[Speaking for the first time, former Indonesian president B.J. Habibie tells David Jenkins how and why he made the fatal decision to leave control of East Timor in the hands of the military before the bloody referendum which secured the province's freedom.]

Banda Aceh – At least 11 more people have been killed in clashes between Indonesian troops and police and separatist rebels in Aceh province, police and residents said Monday.

Jakarta – Activists have urged the government to reform the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas-HAM), which they said was ineffective as it was dominated by a "conservative group". They claimed that the rights body had failed to carry out the mission laid out by the government, which founded it in 1993.

Dili – It is easy to be optimistic about East Timor's future when you are sitting at the villa of its de facto king – UN diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello.

David DeVoss – The East Timor branch of Portugal's Banco Nacional Ultramarino in Dili looks like a modern financial institution. It has a smiling receptionist, an unctuous guard and executives seated behind desks papered with documents. But don't bother asking for a Visa card, a letter of credit or interest on any money you might deposit.

Jakarta – Clothes make the man, or the governor, in this case. Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso has proposed increasing his wardrobe allowance this year from 40 million rupiah (S$8,400) to 60 million rupiah.

Jakarta – Indonesia's intelligence chief has confirmed US government warnings that American interests in the country face possible terrorist attacks.

Jakarta – The military is losing patience with peace efforts in Indonesia's Aceh province and should be allowed to crack down on separatist rebels, a top general said yesterday.

Jakarta – Indonesian newspapers yesterday rapped Jakarta city councillors for going on 'foreign junkets' at a time of economic crisis. Activists agreed that the current visits to Japan and China by 17 councillors, as well as earlier overseas trips, were a waste of taxpayers' money and could amount to corruption.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Indonesian police have said they will question an entertainer for allegedly inciting hatred against the state by defaming government and national symbols.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dare Mulo – Some people wept. Others sang national songs they had rehearsed for days and stamped their bare feet in the dust. Rogerio Lobato this week brought the revolution to Dare Mulo, a village high in East Timor's mountains, 100 kilometres south of Dili.

Mark Dodd, Dili – East Timor's Cabinet member for foreign affairs, Mr Jose Ramos Horta, has blasted the United Nations mission in Dili for obstructing the implementation of Portuguese as the country's official language.

Some East Timorese political forces have set up security-style partisan groups in preparation for next week4s elections but have not generated any problems, UN administration officials said Friday.

Jakarta – Indonesia's crude oil output is expected to fall by an average 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) next year due to security disruptions in its fields, a senior mines and energy ministry official said on Friday.

Dili – A US-based election monitoring group said Friday it was satisfied with conditions for East Timor's first free elections next week, but expressed concern over cases of voter intimidation.

Jakarta – Head of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) Goenawan Ibrahim warned on Thursday that the haze problem in Kalimantan might worsen as forest fires could easily be sparked by the protracted dry season in the region.

Jakarta – Separatist guerillas in Aceh are increasingly cornered and disunited, Indonesia's top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said yesterday.

Jakarta – As it is difficult to curb international terrorism in the country, the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) will focus on fighting its domestic accomplices, agency chief A.M. Hendropriyono said on Thursday.

Jakarta – Nearly 300,000 people were displaced by communal and sectarian conflict in various parts of Indonesia between January and August, further straining government resources, officials said on Thursday.

Jakarta – Rights group Amnesty International urged Indonesia's new President Megawati Sukarnoputri on Friday to bring policemen and soldiers to book for grave human rights violations.

Bronwyn Curran, Dili – East Timorese voters are relishing their first-ever taste of democracy but some parties in next week's elections have tried to intimidate them, local poll watchdogs said Thursday.

Mark Dodd, Dili – An East Timorese anti-independence leader said yesterday he would tell refugees in camps in West Timor that the world's newest country was on the road to democracy.

Mark Dodd, Dili – The UN Serious Crimes Unit, charged with investigating human rights violations in East Timor in 1999, says it is investigating 674 documented murders but has insufficient resources to do the job.

Jane Counsel – Delicate negotiations over a new Timor Gap revenue sharing agreement were further unhinged yesterday, after a small American group launched legal action against the Federal and Indonesian governments and Phillips Petroleum.

Tom Wright, Jakarta – Indonesia's independent debt restructuring review body issued a report late Thursday criticizing key deals which it said favored debtors over the government. The International Monetary Fund, which is visiting Indonesia this week, has said it will only resume lending under a stalled $5 billion program if the government first made the report public.

Jakarta – Observers welcomed the Indonesian Military (TNI) headquarters' plan to drop its territorial function and to focus on defense duties, saying it was a positive move to improve its professionalism.

Andi Asrun, Jakarta – Former Indonesian president Suharto has been out of power for three years now, but authorities agree with the suspicions of political analysts and activists that members of his family are still busy – wreaking havoc with bombings and bomb threats.

An American Civpol officer stationed in Bobonaro District was stoned by a group of Timorese at the border area. The Indonesian Commander of the Border Security Task Force in West Timor, Lieutenant Colonel (Infantary) Magna Candra confirmed the incident.

The Senate has rejected a proposal for an international war crimes tribunal covering the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. Instead, it backed Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri's moves to prosecute those committing atrocities during the 1999 independence ballot.

Mark Dodd, Dili – Those responsible for some of the worst atrocities committed in East Timor in 1999 are likely to escape prosecution by a special Indonesian war crimes tribunal, according to senior United Nations and Timorese human rights officials.

Jakarta – Indonesia's state-owned forestry company could lose its profitable "ecolabel" certificates if it does not act to stamp out illegal logging on Java island, it was revealed Wednesday.

Many foreign companies will no longer accept wood products without the ecolabel stamp, a guarantee the wood has come from a renewable source.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – The political party of East Timor's independence heroes, Fretilin, has been accused of using intimidation, threats and "Indonesian-style" campaigning ahead of next week's general election.

Canberra – Australia is unable to dictate a solution to a dispute between East Timor and a US-based oil company that has stalled construction of a key gas pipeline, the government said Wednesday.

Nick Squires, Sydney – The Government planned to help build a counter-terrorist training base in Indonesia for the country's elite special forces, according to confidential government documents. The 1994 plan, which was never made public, was proposed by Canberra despite controversy over the poor human rights record of Kopassus, the Indonesian army's special forces.

Robert Karniol, Bangkok – Indonesia's new government appears intent on completing intelligence-related reforms, including an expanded role for the civilian National Intelligence Agency (Badan Inteligen Nasional, or BIN).

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia will fight corruption by focusing on bureaucratic reforms, not on the prosecution of serving and former government officials who are suspected of graft.

The number two in East Timor's Fretilin party hierarchy, Mari Alkatiri, strongly critized Wednesday the territory's Independent Eletoral Mediation Panel, which has complained about the movement's campaign use of an expression deemed to be provocative.

Lewa Pardomuan, Kuala Lumpur – A rally in palm oil prices is fuelling widespread looting in plantation areas in Indonesia, with armed gangs targetting mainly state-owned farms.

Jakarta – An Indonesian court on Wednesday sentenced an army corporal and a former soldier to life in jail for a devastating blast at the stock exchange that killed 15 people. Prosecutors had demanded death for ex-sergeant Irwan Ilyas and Corporal Ibrahim Hasan. Both at one stage escaped authorities, but Ilyas was recaptured and Hasan remains on the run.

Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday drew a "clear commitment" from the Indonesian government to accelerate its economic reform programs. The IMF mission arrived in Jakarta on Sunday to try and strike a new economic reform agreement with the government.

Muhammad Abdul Rachman had some trouble uttering his oath of office as he was sworn in as attorney general last week. His voice tripped up a bit on the words "I will act honestly". Fortunately, with a little coaxing from President Megawati Sukarnoputri the words finally came out.

Canberra – Australia said on Tuesday it would urge Phillips Petroleum Co chairman and chief executive Jim Mulva to talk tough with East Timor over tax proposals which are stalling a Timor Sea gas project.

East Timorese women's rights groups have gathered more than 10,000 signatures backing the inclusion of a "Women's Rights Charter" in the territory's future constitutiuon, activists announced Tuesday in Dili.

Jakarta – More than 1,000 disadvantaged people, mostly becak (pedicab) drivers and street vendors, staged a rally at the Office of Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta, on Monday.

Jakarta – A live bomb was found outside the family residence of human rights activist Munir in Batu, Malang, East Java, in the early morning hours of Monday.

The police defused the high explosive bomb in the middle of a paddy field opposite the house on Jl. Diponegoro. The bomb squad claimed it was of TNT (trinitrotoluene) type.

Terry Friel, Jeunieb – Indonesia's generals insist they are winning the war against the rag-tag rebels fighting for independence for the bountiful province of Aceh, but after dusk at one of hundreds of rebel barricades on the main north-south highway the reality is different.

Jakarta – Dita Indah Sari, a noted woman activist who is the one of the recipients of the 2001 Ramon Magsaysay Award, said here on Monday that winning the award would encourage her to continue her fight for the basic rights of workers.

Jakarta – The South Jakarta District Court sentenced two defendants to 20-years imprisonment each on Monday for their role in last year's bombing of the Jakarta Stock Exchange building, which killed 10 people and injured 46 others.

Jakarta – Legislators of the National Awakening Party (PKB) resumed their participation in proceedings at the House of Representatives (DPR) on Monday, attending the House's first session for the 2001-2002 period.

East Timor's UN Transition Administration (UNTAET) praised Monday the weapons collection campaign conducted last week by the Indonesian Armed Forces and targeting militias in Jakarta's western half of Timor island.

A UN spokesman in Dili said UNTAET chief Sergio Vieira de Mello "welcomed the efforts" of the Indonesians, adding that he hoped they would continue.