Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – The city administration has been urged to prepare a concrete action plan to make Bylaw No. 2/2005 on air pollution control enforceable.

The bylaw, which will take effect early next year, bans, among other things, smoking in enclosed public places and requires public transportation vehicles to use compressed natural gas (CNG).

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – Fresh violence broke out on Sunday in Mamasa regency in West Sulawesi province, leaving four people dead and two others seriously injured. In addition to the fatalities, seven houses were also burned down during the attack.

Two among the four died after being shot by unknown assailants while two others died after a fire razed their homes.

Agus Supriyanto, Jakarta – TNI (armed forces) chief General Endriartono Sutarto has again said that he will allow active TNI members to be nominated to run in regional elections. If they were not given permission to do this he said, he would be violating the law.

On Saturday April 25, hundreds of people from the Liberation Front against the Oppression of Papua (Front Pembebasan Penindasan Papua, FP3) went to the Papuan Provisional Parliament in the provincial capital of Jayapura where they held an action calling for a resolution to the human rights violations in Wamena and Wasior.

Jakarta – Prof Dr Muladi, chairman of the Golkar Party's legal, human rights and regional autonomy department, has urged the government to seriously lobby China and Russia in anticipation of the possibility that a United Nations Commission of Experts will propose the formation of an international tribunal to settle human rights abuses allegedly committed by Indonesia in East timor i

Jakarta – Several Islamic organizations, led by well-known vigilante group the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), have reported popular rock band Dewa to the city police for alleged blasphemy over the use of the word Allah written in Arabic script on the cover of its Laskar Cinta (Soldier of Love) album.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang (West Nusa Tenggara) – The West Nusa Tenggara provincial administration called on the central government to hold talks with the East Timor government to ensure a thorough investigation into the recent shooting of an Indonesian Military (TNI) soldier on the border between the two countries. The move was necessary to avoid security instability in the area.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – With the walls around the alleged massive corruption in the General Elections Commission (KPU) starting to crack wider open, the commission is on the verge of losing the celebrated public trust it once proudly vaunted.

Jakarta – A non-governmental organization (NGO) urged the government on Monday not to issue a regulation allowing for a direct appointment of regional election materials providers.

The results of the most recent negotiations held last March in Canberra-Australia, spoke about the establishment of a Resources Sharing Agreement or an agreement which favours a "legal framework" for a "creative solution".

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto's comment, that servicemen would be able to contest in the regional leadership elections without first having to resign, has raised concerns over the return of the military to practical politics.

Rendi Witular, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) denied on Monday reports saying it had reduced its naval presence in a maritime area of Ambalat that has been at the center of dispute with Malaysia.

TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said he had no knowledge of a deal with Malaysia to limit the presence of warships in the area to one each.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Some 1,441 containers filled with relief aid for tsunami victims in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam are still being detained by the customs authorities at Belawan port in Medan due to incomplete documentation, an official said on Monday.

Jakarta – Foreign peacekeepers won't be part of any international monitoring of Indonesia's tsunami-devastated Aceh province after a possible peace deal between the government and rebels, Jakarta said on Wednesday.

Jakarta – Indonesia's military named as its spokesman a general indicted by UN prosecutors for alleged war crimes during East Timor's break from Indonesia in 1999 – a posting likely to anger rights groups calling for those involved in the violence to be punished.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – At least 756 people, including five foreigners and several members of the Indonesian military (TNI) and police, have been arrested during month-long anti-drug raids in residential and entertainment centers across the capital.

Australia has warned that East Timor could lose some revenue if it insists on drawing a permanent seabed boundary in the Timor Sea. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer issued the caution as boundary negotiations resumed in Dili today.

Sydney – Australia "isn't just a charity" and would protect its own interests in a territorial dispute with East Timor involving potentially billions of dollars from oil and gas reserves, the foreign minister said Tuesday.

With high hopes for a compromise, Australia and East Timor are to resume talks over multi-billion dollar oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea.

The talks, drawn out over the past year, have stalled repeatedly over the disputed maritime boundary between Australia and its tiny neighbour.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – As the government tries to draw up an inventory of the myriad business interests of the Indonesian Military (TNI) as part of the preparations to remove them from military control as required by law, the Army's Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad) claimed that it now only has interests in three business units.

Police on Sunday attempted to stop reporters from covering protests held in conjunction with the arrival of Asian-African leaders in Bandung. The protests, however, went unnoticed by the leaders as the police had cordoned off the streets leading to the main venues the night before.

In the lead up to next week's maritime boundary negotiations between Australia and East Timor, the Australian Council of Trade Unions is calling on the Australian Government to ensure East Timor receives its fair share of benefits from gas and oil projects in the Timor Sea.

Ahmad Alheid, Menado – Dozens of students from a number of organisations in the North Sulawesi city of Menado held a demonstration opposing the Asia Africa Conference on Friday April 22. They believe that the conference agenda is taking a soft line on neo-imperialism.

Australia's top labor union leader demanded Saturday that Australian government negotiators give impoverished East Timor a fair share of multi-billion dollar oil and gas deposits under the sea that separates the two nations.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said on Thursday the military was ready to pull out some 40,000 troops from Aceh if an agreement was reached by the government and rebels.

Bill Guerinl, Jakarta – Indonesia is one of the most resource-rich countries in the world, with coal, gold, bauxite, nickel, copper, silver, tin and iron ores being its main mineral deposits. Yet declining investment in the country's mining sector has been a drag on growth since 1997, when US$2.6 billion of new investment was made.

M. Azis Tunny, Ambon – Ambon police officers stormed the Pattimura University campus and attacked students there on Wednesday after a minor quarrel, leaving at least 10 students injured, three of whom had to be admitted to a local hospital after suffering serious injuries.

Anyone planning to exercise their democratic rights by staging rallies along Jakarta's main roads during the Asian-African Summit should think again as the police have orders to send them packing straightaway.

Indra Shalihinl, Jakarta – Don't try to hold a demonstration during the Asia Africa Conference because Jakarta must look beautiful. And because conference delegates wanted to pass by, anti-conference demonstrators who had just arrived at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout in Central Jakarta were immediately removed by police and escorted to a less visible area.

Jakarta – After eight years in the garment industry, Supena is savvy enough to know that one must keep abreast of the latest trends to stay in business. That includes the use of imported textiles, regardless of the legality of the practice.

Leony Aurora, Jakarta – The legal battle over a ruling by the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) on the sale of two tankers by Pertamina looks set to return to square one after the Supreme Court decided that all the appeals against the ruling would have to be heard by the same judicial panel.

M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – After holding two meetings in Helsinki, Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have yet to sign an agreement. For as long as there is no agreement in black and white the TNI (armed forces) will reject a cease-fire with GAM.

Dili – President Xanana Gusmao condemned the East Timorese Catholic Church's continuing demonstrations against the government Thursday, saying he would not allow street protests to bring down Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri's cabinet.

I Wayan Juniartha, Denpasar – The All-Bali Theater Festival at the island's arts center in late April promises to provoke thought on the roles that women play in a traditionally patriarchal society, which is insensitive toward gender issues.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – About 5000 East Timorese protesters calling for the Prime Minister to resign were camped in Dili yesterday under banners reading "End the Dictatorship".

The demonstrators, backed by the Catholic Church, have been prevented by riot police from entering the capital's main square, but have remained in a side street.

Reporter: Rachel Carbonell

Eleanor Hall: The President of East Timor is playing down concerns that the dispute between Church and State that's erupted in the young nation could escalate. Police are barricading government buildings in the capital Dili, as thousands of people protest against plans to make religious education in East Timor's state schools voluntary.

Rita A. Widiadana, Tanjung Benoa, Bali – While Indonesia was listed this year by Transparency International as the sixth most corrupt country in the world, efforts to fight against corruption here are heading in the right direction.

Gunawan Mashar – Makassar: Around 30 Papuan [Irian Jaya] students in Makassar went to the South Sulawesi Provincial DPR [House of Representatives] in Jl Urip Sumohardjo, Makassar on Wednesday (20 April). They arrived to protest about the transfer of nine prisoners from Papua to Makassar jail.

Emeritus consultant gynaecologist, Barry Mendelawitz, who spent time working in East Timor, has felt compelled by the abysmal state of East Timor's health system to urge the Australian Government to give our neighbours a fair go in the Timor Sea.

Jakarta – Human rights activists who's names have been proposed by a number of non-government organisations (NGOs) to sit on the Commission of Truth and Reconciliation are concerned about the selection process at the People's Representative Assembly (DPR). Based on experience, the DPR prioritises political considerations in the selection of public officials.

Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – Dozens of students from the Indonesian Youth Front for Struggle (Front Perjuangan Pemuda Indonesia, FPPI) held an action supporting the Asia Africa Conference on Thursday April 21 but called on the conference not to become just a reunion or stage for nostalgia.

[IFET sent the following letter yesterday to the UN Commission of Experts which is examining justice for East Timor. The letter, including a formatted PDF version, is online at http://etan.org/ifet/docs/04202005.htm.]

Justice Prafullachandra Bhagwati
Professor Yozo Yokota
Ms. Shaista Shameem

Dili – Hundreds of peaceful Catholic protestors kept up their pressure on East Timor's government for a second day Wednesday, but both the religious activists and the government toned down their sometimes inflamed rhetoric.

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – East Timor was last night facing its worst crisis since independence after influential sections of the Catholic Church called people into the capital, Dili, to protest against the Government.

Veronica Brooks, Canberra – Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Wednesday maritime boundary negotiations with East Timor will resume next week, marking the sixth meeting in a year as the two sides move closer to a deal.

Vannessa Hearman, Melbourne – The Timor Sea Justice Campaign is set to broadcast its next series of television advertisements to coincide with Anzac Day on April 25. The group has chosen this time to focus on Australian soldiers and their relationship with East Timor.

Indonesia's ex-dictator Suharto, who has escaped trial on massive graft charges because he was deemed too ill to follow proceedings, has made a rare public appearance and appeared quite healthy, a local newspaper said.

Aboeprijadi Santoso, Helsinki – The third round of the Helsinki negotiations between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to find "a comprehensive and permanent solution with dignity for all" was just concluded with new hope for a peaceful breakthrough.

Jane Perlez, Jakarta – After a long delay, Indonesia announced a new body to oversee the reconstruction of Aceh, but it will start work without the help of a UN agency that had planned to spend $60 million on more than 35,000 houses.

Riyadi Suparno, Tanjung Benoa (Bali) – Australian and Indonesian businesspeople are of the view that investment opportunities in Indonesia are abundant – especially in the infrastructure sector – but that equally risks are still high, and to some extent this keeps them at bay – unless the returns are attractive.