Jakarta – Calls for President Abdurrahman Wahid not to ratify the controversial state security bill continued on Thursday with the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) officially sending a letter requesting a review of the bill.

Jakarta – Ex-president Soeharto's children were under siege yesterday as son Bambang Trihatmodjo was questioned by state prosecutors while a company controlled by daughter Siti 'Tutut' Hardiyanti Rukmana faced a lawsuit filed by state toll road operator PT Jasa Marga.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – In a stunning reversal, Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid has praised the Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, for his "strength" in sticking to his controversial views on Asia and offered to build a new relationship with Australia.

Melbourne – Prime Minister John Howard today responded to overtures from Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid by praising Mr Wahid's leadership and democratic principles.

"I admire the courage that he's displayed in the time that he's been the president," Mr Howard said, after Mr Wahid reportedly spoke of a desire "not to leave him [Mr Howard] out in the cold".

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – The Indonesian government's attempts to negotiate Acehnese demands for independence or autonomy will be fruitless unless violence in the province decreases, say human-rights groups.

Banda Aceh – Unidentified groups burned 11 school buildings in North Kluet in South Aceh in early hours on Wednesday, leaving Rp 1.8 billion in losses, police said.

Jose Manuel Tesoro, Jakarta – "Indonesian politics these days is like a Chinese movie," says a disgruntled Indonesian former civil servant. If one imagines vengeful Chinese martial artists in combat, each threatening retribution on the other's descendants, one does indeed approach the petty vindictiveness and vicious skirmishes that now dominate Jakarta's elite politics.

Jakarta – Indonesian share prices, which fell 1.6 percent this week, are expected to remain flat next week due to a lack of positive sentiment and the market's disappointment with the announcement of the winner of PT Astra International's bid, analysts said Friday.

United Nations – The United States, Britain and other Security Council members have urged Indonesia to keep its pledge to disarm militias that continue to attack East Timor and to end army support for the militia.

Karen Polglaze, Jakarta – A team to be set up to pursue the investigation of massive human rights violations in East Timor last year has already drawn criticism over its composition and focus.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid has ordered a shake-up of the country's official news agency, Antara, removing its editor-in-chief and demanding it be more independent.

Andrew Marshall, Jakarta – Indonesia's plans to give regions more control over their finances are at the heart of the country's efforts to hold its disparate provinces together. But wrongly handled, they could blow its economy apart.

Associated Press in Jakarta – Fresh violence broke out between Christians and Muslims in North Maluku killing five people and injuring dozens more, news reports said on Wednesday.

Banda Aceh – At least six civilians have been killed or found dead this week in the Indonesian province of Aceh which has been wracked by fighting between separatists and soldiers, police and hospital sources said Wednesday.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government said it would investigate the alleged embezzlement of some 117 billion rupiah (S$23.4 million) by the General Elections Commission (KPU) during last year's polls.

Dili – The success of East Timor's struggle to become an independent country is crucial in promoting stability throughout neighboring Indonesia, a visiting senior US official said Tuesday.

Dili – The small, unassuming office of the CPD-RDTL (Council in Defence of the Democratic Republic of East Timor) in Balide belies the debate that is brewing over the restoration of the independence which was declared by Fretilin on November 28, 1975.

Vanya Tanaja, Dili – Frustration and discontent spilt over into another demonstration here on March 7 as 300 job seekers gathered outside the offices of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor. The job seekers alleged collusion and nepotism in the appointment of local UNTAET workers, an allegation strenuously denied by the UNTAET human resources department.

Jon Land – The recent spate of pro-integration militia incursions along the western border of East Timor highlights the failure and unwillingness of the Indonesian government to disarm its militia gangs in West Timor.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Many cite law enforcement as the key to structuring a better way of life in Indonesia. But Indonesia's judicial system, one of the backbones of law enforcement, has yet to show any signs of change. Too often people claim that money, not the law, is the determining factor in legal decisions.

Pip Hinman – Since his election five months ago, the new president of Indonesia, Abdurrahman Wahid, has managed to create the impression that his is a people-friendly government. But how true is this?

The following is abridged from a statement by MUHAMMAD NAZAR, chairperson of the presidium board of the Aceh Referendum Information Centre (SIRA), to Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid, dated March 5. Violence and human rights violations by the state, through its military, are still in progress in Aceh.

Pip Hinman – Roger Smith, an Australian who works for the American Centre for International Labor Solidarity, which is funded by the US government and the AFL-CIO, has been threatened with deportation from Indonesia. His "crime" was to liaise with and report labour movement activities there.

May Sari, Surabaya – One thousand five hundred workers at PT Surabaya Meka Box in East Java, Indonesia, began a strike on February 21 to protest against the dismissal of three colleagues who were representing workers in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.

Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Dili – UN peacekeepers have concluded that the Indonesian military has been involved in a recent spate of attacks by paramilitary units across the increasingly tense border separating newly independent East Timor from Indonesian- controlled western Timor.

Mark Dodd – Five ex-militiamen who crossed into East Timor from Indonesia have been arrested by New Zealand United Nations peacekeepers and face murder charges related to last year's post-ballot violence.

Jakarta – Some 100 airport employees went on strike at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Monday demanding national flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia restore their status as government employees within the airline.

The move did not disrupt Garuda's flight schedules. The strike began at 4am, the beginning of the company's first working shift of the day.

Vaudine England – President Abdurrahman Wahid's latest salvo in his battle to keep rebellious Aceh as part of Indonesia is a pledge to investigate the alleged beating of 20 villagers last Friday, just one day after a ground-breaking attempt for peace talks.

Susan Sim, Jakarta – The crew of a Dutch-owned vessel with links to the Habibie family is expected to go on trial in Batam today for allegedly smuggling sand out of the Indonesian island for a multi-million-dollar reclamation project in Singapore.

Lincoln Wright – The United States freighted state-of-the-art intelligence equipment directly to Canberra during the East Timor crisis, providing Australia with vital information about the Indonesian army and the militia groups that opposed independence.

Jakarta – Finance minister Bambang Sudibyo said on Monday that 120 state-owned companies suffered combined financial losses of Rp 47.65 trillion (US$6.39 billion) last year.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – The chairman of Indonesia's National Business Development Council, Mr Sofyan Wanandi, has the task of harnessing business to invest in Indonesia, but concedes that conditions are not yet ideal.

Associated Press in Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid said on Tuesday that fighters of the separatist Free Aceh Movement group (GAM) could join the Indonesian military following a peaceful settlement of the civil war in the oil-rich region.

Vaudine England – History is becoming one of the hottest topics in Indonesia, with President Abdurrahman Wahid paying visits to former presidents, dissidents and alleged communists while the national human rights body opens inquiries into a range of recent traumas.

Xanana Gusmmo, East Timor's de facto leader, discusses the past and looks to the future. John Stanmeyer/Saba for Time. An enthralled crowd greets Xanana Gusmao, making his first visit to Oecussi, a remote East Timorese enclave.

Terry McCarthy, Dili – The woman in black is waiting for him. Xanana Gusmao, East Timor's poet-revolutionary and de facto leader, is working his way through a crowd of admirers. When he reaches her, she throws her arms around him and sobs uncontrollably on his shoulder.

Jakarta – Political observers here are speculating that rogue elements inside the military are behind the recent wave of "political terror" launched against the nation's legislators.

Jakarta – The government has scrapped the controversial retroactive clause from the human rights bill and proposed that past human rights violations be tried in an ad hoc tribunal.

Jakarta – Some 10,000 East Timorese repatriated by international agencies have returned to refugee camps in Indonesia because of uncertainties at home, including food shortages, a minister has said in Jakarta.

Jakarta – Several foreign investors and buyers may pull out of contracts with Indonesian plywood producers over escalating conflicts between timber companies and local people in Kalimantan, a report said yesterday.

Agencies in Banda Aceh – Indonesian troops yesterday raided four villages in troubled Aceh province searching for rebels, a day after a landmark meeting there between an Indonesian envoy and a rebel leader, residents said.

Marianne Kearney – One of the major problems in the haze crisis is the weak enforcement of flawed, existing laws. Companies flout the law because there is no one agency that monitors whether they abide by it.

In the past, good proposals to deter companies and farmers from starting the fires were made. Years later, they still exist – as drafts.

Jayapura – Local police have officially named nine leading Irianese figures here as suspects for allegedly plotting against the state. Irian Jaya Police chief of detectives Col. Tukarno said on Wednesday that the nine were named suspects for their alleged involvement in a series of proindependence rallies since late last year.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid attended joint prayers held at the residence of former President Suharto to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the death of Mr Suharto's wife, a report said on Thursday.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid's approval of attempts to reopen the case of the 1965 abortive coup and its bloody aftermath has caused some controversy.

Anastasia Vrachnos, Ailieu – In the mountains south of Dili, men with long hair and guns stand in the pre-dawn mist. They introduce themselves to a visitor with noms de guerre.

Joanna Jolly, Jakarta – The respect of East Timorese for the United Nations transitional administration's work is waning and it is in danger of being compared to the previous Indonesian colonial regime, observers said yesterday.

George J.

Scott Burchill – Indonesia would not have been able to illegally occupy and terrorise East Timor for a quarter of a century without the support it received from the West, particularly Australia.

The tactics employed by pro-integrationists in Australia to ensure Canberra's diplomatic collaboration with Jakarta were often crude, but they were remarkably effective.

Jakarta – Despite claims by Indonesia's President that the situation in Aceh province is improving, the Red Cross said yesterday that the violence was as bad as ever, with torture and murder a common occurrence.

Mr Paul Grossrieder, director-general of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said the situation in Aceh was "very critical".