Megawati Sukarnoputri's cabinet about extending Indonesia's relationship with the International Monetary Fund is an important development in Indonesian politics.

When East Timor President Xanana Gusmao began his official visit in Indonesia on Tuesday, he was received with a red carpet welcome and full military honors fitting for all visiting heads of state. But Gusmao is no ordinary visitor. He is a special guest, and should be treated as such.

Robert Go, Jakarta – It's a tale of two "sisters", and of how their abilities to "keep it together" over the next two years would affect the rest of Asean.

One wears a kebaya and may not understand what "dirty float" is, while the other looks smart in business suits and has a PhD in economics.

Kupang – East Timorese refugees living in various camps in West Timor continued with their protests on Tuesday, demanding aid from the government for some 20,000 refugee families, or some 54,000 refugees in all. Tuesday's protest was the third since Saturday.

Jakarta – Indonesia and East Timor on Tuesday agreed to seek the best way of settling the issue of assets the former had left behind in what used to be its 27th province.

Jakarta – PT Indomobil Sukses Internasional, the country's second largest automaker, had planned to hire some 2,000 new workers this year in response to growing demand at home for automobiles. Now it has put these plans on hold because of increasing uncertainty in employing workers here.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Indonesian navy chief Bernard Kent Sondakh has said that the navy's 113 ships are fit to sail but not fight – a startling revelation that throws into doubt its ability to crack down on the rising piracy, smuggling and illegal-immigrant problems in the sprawling archipelago.

Beijing – China supports the building of an East Timor army and will work toward friendly ties with it, state media quoted China's defense minister saying Tuesday.

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Governor Sutiyoso claimed on Monday that the Indonesia Military (TNI) had settled its dispute with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle over a bloody attack on the party's headquarters on July 27, 1996.

Barry FitzGerald – The Timor Sea has continued to grow in importance for the Adelaide-based and Cooper Basin-dependent Santos, with the group yesterday becoming the managing partner in the big but undeveloped Evans Shoal gasfield.

Edith Hartanto and Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – We are back to square one. Democracy is backpedaling to what it was during the Soeharto regime, experts said here on Saturday.

An explosion which damaged a parking lot of a shopping mall in the Indonesian capital was caused by a large firecracker, police said.

"The explosion that took place was not caused by a bomb," Jakarta Police Chief Makbul Padmanegara said of the late Monday blast which injured seven people.

A new book on politics in post-Suharto Indonesia says the chances of an Islamic Government taking power are stronger than ever. The book, "Reformasi" says Indonesia's military and conservative elements could use Islam to get a firmer hold on power.

Presenter/Interviewer: Graeme Dobell, Canberra

Flaws in the indictment of notorious militia leader, Eurico Guterres, are the clearest indication yet of Indonesia's lack of commitment to justice for the victims of human rights atrocities in East Timor, says Tapol, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The army is back in the driving seat in Indonesia four years after the fall of Suharto, flexing its muscles against separatist insurgencies and pulling the strings in domestic politics.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Four photographers and dozens of student activists were injured in a clash between protesting students and police officers during a demonstration at the front gate of the House of Representatives (DPR) here on Monday.

Indonesia's military said it was mobilising all available troops in a hunt for Aceh separatist rebels blamed for the abduction of nine crewmen servicing the offshore oil industry.

The army also Tuesday accused the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) of demolishing two electricity pylons in the province, causing blackouts in several areas.

Jakarta – The government will evaluate the viability of the current security policy in Aceh before issuing a presidential decree to change the current status of civilian order in the troubled province, a top official said on Monday.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto has overseen the first major reshuffle of the armed forces since taking over last month.

Concerns are being raised that Indonesia's military is once again in the political driver's seat. After the fall of president Suharto in May 1998, and the first free election of a president in 33 years, initial steps were taken to reform the armed forces.

Indonesia rolled out the red carpet for the man it once jailed as a subversive as Xanana Gusmao arrived in the capital for his first visit as president of newly independent East Timor.

A smiling Gusmao was garlanded and given a 21-gun salute and honour guard on arrival Tuesday at the palace for talks with President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Parliament has rejected a motion to set up a special committee to investigate a graft scandal involving House speaker Akbar Tandjung.

Yesterday's decision sparked dissent outside parliament and police had to use a water cannon to disperse about 300 student protesters.

Mansour Fakih – My first visit to East Timor was early in 2000. The towns were still smoldering, and the atmosphere was tense. I was shocked, angry, and so disillusioned. I never suspected my own people could have done such a thing.

New York – After one year in office, President Megawati's administration has restored a degree of political stability in Indonesia. But her efforts to secure support and stability have led to a retrenchment of many of the old interests of the Soeharto regime that ruled for three decades, most notably the military.

Indonesian police will investigate former and current officers who may have helped Tommy Suharto during his year-long flight from justice.

A team from national police headquarters will carry out the investigation as soon as possible, said deputy spokesman Chief Commissioner Prasetyo on Monday.

The United Nations food agency launched a program to feed 2.1 million of the poorest Indonesians, including hundreds of thousands of people displaced by sectarian and separatist violence.

The operation by the World Food Programme (WFP) will cost 65 million dollars and run until the end of 2003, the organisation said Monday.

Jakarta – Corrupt Indonesian businessmen used Australia's high-rolling Christmas Island casino to launder money when it was owned by a crony of Indonesia's former dictator Suharto, a former shareholder believes.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Workers of the Sidoarjo-based plastic goods producer PT Maspion went back to work on Friday, ending a week-long stand off with the management of the factory over working days.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The nine military suspects in the murder of pro-independence Papuan leader Theys Hiyo Eluay should be tried in civilian court, instead of a military tribunal, analyst Kusnanto Anggoro of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and noted rights activist Todung Mulya Lubis said on Friday.