[East Timor approaches the last formal step in its long hard road to democracy and independence – on Sunday the people go to the polls to elect a president. Xanana Gusmao, who led East Timor's struggle against Indonesian rule, first as a jungle fighter and then from prison, is the overwhelming favourite in a two-man presidential contest.]
Transcript:
Jakarta – The government plans to establish an agency to tackle issues concerning the country's migrant workers, Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea said.
R.K. Nugroho and Sri Wahyuni, Jayapura/Yogyakarta – Separatist leaders have rejected the presence of the Java-based Laskar Jihad militant group in the troubled province of Papua, which they said had sparked disquiet among local people.
Lela E. Madjiah, Banda Aceh – The Indonesian Military (TNI) seems to be succeeding in its efforts to crush the armed separatist movement in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, with reports of an increasing number of armed separatists being killed and arrested, as well as a rise in the number of separatists surrendering.
Jakarta – Almost two-thirds of Indonesian households who answered a nationwide survey reported falling victim to corruption by public officials, according to a report issued Friday.
Traffic police ere considered the most corrupt body, followed by the customs department and the judiciary, said the report from the Partnership for Governance Reform.
Paris – Indonesia's foreign government creditors on Friday said they had agreed to re-schedule a portion of the country's external debt service obligations.
Dan Murphy, Jakarta – An investigator has uncovered new evidence in the murder of a Dutch journalist in East Timor in 1999 that bolsters the case against an Indonesian Army unit accused of murdering 12 people as it pulled out of the former Indonesian territory.
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) seems to be trying to use the on-going ad hoc human rights trial to wash its hands of gross human rights violations in East Timor, blaming the United Nations and civilian authorities for the bloody terror campaign in the territory in 1999.
Banda Aceh – Seven more people have been found dead over the past three days in Indonesia's rebellious Aceh province, aid workers and residents said Friday.
Jakarta – The highest-ranking Indonesian officer implicated in a wave of violence that swept East Timor in 1999 defended its former police chief on Thursday, telling a court he had saved the lives of thousands of UN personnel.
Annastashya Emmanuelle, Jakarta – Although the government has constantly vowed to eradicate graft and corruption, the level of budget malfeasance remains high as action is rarely taken by the relevant government institutions to follow up on reports of irregularities released by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK).
Agus Maryono, Purwokerto – Thousands of fishermen from Central Java canceled their plan to storm Jakarta on Wednesday in protest over the newly decreed fishing taxes, after Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Rohimin Dahuri heeded some of their demands.
Jakarta – A group of pro-democracy activists voiced concern over the ongoing amendment process of the 1945 Constitution on Wednesday, calling on the Assembly to soon form an independent constitutional commission to avoid a possible constitutional crisis, reports said.
Jakarta – Two men claiming to be members of the Aceh separatist rebel movement entered the Finnish Embassy here yesterday and requested political asylum, saying they feared for their lives.
The pair met Ambassador Matti Pullinen before leaving the office voluntarily through a rear entrance.
East Timor's two presidential candidates publicly embraced each other Thursday in Dili, appealing to voters to cast ballots in Sunday's election, the last political milestone before the territory gains independence on May 20.
In calling for a heavy turnout, both Xanana Gusmao, the wide favorite, and rival Xavier do Amaral said more united than divided them.
Indonesia's powerful former military chief, General Wiranto, has published a book giving his version of East Timor's bloody 1999 breakaway, as he campaigns to clear himself of responsibility for the orgy of killing and destruction.
Jakarta – Former Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. (ret) Wiranto on Wednesday evening launched a book on East Timor, titled Selamat Jalan Timtim, Pergulatan Menguak Kebenaran, Penuturan Apa Adanya Seorang Wiranto (Good Bye East Timor, Struggle to Uncover the Truth, the Revelation of Wiranto).
Jakarta – A request for political asylum by two civilian members of the Aceh separatist movement has been turned down by both the Finnish government and the United Nations refugee agency, an Indonesian minister said Thursday.
"The asylum request has been rejected because they did not qualify for it," top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told reporters.
Robert Go, Jakarta – A lack of investment in Indonesia's power sector has forced the government to schedule regular blackouts in more than 30 regions across the country.
Leo Wahyudi S, Jakarta – Temporarily employed doctors are winning more support for their plight, with the National Commission on Human Rights charging that the mandatory service required of new medical graduates by the government is a form of rights abuse.
Padang – The Padang administration in West Sumatra has been criticized for appointing around 100 allegedly unqualified teachers as civil servants in public schools.
Sumber, West Java – At least 6000 students in the West Java city of Cirebon have been forced to drop out of elementary schools since January due to financial problems and individual values, local officials said on Tuesday.
Jakarta – The Indonesian capital has been hit by floods again due to clogged drainage channels.
Residents in southern Jakarta complained that their homes were deluged due to the poor condition of drainage channels following the major floods that hit the city in January and February.
Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Being accused of espousing "public lies" has apparently offended Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso.
Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Witnesses at the murder trial of Tommy Suharto have retracted their previous statements. Withdrawals by three of them have raised suspicions that they are being intimidated with the aim of securing the defendant's release.
Jakarta – Thousands of people in Indonesia's West Nusa Tenggara province staged a rally on Wednesday to protest Israel's sweeping military offensive in Palestine.
Jon Land – Two-and-a half years after East Timor's referendum on independence, the effect of the Indonesian military and militia's post-ballot destructive rampage are painfully apparent. Burnt out shells of buildings stand dotted around the suburbs of Dili, which remains a place, for most, of daily hardship and poverty.
Yogyakarta – The provincial police named on Tuesday two other policemen as suspects in the death of Aan Yulianto who died in the hospital after having been "interrogated" in relation to a brawl early this month.
Spokesman for the Yogyakarta police office Adj. Sr. Comr. Sudarsono said the new suspects are Joko Taruno and Adhofir.
Jakarta – Two members of the Infantry Battalion 141/Aneka Yudha Jayaperkasa under the Sriwijaya Military Command were killed in a rebel ambush in the restive Blang Mangat district ofNorth Aceh on Tuesday morning, according to news reports.
Banda Aceh – At least six people, including two soldiers and two separatist guerrillas, have been killed in violence in Indonesia's Aceh province, military and rebel spokesmen said Wednesday.
UN transition administrator Sergio Vieira de Mello went to East Timor's border with Indonesia Wednesday to welcome a group of returning refugees, marking the repatriation of 200,000 people.
Dili – East Timor independence hero Xanana Gusmao rode on horseback through streets lined with adoring supporters here Monday as the campaign for the presidency of the world's newest nation entered its final week.
The charismatic former guerrilla commander, 56, seems certain to sweep to victory in the April 14 poll against his sole challenger Francisco Xavier do Amaral.
Claire Harvey and A'an Suryana, Jakarta – The United Nations' reconstruction effort in East Timor will continue for at least the next decade, a military expert said on Monday.
Canadian Colonel (ret) Peter Leentjes, the former training chief of the UN's global Department of Peacekeeping Operations, said the magnitude of the task in East Timor was often underestimated.
Tony Parkinson – Former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid is planning to attend East Timor's independence celebrations next month, amid increasing doubts that his successor, Megawati Sukarnoputri, will accept her invitation to witness the emergence of the world's newest state.
Jakarta – Indonesia's economic growth in the next few years will be too low to lift millions of its people out of poverty, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Tuesday.
Jakarta – Indonesia's first human rights court on Tuesday ruled that the trial of five officers accused of failing to prevent a church massacre in East Timor in 1999 should proceed, rejecting defence arguments it violated the constitution.
Medan – Hundreds of students from six state-owned elementary schools in Medan Maimoon subdistrict held a rally on Monday to protest a land swap involving their school buildings.
1512 - Portuguese explorers reach Timor, an island already known to Chinese as a source of sandalwood
1556 - Dominican friary opens at Lifau, in the Oecussi-Ambeno enclave
1642 - Portuguese soldiers arrive from nearby Solor island
1653 - Dutch build fort in the west of the island at Kupang, now the capital of the Indonesian province containing West Timor
Sydney – East Timorese voters go to the polls next week to pick the person who will declare their country independent next month.
The winner of the April 14 presidential poll will take over the running of the half-island state from an interim United Nations administration May 20. The UN team was slotted in after Indonesia gave up the territory in 1999.
Dili – Francisco Xavier do Amaral, 66, only had nine days as East Timor's first president in 1975. More than a quarter of a century later, he is bidding for his old position – the only rival to reluctant but formidable presidential candidate, independence hero Xanana Gusmao.
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The government has hinted at pursuing a security-minded approach, instead of dialog, in dealing with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), despite the increasing death toll from military operations in the troubled province.
Jakarta – Police have arrested 17 suspected members of a radical group campaigning to establish an Islamic state within Indonesia, reports said Tuesday.
Yogita Tahilramani, Jakarta – Internal disputes within the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) took on a new dimension on Monday when PDI Perjuangan members protesting against Surabaya branch office party head, M. Basuki, were beaten up by police for forcing their way into the Surabaya Legislature building on Jl. Yos. Sudarso.
Jakarta – The release of Parliament Speaker Akbar Tandjung from detention may have been in accordance with the law, but legal observers and critics charged that the move had "severely offended the people's sense of justice".
Jakarta – Police said on Tuesday they had issued a summons to the Indonesian holder of the McDonald's fast-food franchise for a second time for questioning over alleged graft involving the country's largest pension fund.
Jakarta – One third of villages in the restive province of Aceh are used as bases for Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist rebels, a report said.
Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Dadek Achmad said 32 percent of villages in the oil-and-gas-rich province were influenced by GAM separatists, AFP reported.
Kurniawan Hari and A'an Suryana, Jakarta – The suspension of the detention of corruption suspect and House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung may have been in accordance with the country's laws but has severely offended people's sense of justice.
Dili – The candidates are on the campaign trail, polling staff are ready and the stage is nearly set for East Timor's first presidential election, UNTAET's election chief announced today, nine days before the poll.
Why is Francisco Xavier do Amaral running for president of East Timor when he knows he has no chance of winning? Amaral's sole opponent, independence hero Xanana Gusmao, is the most popular man in the former Portuguese colony, which will finally achieve independence on May 20.
Oyos Saroso HN, Bandar Lampung – Hundreds of fishermen demonstrated in Bandar Lampung on Saturday to demand that local authorities crack down on their fellow fishermen using trawlers and dynamite in fishing.
They threatened to occupy the provincial legislative council building and the governor's office, should firm action not be taken against the rouge fishermen.