West Papua has never been known to the world politics, except for its rich natural resources. Many countries have contributed to various catastrophes facing the beings who live in this western half of New Guiea Island, the world's second largest island.

Indonesia said Monday that security in war-torn Aceh province has improved because nearly 7,000 rebels have been killed or captured and most rebel strongholds seized in the past 16 months.

Saiful Mahdi, Ithaca, New York – The people have high expectations of the popular president-in-waiting Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, although some are skeptical of his capabilities. It is expected that he will wage an all-out war against corruption – as he promised – and bring about economic reform.

Banda Aceh – The Indonesian Military has captured Muhammad Aris, 72, the governor of the Aceh Free Movement (GAM) for Pidie region, in a raid in Pidie district, the military said on Sunday.

Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – A demonstration rejecting militarism and demanding the abolition of the military's territorial commands(1) by activists from the National Student League for Democracy (LMND) ended in a clash after it was broken up by members of the Indonesian Anti-Communist Front (Front Anti Komunis Indonesia, FAKI).

Nigel Wilson, Energy writer – Talks on a maritime boundary between Australia and East Timor concluded on schedule in Darwin yesterday after both sides agreed there was little chance of early agreement on key terms.

Indonesia needs to tidy up at home before it seeks membership of the UN Security Council.

It was an unhappy coincidence. On the same day that Indonesia launched its bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council, a human rights watchdog issued a report pointing to the routine use of torture by the Indonesian military against political prisoners in Aceh.

Banda Aceh – Aceh civil emergency administrator Insp. Gen. Bahrumsyah Kasman has questioned the recent Human Rights Watch reports detailing the systematic abuse of Free Aceh Movement prisoners.

"They have just created a story which has not been verified yet," Bahrumsyah, who is also Aceh police chief, said on Thursday.

Kornelius Purba, Jakarta – Who is willing to help a poor woman end her 39-year search for her missing father, and to restore her civil rights, which were taken from her by the state, merely because she is the daughter of a communist?

Port Vila – The West Papua freedom fighters are enjoying unprecedented support from the Vanuatu Government.

With the establishment of an office and approval by the government for the freedom fighters to operate in Vanuatu and raise funds for their cause and

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's promise this week to put national reconciliation at the top of his government's agenda once he is installed as president on October 20 could not have come at a more opportune moment as, today, history once again comes knocking at the door of the nation's collective conscience.

John McBeth – TB Silalahi was an instructor at the Indonesian army's General Staff College when he first encountered a young Javanese army major called Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. "I saw him even then as a potential president," says the former two-star general.

US-based environmental watchdog Sierra Club has criticized the US Embassy in Jakarta for chiding Indonesian police over the detention of five executives of a subsidiary of Denver-based gold mining giant Newmont for questioning over alleged pollution.

Bob Briton – Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer is now in a hurry to conclude an agreement with the government of East Timor over the maritime boundary between the two countries.

Jayapura – In the ongoing trial of five men charged with rebellion, the defence lawyers at a hearing in Jayapura on 28 September, called for the men's release.

In an earlier session, the prosecutor had asked the court to sentence the accused to two years. The five men are: Agus Waipon, Salmon Daka,SE, Maurids Wouw, Yehuda Wandi and Yosep Wow Imfum.

New York (Antara) – The Indonesian government, under President Megawati Soekarnoputri, has taken legal action against the alleged perpetrators of human rights abuses in East Timor in 1999, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said here on Tuesday.

Nick Everett, Canberra – On September 20, 70 people demonstrated outside the foreign affairs department to demand the Australian government stop trying to steal East Timor's oil and gas resources. The protest coincided with the resumption of negotiations between Dili and Canberra on Timor Sea oil and gas revenue.

Unless West Papua is granted independence from Indonesia, a time bomb will go off affecting Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand, according to a West Papuan activist.

John Rumbiak fears West Papuans will be embroiled in a bloody war if independence is not granted.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The House of Representatives and the government finished on Monday deliberating the bill amending the current autonomy legislation, with the final version of the new bill maintaining the ban on independents from freely contesting direct elections for chief executive posts at the local level.

Max Lane – Former Suharto-era general Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono and former Golkar official Yusuf Kalla have been elected as president and vice-president in the second round of Indonesia's first direct presidential election. Yudhoyono won 61% of the vote against outgoing President Megawati Sukarnoputri's 39%.

Muhammad Qodari, Jakarta – Victory for presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is almost certain. According to a quick count method by credible institutions and electronically recorded vote counting by the General Elections Commission (KPU), Susilo is likely to win the presidential race with 60 percent of the vote.

Mochtar Buchori, Jakarta – While the official vote-count may still be ongoing, it is almost certain that the Megawati Soekarnoputri-Hasyim Muzadi pair has lost the presidential race, and Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) will become the country's sixth president along with his running mate Jusuf Kalla as vice president.

Jakarta – The US Embassy's election observation team said on Monday Indonesia conducted the direct presidential election orderly and peacefully, without disruption to voter access to the September 20 polls.

"Our observers acknowledged significant improvement in electoral logistics and election administration over previous rounds," the observation team said in a statement.

Nana Rukmana, Ambon – After a three-day investigation, the Cirebon Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) has ruled Cirebon Mayor Subardi violated election rules by campaigning for incumbent President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Muhammad Atqa, Jakarta – Hundreds of people from the Bekasi Social Forum (Forum Masyarakat Bekasi, FMB) and the Islamic Youth Movement (Gerakan Pemuda Islam, GPI) are calling for the controversial draft law on the armed forces (RUU TNI) to be enacted immediately. The strange thing is they admit that they don't even know the substance of the law.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Likely president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had little qualms making this promise during his election campaign: There will be no fuel price increase for the poor in Indonesia this year if he takes over office.

It is an issue that will return to haunt him as he aligns his pledges with the difficult task of addressing the country's chronic problems.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Dozens of expatriates were shocked by the recent visit of officials of the Jakarta administration to their apartments at Taman Rasuna in Kuningan, South Jakarta. The officials carried forms that they were required to be filled out.

Jakarta – A number of worker, student, urban poor and political movement organisations have come together under the banner of the People's United Action to urge the government and the people's representatives to honour their promises to implement reform.

Ivy Susanti, Jakarta – Indonesia's success in promoting democracy and peace both at home and internationally has bolstered its confidence in pursuing a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Abdul Khalik and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – American Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce held talks with President Megawati Soekarnoputri and the police on Monday as Washington aired concerns over the detention of five executives of United States-based Newmont Minahasa Raya mining company.

A direct appeal to Indonesian President Megawati has been made by the US Ambassador to Indonesia over the jailing of four employees of the Newmont mining company. The four executives were detained without charge five days ago over allegations of pollution causing serious health problems around the company's mine operations in Sulawesi.

Triono Wahyu Sudibyo, Semarang – Often you hear the news that the state owned electricity company PT PLN is loosing money. After investigation, it turns out that many people use electricity without paying, that is stealing it. After further study, the highest level of electricity leakage is at military complexes.

Harry Bhaskara, Jakarta – "Change" has been Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's campaign mantra, which brought him into the top position using the tiny and little-known Democratic Party as his springboard.

It is a bitter irony that the first direct presidential election to be held in Indonesia has resulted in another general taking power.

Although the official results will not be made public until 5 October, it is already clear that Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won comprehensively against Megawati Sukarnoputri. The reasons are not difficult to fathom.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) is ready to punish soldiers found to have tortured detained members of the Aceh separatist movement to extract information, its spokesman, Lt Col Ahmad Yani Basuki, said here on Tuesday.

Jakarta – The next government has been told to revise the Law No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy and Law No. 25/1999 on the fiscal balance between regional and central administrations to arrest the widening gap between rich and poor across the country.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – A leading rights watchdog has called on the next Indonesian president to reopen cases of alleged abuse and torture against Acehnese prisoners, saying the military and police were using violence to extract baseless confessions from those accused of having links to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebel group.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The House of Representatives and the government have made substantial changes to the much-criticized bill on national social security, which was due to be endorsed on Wednesday.

With extraordinary swiftness the National Police are pursuing the alleged pollution case in Buyat Bay, North Sulawesi.

ID Nugroho, Surabaya – More than 1,500 workers, who were dismissed by shoe firm PT Kasogi Internasional tbk last July, descended again on the East Java legislative council building in Surabaya on Monday, pressing ahead with their demand for severance pay.

Imanuddin Razak, Jakarta – Jakartans had just commemorated the 1st anniversary of the JW Marriott Hotel blast in Kuningan business and residential area in South Jakarta last month, when the capital was shaken by another similarly motivated bomb blast near the site of the former on September 9.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri signed on Monday a decree that set the maximum price of a residence for former VVIPs at Rp 20 billion (US$2.22 million).

Jambi – The fires that burned between 1,000 and 2,000 hectares of the Berbak National Park in Jambi in the past month posed a real threat to many bird species in the area.

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar – A week after his apparent landslide victory, the policies of presumptive president-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono remain unclear. People still don't know what the former general and cabinet minister known as SBY will do with his mandate to succeed President Megawati Sukarnoputri, but it's becoming clearer how he'll do it.

Although slashing fuel subsidies should be at the top of president-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's economic agenda during the first 100 days of his administration, raising fuel prices in November as recommended by the outgoing House of Representatives (DPR) could be political suicide for the new government.

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta – Jakarta stock prices are expected to further consolidate this week as the bullish sentiment stemming from last week's smooth presidential election has already been discounted by the market, according to stock analysts.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The likely president-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono must uphold legal certainty and security, and phase out the high-cost economy to encourage investment and create jobs, investors and employers say.

They said the next government must work to restore security and guarantee legal certainty if it wishes to attract foreign investment.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Cyclists cruised their way past joggers and pedestrians strolling leisurely along the quiet Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin in the fresh morning air. Here and there, groups of children played soccer, while their parents got in a bit of exercise.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Women activists have criticized the state for intervening in people's personal affairs using religion as a justification, which they say has led to discrimination against woman in countries where the majority of people are Muslims.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Reports of misuse and alleged corruption of state funds by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) last week were perhaps the clearest indication that the die-hard practice of graft could now be called a die-hard institution.