Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Dozens of angry Papuan activists expressed their anger over mining company PT Freeport Indonesia by storming the Sheraton Timika hotel Tuesday where several senior provincial government officials were staying.

Slamet Susanto and Suherdjoko, Yogyakarta/Semarang – The social status that came with the position convinced Sugiharto to put aside hunting for a regular job and run instead for Srihardono subdistrict head in Bantul, Yogyakarta.

Bandung – There are currently no plans to develop a new military command in West Irian Jaya following that its separation from Papua, according to Army chief Gen. Djoko Santoso.

Speaking in Bandung on Tuesday, he said the Indonesian Military would instead maximize the role of the Cendrawasih Military Command in Papua.

Coimbra, Portugal – East Timor's foreign minister says that he is "very saddened" at the decision by Indonesia's top court this week to reinstate a 10-year jail term on former pro-Jakarta militia chief Eurico Guterres.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Supreme Court has come under fire for its decision to release an Army general charged with atrocities before East Timor's independence vote in 1999, with observers saying the verdict once again discriminated in favor of the security forces.

Dili – East Timor's economy needs to grow by more than 6% annually from 2007 if the new nation is to meet the UN's Millennium Development Goals by 2015, Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said Wednesday.

Jakarta – Human rights groups criticized US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday for restoring full military ties with Indonesia, saying the army remains a threat to the country's young democracy.

Max Lane – The second congress of the Acehnese Peoples Democratic Resistance Front (FPDRA), held on February 23-26 in Aceh Besar, took a decision to form a new political party in Aceh. The FPDRA was established in the late 1990s and grew out of student, women's and farmers' groups struggling against the Suharto dictatorship.

Sue Pleming, Jakarta – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice began a trip to Indonesia on Tuesday seeking closer ties with the moderate Islamic country in a region where China's influence is growing.

Jakarta – Fighting terrorism and military cooperation are set to top the agenda in talks between visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Jakarta/Kupang – The Supreme Court reinstated a 10 year-jail term for former pro-Jakarta militia leader Eurico Guterres on Monday for committing crimes against humanity before East Timor's vote for independence from Indonesia in 1999.

Guterres is the second civilian convicted by the Supreme Court of involvement in the 1999 atrocities in the country's former province.

Sian Powell, Jakarta – The militia leader who incited his followers to kill East Timorese independence supporters in 1999 will be the first person punished over the violence after Indonesia's Supreme Court upheld his conviction for crimes against humanity yesterday.

J. Soedjati Djiwandono, Jakarta – Scanning the print media around March 11, it was clear that few, if any, remembered, or perhaps most just ignored or could not care less, what happened on March 11 in 1966. During the 32 years of the New Order regime under Soeharto, March 11 was regarded as sacred.

Jakarta – A former separatist peace negotiator in Indonesia's Aceh province may face public caning after he was caught with a French humanitarian worker alone inside a car, in violation of partial Islamic law in force there, police said Tuesday.

Lisa Misol, New York – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to Jakarta today is intended to showcase Indonesia's transition to democracy. It follows the Bush Administration's controversial decision to reestablish full relations with the Indonesian Military (TNI).

Radzie, Banda Aceh – As many as 62 Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members detained in a number of correctional institutions in Sumatra have yet to be granted amnesty by the Indonesian government. As a result they are still incarcerated in jail. The tragedy is that several of them have fallen ill.

Hyginus Hardoyo, Manokwari – Former Sorong regent Abraham Octovianus Atururi maintained his lead in the West Irian Jaya direct gubernatorial election Monday amid threats by an opponent to take the local election commission to court.

Jakarta – Unruly demonstrations make for good newspaper copy and dramatic photos, but trashing a government building is likely to lead to criminal punishment.

A group of residents have been unrelenting in their protest over the proximity of extra-high voltage power lines (Sutet) to their property, despite the seemingly blinkered government response. The Jakarta Post's Abdul Khalik and Andi Haswidi look at the root causes of the problems that drove a group of villagers to embark on a hunger strike.

Bandung – West Java: At least 10 infants have died of malnutrition in West Java over the past three months, with the real number of malnourished children estimated to be much higher in the province.

Head of the provincial health agency's service division, Fita Rosemary, said they had recorded 24,067 cases of malnourished children from January to March this year.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Art curator Agus Suwage had not expected that exhibiting an art work by photographer Davy Linggar would land him in serious trouble. "I knew from the media that a group of people had filed a lawsuit against us, but I was steadfast as I believed that we had done nothing wrong.

Anne Gearan, Jakarta – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Indonesia has earned the restoration of close military ties with the United States, despite complaints from human rights groups that the move betrayed victims of military brutality.

Anissa S. Febrina, Jakarta – The government needs to provide better infrastructure and simplify regulations so as to lower logistics costs and help boost the growth of the country's manufacturing sector, an economist says.

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, Padang – Illegal loggers have stripped bare at least 20 percent of the forest in Kerinci Seblat National Park in West Sumatra, and the losses will continue unless the authorities take action, an official says.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Indonesian environmentalists plan to discuss pollution and rights abuse by multinational companies during the upcoming UN Human Rights Commission meetings in Geneva.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – House Speaker Agung Laksono denied reports Saturday that members of the House of Representatives would receive yet another pay hike.

"There will be no salary hike in 2006. We don't know yet if there will be any in 2007 or 2008. We last got a salary increase approved in 2005, but it has yet to be disbursed," he told reporters.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Acehnese appealed once again for an end to lingering suspicion about their allegiance to the country as the House committee deliberating the bill on the province's governance made a weekend trip to Banda Aceh.

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) today urged Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to support an Indonesia policy that genuinely promotes justice, peace and human rights.

Panca Nugraha, Mataram – About 300 people, mostly women, took to the streets Saturday in a loud protest against the antipornography bill, which they said degraded women, insulted many local cultures and threatened tourism.

Hyginus Hardoyo, Manokwari, West Irian Jaya – Eligible voters in West Irian Jaya crowded polling stations Saturday, ignoring threats of violence if the gubernatorial election in the disputed province went ahead.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Hundreds of residents angry with the results of the gubernatorial election in Papua on Friday attacked the General Elections Commission (KPUD) office in Puncak Jaya regency.

The emergence of democracy in Indonesia has "thoroughly transformed" US relations with that country, the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, said in remarks made public yesterday.

Tom Hyland – Outside, the autumn sun glistens on the Yarra. Inside the swish restaurant at Federation Square there's the clink of cutlery as hundreds of Melbourne women lawyers listen to a lunchtime speech by the woman who is billed to speak on her life, "from Melbourne arts student to the first lady of East Timor".

Duncan Graham, Surabaya – Before sociologists and grief counselors got hold of the word, "closure" meant keeping the door shut. Now it refers to the absence of a corpse, unresolved disputes about cause of death, the mystery of a sudden fatality.

And the reason. And the perpetrator. Suciwati does not have closure. Maybe she never will.

Benget Simbolon Tnb., Jakarta – The government is yet to take serious action to protect migrant workers overseas despite recurring cases of their ill treatment by recruiters and employers, a seminar concluded Thursday.

Ubud – Emerald rice paddies once stretched for mile upon mile alongside the road that winds through scenic Ubud on Indonesia's Bali island, but today just glimpses remain as hotels, restaurants and shops have risen up to block the view.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The two largest factions in the House of Representatives are expected to push for major changes to the pornography bill currently being deliberated, as the controversy over the issue continues to grow.

The Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) occupy 128 and 109 seats respectively in the 550-seat House.

Mark Forbes and Karuni Rompies in Jakarta – Lilis Lindawati finished waitressing at 8pm and was waiting for a bus when the men in brown shirts came. Five jumped from the back of a ute and forced her into a nearby van.

Jakarta, Makassar – A bomb exploded at a Hindu temple in the conflict-scarred town of Poso, Central Sulawesi on Friday, a day after the government announced an extension of its security operation in the area for another three months.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Eight months ago, top officials were seen attending Cabinet meetings dressed simply. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono often wore smart, short-sleeved batik shirts and his Cabinet also sported casual attire.

H. E. Kofi Annan
Secretary-General United Nations
New York, NY 10017 USA

Fax: +1-212-963 48 79

Vienna, 10 March 2006

Your Excellency,

Banda Aceh – Dewi Haryanti was in a hurry. The 25-year-old was exchanging her hotel waitress uniform for street clothes for the trip to her second job at a boutique she owns with her sisters in the capital of Indonesia's tsunami-torn Aceh province.

Richard Lloyd Parry – Five years after being liberated from Indonesian occupation, the tiny country of East Timor is in a downward spiral of poverty, poor health and illiteracy, according to a grim report by the United Nations.

East Timorese die on average 15 years younger than other East Asians and four out of ten of them survive on less than 30 pence a day.

Washington – Australia's top diplomat in the US has delivered a rousing speech in support of Indonesia and criticised the motives of fighters for the independence of Papua.

Ambassador Dennis Richardson's address yesterday to a US/Indonesia advocacy group in Washington was so supportive Indonesia's ambassador joked that he may soon be out of a job.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Munir's murder, the religiously motivated attacks on Ahmadiyah followers and forced church closures are some of issues local activist groups plan to raise at the upcoming session of the United Nation's Commission on Human Rights.

Virginia Winder – East Timor needs fair trade to turn its economy around, says peace and environmental activist Ego Lemos.

The Timorese man arrived in Taranaki yesterday for the Parihaka International Peace Festival.

Suherdjoko, Wonosobo – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told protesting subdistrict heads Thursday that he would not heed their demands for longer terms of office, and added that such a move would be against the law.

Ambon, Maluku – A protest at the State Islamic Institute in Ambon escalated Thursday when 500 students told lecturers and staff to leave the campus. The protesting students have sealed off the campus since Monday, forcing 3,000 students to miss classes.

Executive director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Hadi Soesastro said East Timor has abundant natural resources.

Charles Honoris, Tokyo – The proposed pornography bill has created a nationwide controversy. Several interpretations of the bill suggest that the article outlawing women from showing "sensual parts" could result in banning women from wearing swimsuits or bikinis – or even the kebaya. Even more difficult will be to define what constitutes an "erotic dance".