Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Deforestation of the country's already much-depleted natural forests has accelerated as local administrations are currently in a race to give businesspeople hundreds of timber concession licenses in order to help fill the regions' coffers.

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – The highest-ranking commander of the military wing of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has publicly announced his support for the agreement with the government, although he also emphasized that GAM would continue with its much-criticized practices, including the collection of funds from the public.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Zakki Hakim, Jakarta – Despite staging street rallies almost every day, the current student protests against the government are insignificant mainly due to the different political interests they represent, experts say.

Imanuddin, Jakarta – The general elections is still a year ahead, but prospective candidates for the next presidency, who have their roots in the top ten political parties, have either secretly or publicly launched their pre-election campaigns by visiting their constituents across the country.

Jakarta – About 1,000 Muslims chanted anti-American slogans outside the US embassy in Jakarta on Sunday saying any war against Iraq would be an attack on the entire Islamic world.

Jakarta – The first weapon-free zone will open in Indonesia's Aceh province this week to help cement a peace deal that both sides have violated less than two months after signing it, mediators said on Sunday.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – Members of an armed militia group arrested here last week say they agreed to return as guerillas because Indonesian officials in West Timor had prevented them from returning legally with United Nations refugee programs.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – One of Indonesia's most senior politicians, Parliamentary Speaker Akbar Tandjung, yesterday declared that three of the largest political parties in the country still backed President Megawati Sukarnoputri as he brushed aside speculation that there will be a new regime before elections in 2004.

Jakarta – Indonesia's former armed forces chief, General Wiranto, denied yesterday that he has tried to seize power from President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

"I definitely will not allow myself to be trapped in such a game," the retired general told reporters.

Ainur Sophiaan, Surabaya – The panel of judges trying seven of the Army Special Forces (Kopassus) personnel charged with killing Papuan proindependence leader Theys Hiyo Eluay rejected on Friday a demand by the defendants' lawyers to drop the case.

A committee monitoring a ceasefire in Aceh province has for the first time criticised both the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist group and the Indonesian government for truce violations.

After fervently voicing support for alleged terrorists last year in the name of Islamic brotherhood, Vice President Hamzah Haz has ventured onto safer ground by braying about the dangers of communism.

Forget the big problems facing Indonesia, such as corruption, terrorism, religious extremism, poor law enforcement and human rights abuses.

John Martinkus – Almost three weeks after a series of militia incursions into East Timor from neighbouring Indonesia left five people dead, the two largest contingents of the peacekeeping force (PKF) responsible for security in the newly independent nation, the Australians and the Portuguese, are still facing criticism over their failure to heed warnings of the attacks.

Moch. N. Kurniawan and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – US senators voted down on Thursday an attempt to limit US military training for Indonesian soldiers, a move that Indonesian activists said would further dampen efforts to promote human rights in the country.

Jakarta – Jakarta Police released on Friday 20 protesters who staged a rally in front of the residence of President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Wednesday, El Shinta radio station reported.

The protesters, mostly studets, were arrested late on Thursday for allegedly violating "law of freedom of expression before public", said Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Prasetyo.

Jakarta – Father Raphael dos Santos, an East Timorese priest, said on Thursday Indonesian Military soldiers and policemen were among the attackers of his refugee-packed church in the town of Liquica in April 1999.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Complicated procedures have put an early damper on moves to show House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung the door as the steering committee (Bamus) that was scheduled to discuss the issue on Thursday failed to reach a quorum.

Jakarta – Human rights groups reacted angrily Friday to a US Senate decision not to block military ties with Indonesia over reports that army troops killed two American schoolteachers in Papua province.

"The problem is that the Republicans don't care about human rights," said Asmara Nababan, a leading Indonesian rights activist.

John Roberts – After inconclusive Indonesian investigations into an ambush near the Freeport mine in West Papua last year, a team of US FBI investigators is due to arrive this week to take part in a joint inquiry. Two American teachers and an Indonesian died in the attack and 12 others were injured.

US senators voted down an attempt to limit US military training for Indonesia, triggering outrage from campaigners striving to bring East Timor war crimes suspects to justice.

The Senate voted 61-36 to reject an amendment to omnibus spending bills that would have restricted a program for Indonesian military officers to come to the United States for training and education.

Jakarta – In another effort to curb illegal logging, the government has issued a joint ministerial decree on the transportation of logs and a minister of trade decree on the exports of logs.

Bill Guerin – A key Indonesian Christian leader working for an end to the violence in the Spice Islands (Malukus) is reported to have been poisoned while in police custody in Palu, the capital of his native province of Central Sulawesi.

Jakarta – With war looming in Iraq, Quds Production garment workshop owner Syahrul Arief mass produces tee-shirts supporting Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Should war break out, sales of the shirts bearing the Iraqi leader's face and the words "Ready for War" and "We Support You", could take off, Arief hoped.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri fired the opening salvo in her campaign for next year's election by challenging her rivals to 'fight' her at the ballot box.

Robert Go, Nusa Dua – International donors have pledged US$2.7 billion in fresh aid to cash-strapped Indonesia this year, despite ongoing concerns about its inability to implement crucial economic reforms.

"Today's Senate floor vote against an amendment offered by Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) to restrict International Military Education and Training (IMET) for Indonesia is an outrage which jeopardizes the rights of Indonesians, East Timorese and Americans living in Indonesia," said Karen Orenstein, Washington Coordinator of the East Timor Action Network (ETAN).

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – A group of religious leaders publicly condemned abortion on Wednesday, saying it was against the teaching of all religions and against human values.

In a joint statement, representatives from five religions denounced abortion in the country and all attempts to legalize the practice through an amendment to the 1992 Health Law.

Jakarta – Timor Leste faces the worst threat to its stability since independence as security forces counter raids by armed gangs from Indonesia's West Timor.

Militiamen, who murdered six villagers early this month, have infiltrated the nation – known formerly as East Timor – with the aim of destabilising it, a government official said yesterday.

John Kerin and Terry Plane – East Timorese Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta wants Australia's UN peacekeepers to be involved in joint operations with the East Timor Defence Force to combat Indonesian military-backed militia raids on the fledgling country.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – President Xanana Gusmao has denied a report that East Timor is seeking increased Australian military involvement in the territory to curb militia infiltrations from West Timor.

"We have been very happy with the performance of the peacekeepers," he said. "We don't need more Australian soldiers. They are needed for the war in Iraq; it's more important."

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – Noted scholars warned the government on Wednesday of social upheaval that could explode at any time as people were fed up to the teeth with rampant injustices.

Marian Wilkinson, Washington – A confidential FBI report revealing that a key member of the extremist group Jemaah Islamiah planned to bomb Westerners in bars and nightclubs from Thailand to Indonesia is believed to have been distributed to America's allies almost two months before last year's Bali bombing.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – A group of women legislators have taken the lead in the movement to force out House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung over his conviction in a Rp 40 billion corruption case.

The insistence of House Speaker Akbar Tanjung on retaining his position in Golkar and in the House is likely to provoke post-power syndrome groups to continue to radicalize the anti Megawati-Hamzah movement.

Policemen and soldiers deployed on border duties have yet to receive their operational orders from superiors. With only seven days to go before the deadline set for the Operassi Papua Merdeka (OPM) fighters to move out of Papua New Guinean soil, PNG troops stationed in Vanimo are still unsure of what they are supposed to do.

Anna Peltola, Malmo, Sweden – A Christian rebel group in Indonesia accused Jakarta on Wednesday of helping Islamic militants set up bases in the country's resource-rich Papua province.

The Free Papua Organisation has waged a protracted, low-level guerrilla war for independence in remote Papua, one of several trouble spots in the world's most populous Muslim country.

Bill Guerin – International aid donors led by the World Bank may, just may, put more pressure on Indonesia to reform its forestry policy. Management of Indonesia's remaining forests is among the topics on the agenda of the 12th meeting of the 30-member Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) in Bali this week.

The Army's elite Special Forces (Kopassus) is reportedly behind recent incursions into East Timor by militia fighters.

A leaked United Nations report alleges that gangs armed and supported by Kopassus have been entering East Timor and threatening to kill villagers and community leaders who oppose them, the Australian Broadcastingting Corporation said Wednesday.

East Timor's Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos Horta, has warned that the United Nations peacekeepers stationed in the new nation are not managing to control border raids into East Timor by pro-Indonesian militia, and that the Australian Government and the United Nations have been slow to take the threat seriously.

Transcript:

Pip Hinman – When Indonesian judge Asril Marwan on December 30 sentenced Joy-Lee Sadler to four months' jail and Lesley McCulloch to five months, he declared that McCulloch should have received a harsher sentence because her actions "could have threatened national security and the territorial integrity of the Republic of Indonesia".

In Indonesia's Papua Province, human rights groups have warned the presence of American investigators will do little to bring the perpetrators of last year's Freeport mine killings to justice. The US FBI has sent a high-level team to help determine who launched the attack at the mine last August, when two Americans and an Indonesian were killed.

Max Lane, Jakarta – On the evening of January 15, senior Indonesian cabinet ministers announced the postponement of a proposed 22% increase in telephone charges and the postponement and review of proposed increases to electricity and petrol prices.

Joanne Collins, Bali – Indonesia would not need to "beg" for money from the international community if it tackled the corruption costing the cash-strapped country some $28.4 billion a year, an outspoken minister said.

The former head of Indonesia's national human rights commission says the agency's independence is under threat because of recent legislative changes. Asmara Nababan was a founding member of the commission and served as its General Secretary from 1999 until last year.

Alan Sipress, Banda Aceh – On New Year's Eve, city streets once emptied by fear swelled with revelers, despite persistent drizzle.

Jill Jolliffe, Atsabe – The hamlet of Tiarlelo is only a few kilometres from Atsabe, itself 25 kilometres from the border with West Timor, but the rough jungle track that leads to it emphasises its isolation.

Joanne Collins, Bali – Indonesia's government said on Tuesday it wanted an end to IMF funding this year, seeking to break a financial lifeline in place since the Asian financial crisis savaged the country five years ago.

Bali – Indonesia's moves to reduce earlier announced rises in fuel prices were very understandable and would not compromise its goals of keeping its budget deficit under control, an IMF official said on Tuesday.

A World Bank official said separately he thought there was an understanding spirit among donors at the Consultative Group on Indonesia meeting here.

Matthew Moore – In a nation where conspiracy theories and rice are two of life's staples, Indonesians appear to be changing their habits. You can still get rice with your Kentucky Fried, but conspiracy theories are suddenly harder to find, at least as far as the Bali bombing is concerned.

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Former Dili police chief Lt. Col. Hulman Gultom was sentenced to three years in prison on Monday by a human rights court for crimes against humanity in East Timor in 1999.

However, like previous convicts, he remained free pending an appeal with the High Court.