The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) today praised the Senate for agreeing today to maintain most restrictions on US military assistance to Indonesia.

Robin McDowell, Jakarta – The Indonesian government said Wednesday it would start withdrawing troops from Aceh in September as part of a pact with rebels to end three decades of fighting that has killed 15,000 people.

Evelyn Rusli, Jakarta – The peace accord between the Indonesian government and Aceh separatists that was agreed upon Sunday will be difficult to implement, given a 30-year relationship between the two sides that has been comprised of violence, mistrust and broken promises, analysts said Monday.

The formula agreed between Indonesian and separatist rebel negotiators to end nearly 30 years of conflict in Aceh maintains the momentum for peace that has been building since December's tsunami devastated the province.

It is a fragile agreement that leaves challenges to be overcome on both sides.

"There will be peace." A bold statement indeed from Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin at the conclusion of the Aceh peace negotiations in Helsinki.

Free Aceh Movement (GAM) spokesman Bakhtiar Abdullah also expressed a degree of confidence that the peace process would be successful.

We welcomed negotiations between Indonesia and Acheh, but warn that without real external support, preferably from the UN, any deals done are doomed to failure. Achenese negotiators are of course between a rock and a hard place, but had to use the window of Tsunami scrutiny to their maximum advantage. Instead it appears the TNI has set the agendas.

Andreas Harsono, Kupang – Devastating though it was, the Asian Tsunami brought the proverbial winds of change to Indonesia by focusing international attention on the festering conflict in Aceh province and creating conditions for a political settlement that may yet instruct other ethnic groups.

The United States said that a peaceful settlement to the 30-year separatist conflict in Indonesia's Aceh province was within sight, following a deal reached between the government and rebels.

Jakarta – The reaction was mixed in the House of Representatives on Monday to the draft peace deal signed by the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), with some legislators questioning GAM's main demand to establish a local political party in the province.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's willingness to go the last mile on Aceh appears to have won the day in Helsinki, where government negotiators and separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels have finally reached a tentative peace accord to end 30 years of fighting.

Andrew Burrell, Jakarta – A landmark peace deal between the Indonesian government and Aceh separatists still faces big hurdles after Jakarta legislators vowed yesterday to block moves to allow the rebels to form local political parties.

Ellen Nakashima, Jakarta – A peace deal aimed at ending 30 years of military conflict between Acehnese separatist rebels and the government was almost derailed just before it was accepted on Sunday afternoon.

Kitty Holland – The human rights violations inflicted on the people of West Papua are the same as those suffered by the people of East Timor, an activist from the western Pacific island has said.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The government condemned on Saturday an attack by members of Indonesian Muslim Solidarity on the Jamaah Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI) on Friday afternoon.

Achmad Sukarsono, Banda Aceh – People in Aceh reacted cautiously on Monday to a deal aimed at ending 30 years of civil war in the Indonesian province devastated by the Dec. 26 tsunami.

Unlike an agreement reached in late 2002 that had Acehnese crowding newspaper stalls for the details, the new deal failed to distract people from going about business as usual.

Jakarta – Indonesian Military chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto has said the government would send military troops to Aceh if the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) broke its commitment to hand in their weapons as part of a peace accord agreed in Helsinki on Sunday.

Helsinki – The Indonesian government and Acehnese rebels have reached a groundbreaking agreement to end 30 years of fighting in Aceh province and a memorandum of understanding will be formally signed next month.

The United States Congress is to vote on a bill which could see the US Government ordered to monitor the human rights situation in the Indonesian province of West Papua. The House International Relations Committee has passed the State Department Authorisation Act for the next financial year.

He was a rebel, a guerrilla leader, the symbol of his country. She was A foreigner, a teacher, a spy. They fell in love though they'd never met.

This is a story, a pair of stories, as big as a nation and as small as A kiss. I know it sounds like a movie promo, but it's true. Please Welcome the President and First Lady of East Timor, Xanana and Kirsty Sword Gusmao.

Jakarta – Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, who has already been declared a suspect in the murder of top rights campaigner Munir, was expected to tell the court who the main actor was in the crime, his lawyer said.

Rusman, Samarinda – Nearly forty years after his arrest, Ismary Musran, 74, remains confounded by how his family's once tranquil life in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, was forever altered by bloody incidents that transpired 1,243 kilometers away on the night of Sept. 30, 1965.

Members of both chambers of the US Congress have written to the leaders of Indonesia and Timor-Leste urging them to support international involvement in bringing to justice the perpetrators of crimes against humanity and other human rights violations committed against the people of Timor-Leste.

Endy M. Bayuni, Jakarta – Whatever transpires in the peace talks between the government and the separatist Aceh Free Movement (GAM) in Helsinki this weekend, Indonesia has to review its stance on whether or not to allow political parties in the regions. The exclusion of such parties from our electoral system undermines our claim to political pluralism.

Indonesia's government and Aceh rebels have reached a peace deal to end a 29-year insurgency in the tsunami-devastated province, a top Indonesian official said Sunday.

A. Junaidi, Jakarta – A young woman sits and seems to be talking to herself," When I walked into a mall, I looked at the mirror, wow, how beautiful my hair is." It's the closing line of a television advertisement for Dove shampoo.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Living in the capital is not easy with its uncontrolled development, pollution, traffic snarls and, more recently, flooded streets.

Sunariah, Jakarta - The TNI (armed forces) is ready to withdraw its troops from Aceh if it is part of an agreement reached in Helsinki between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Dimas Adityo, Jakarta – Within three months after a peace deal is agreed to between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the separatist group's arms will be surrendered and destroyed. In concert with this said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, non-organic TNI (armed forces) troops will be withdrawn from Aceh in stages.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono rejected a key political demand by rebels in the restive province of Aceh, denting their claim that a peace deal to end the 30-year conflict was at hand.

Rusman, Samarinda (East Kalimantan) – Former soldier Oentoeng Soejanto, 65, never imagined that his love for acting would lead him to spend nearly half his life in a village designated for ex-prisoners accused of being members of the outlawed Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI).

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The government has promised to provide free basic education starting this year. Yet, in reality, the public still have to pay money to enroll their children in state schools and must pay even more if they want them to get a decent education. This week's cover story takes a look at this issue.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Though the government promised to provide free basic education for all school-age children across the country starting this year, most schools are still making new students pay an "entrance fee".

Final Text - Confidential, Not To Be Distributed

The Government of Indonesia (GoI) and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) confirm their commitment to a peaceful, comprehensive and sustainable solution to the conflict in Aceh with dignity for all.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Nusa Kambangan – In theory, the "official residence" of convicted murderer Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the son of former president Soeharto, is in the Batu penitentiary on Nusakambangan prison island.

Indra Harsaputra, Surabaya – After attending to a client Agung (not his real name), an employee at the office of an abortion clinic in Dukuh Kupang, Surabaya, begins checking off names on the list of reporters who regularly come to pick up hush money.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government has pledged over US$15 million to aid in the fight against illegal logging which is leaving the country's forests depleted, the forestry ministry said Saturday.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Rights activists on Friday urged the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to speed up the investigation into the murder of the country's top rights campaigner Munir.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – How much violence in this country is committed in the name of religion? Take Muslim scholar Jalaluddin Rahmat, for instance, whose belief leans toward the Syiah Islamic school of thought, like the majority of people in Iran. Jalaluddin wants nothing more than to follow the Syiah teachings, which are perceived as too liberal by conservative Muslims.

After decades of little serious effort to fight gambling, the new National Police chief's bold announcement that he planned to completely eradicate gambling nationwide came as a quite a surprise.

Gen. Sutanto's move on his first day in office should send a strong signal to gambling racketeers and also to the many corrupt police officers who support the enterprise.

Ellen Nakashima, Jakarta – Indonesian government officials said they expect to avert calls for an international war crimes tribunal on Indonesian military atrocities in East Timor, promoting instead a truth commission to probe abuses committed in the province after it voted for independence in 1999.

Helsinki – Aceh separatists on Friday called for the Establishment of an international tribunal to try Indonesian troops accused of Committing war crimes in the province.

Bakhtiar Abdullah, spokesman for the Free Aceh Movement, said Government forces had committed numerous war crimes but that very few of these had been prosecuted.

Peace talks between Indonesian officials and Aceh separatists have run into a "disastrous" hurdle in discussions of political participation, the rebels said, claiming Jakarta had "sabotaged" the process.

"It's going diasastrously," Free Aceh Movement (GAM) political advisor Damien Kingsbury told AFP before a fourth day of talks got under way.

The United Nations said on Friday international aid was flowing smoothly to tsunami-hit areas of Aceh, denying reports of large numbers of containers languishing on Indonesian wharfs.

Amnesty International Secretary General, Irene Khan, wrote today to the members of the Security Council urging them to act upon the recommendations of a recent UN report on justice for Timor-Leste.

Australian businessman, Ian Melrose, has put to air a new television ad which aims to expose the Howard Government's tactics regarding a deal to be signed with East Timor over oil and gas resources in the disputed Timor Sea.

Jakarta – Twenty days after the Fact Finding Team (TPF) investigating the case of the death of human rights activist Munir handed over the conclusions and recommendations of their six months work to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, there has still been no information on what follow up measures are to be taken by the government.

Jakarta – House of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono defended on Wednesday plans to jack up state budget allocations next year for financing overseas travel for lawmakers, despite the current weak financial state of the government and mounting criticism over the effectiveness of such trips.

Aleksius Jemadu, Bandung – Recently, thousands of farmers took to the streets in front of the presidential palace to protest against the enactment of Presidential Regulation No. 36/2005, which allows the government to acquire land for public development projects.

Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta – Approvals for fresh domestic and foreign direct investment (FDI) are on the raise, increasing optimism that a pickup in investor confidence has finally started to set in.

M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – The Free Aceh Movement's (GAM) wish to form local political parties in Aceh has been in vain. The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) has rejected the proposal because it violates the law on political parties.