Dewi Santoso, Jakarta – With HIV/AIDS emerging as an increasingly ominous threat, the government appears to lack concrete plans to fight the virus, non-governmental organization activists and a legislator have said.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – A notorious East Timorese militia leader has formed a militia group in the mining town of Timika, a Papuan rights group reported yesterday.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – The former leader of the most notorious of East Timor's militias, Eurico Guterres, claims he now heads an organisation with 18,000 members and funds to fight separatists in Indonesia's Papua province.

In the Indonesian province of Papua, the appointment of a new police chief has been greeted with protests. Last year, Inspector General Timbul Silaen was charged and acquitted of human rights violations and crimes against humanity, relating to his time as police chief in East Timor.

Presenter/Interviewer: James Panichi

Indonesia's dilapidated infrastructure poses a greater threat to human life than terrorism and will hamper long-term growth unless there is urgent new investment, the World Bank says.

Jakarta – Indonesian police and troops cut down a separatist flag in Papua province on the anniversary Monday of an independence proclamation, activists said, but there were no immediate reports of violence.

Tiarma Siboro and Teuku Agam Muzakkir, Jakarta/Lhokseumawe – Despite warnings and threats of attacks by the Indonesian Military (TNI), the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) plans on celebrating its 27th anniversary, which falls on December 4.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The latest Indonesian banking scandal, in which hundreds of millions of dollars disappeared into thin air, may seem like a run-of-the-mill bank-fraud case, but besides worrying potential investors, it could also affect the outcome of next year's election.

Irvan NR, Palu – Four people were killed in two separate attacks on a single village in the Central Sulawesi town of Poso over the weekend, apparently targeting Balinese migrants. A bomb also exploded at a traditional market, but no casualties were reported.

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – Hundreds of evicted fishermen and their families living along the banks of the Muara Angke river in North Jakarta will again be forced to move, as the Jakarta administration started widening the river over the weekend to ease flooding.

Sandy Darmosumarto, Jakarta – The lack of financial institutions in the eastern part of Indonesia is the main reason for the state-owned pawnshop company Perum Pegadaian to further expand operations in the region, where Islamic-based pawnshop activities have been on the rise.

Jakarta – As the globe commemorates World AIDS Day on December 1, Indonesia's response continues to remain dangerously slow while millions of its people continue to obliviously engage in high risk behavior.

Ian Timberlake, Jakarta – On paper Indonesia doesn't have much of a problem with HIV and AIDS. But the huge country's relatively low adult HIV infection rate belies a rapidly escalating level of infection among prostitutes, their customers, injection drug users and prisoners, an AIDS worker said.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Seven of 42 Papuans arrested on Thursday for flying the Morning-Star independence flag in Manokwari have been declared suspects and will be charged with treason under the Criminal Code, a police officer says.

Ben Terrall – George W. Bush's late October visit to Indonesia was heavy on the superficial, upbeat sloganeering that characterizes his Administration's explanations of US foreign policy.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Contrary to the general fear that security issues could be the major threat to the success of the 2004 general elections in Papua, a local election official cited the province's geographical condition as the most serious electoral constraint.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Just when investors might have been thinking it was safe to look at Indonesia a little less skeptically, the biggest banking scandal to hit the country since the central bank liquidity scandal, this one involving Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) and allegedly fraudulent letters of credit, has shattered confidence yet again.

An international rights group called for the immediate and unconditional lifting of press restrictions in Indonesia's Aceh province, where a major military campaign to crush separatist rebels is in its seventh month.

Dili – A Timorese militiaman was convicted Wednesday of crimes against humanity and sentenced to nine years in jail for killing three independence supporters and torturing others during the country's bloody break from Indonesia's 24-year occupation.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday lashed out at members of her own party, calling them "thugs" who are out of touch with voters – an apparent attempt to rein in corrupt cadres seen as hindering her re-election next year.

Jakarta – A plenary meeting of the House of Representatives endorsed on Thursday 13 bills on the creation of 24 new regencies in 13 provinces into law.

The 24 regencies approved include Kolaka Utara, Kolaka Utara, Bombana and Wakatobi in the province of Southeast Sulawesi, Sumbawa Barat (West Nusa Tenggara) and Lingga (Riau).

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Nani Farida, Jakarta/Banda – Aceh Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said the government has not dropped the option of having the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) included on the United Nations' list of terrorist organizations.

Banda Aceh – Indonesia's military said Friday it has killed four more rebels in Aceh province, where troops are in the seventh month of an offensive to crush separatist guerrillas.

Jakarta – An influential politician who helped topple Indonesia's previous president explained Thursday why he believes current leader Megawati Soekarnoputri should also go.

Jakarta – Secular-nationalist parties in Indonesia will have the vote of Muslim voters in next year's election.

That is the result of a study carried out by the independent Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) which found the majority of respondents backed Golkar or President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party – Struggle (PDI-P).

Jakarta – The Army's special forces (Kopassus) chief must stand trial for crimes against humanity over a massacre which took place almost 20 years ago, the country's human rights court ruled Thursday.

Judges rejected defence claims that they have no right to put Maj. Gen. Sriyanto Muntarsan, who now heads the Kopassus special forces, on trial.

Jakarta – The Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has asked the regional military commander Major General Endang Suwarya to improve the quality of the integrated operation in Aceh.

Matthew Moore, Banda Aceh – Six months after more than 600 of Aceh's schools were destroyed by fire, virtually none have been rebuilt and thousands of students can't go to school.

And some temporary schools built after the fires are in such poor condition that enough rainwater leaks through holes in the roof to allow grass to grow on the dirt floor.

It was supposed to be a peaceful demonstration to mark the death of a fellow East Timorese activists.

Instead, Simplisio Celestino de Deus remembers how Indonesian troops indiscriminately opened fire on 3,000 unarmed protesters on November 12, 1991. Troops then stormed into the Santa Cruz cemetery, bayonetted survivors and hauled off the dead bodies in trucks.

Jill Jolliffe, Darwin – A United Nations official has pointed the finger at the UN police command for its failure to intervene effectively during riots in East Timor last December.

A UN report just released also said East Timorese police had been unco-operative in an investigation into the riots.

Indonesia could become a world-class mining country but new investors are steering clear because of legal uncertainty and red tape, according to an annual survey of the industry.

"Investment spending on exploration and new mines has now been very low for several years," said the report by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Indonesia's director general of taxation, Hadi Purnomo, under strong pressure to increase income tax receipts, has responded by using gijzeling – the Dutch term for detention without trial used in the Indonesian legal system – to jail foreigners, and his approach is sending a serious shudder through Jakarta's expatriate business community.

The Indonesian government's war against separatist rebels in Aceh has today entered its seventh month, with no end in sight to the bloodshed. Already some 16,000 have been killed in what has been described as Jakarta's biggest military operation in 25-years.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Thousands of troops were deployed to Poso in Central Sulawesi yesterday as residents braced themselves for more violence following reports of murder and unrest over the shooting of a terror suspect.

About 2,300 troops have been deployed here from Jakarta and nearby provinces.

Matthew Moore, Lhokseumawe – Pro-military groups critical of human rights activists are emerging in Indonesia's conflict-ridden Aceh province, raising fears of a resurgence of East Timor-style militias.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The government has backed down on its plan to have the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) listed as a terrorist organization by the United Nations to avoid turning Aceh into an international issue.

Jakarta – Approved foreign investment in Indonesia rose sharply in the first ten months of this year to US$9.31 billion from $6.81 billion a year earlier, the National Investment Coordinating Board said in a report seen Tuesday.

However, the 37 percent rise was largely due to a change in investment status of many projects rather than new projects, the board said.

Jakarta – The proposed resumption of marine sand exports to Malaysia and Singapore is part of a certain political party's scheme to raise funds for its 2004 general election campaign, a non-governmental organization claimed here recently.

ID Nugroho, Malang – Chairman of the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) Teten Masduki proposed that both Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah issue election guides suggesting followers not to vote for legislative candidates and political parties with unclean track records.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Experts have expressed concern that a planned Truth and Reconciliation Commission will serve as a legal whitewash of past gross human rights abuses, allowing perpetrators to avoid prosecution.

Jakarta – At least 16 suspected Acehnese rebels were killed and nine arrested during a military offensive in Aceh from Thursday to Saturday, the Indonesian Military (TNI) said on Sunday.

A press release issued by the TNI said four civilians were also killed in the operation.

Irvan NR, Palu – Poso Police headquarters was besieged on Sunday by thousands of people protesting the death of terrorist suspect Hamid Sudin, who was shot and killed by police attempting to arrest him in relation to the bloody attacks on three Christian villages in Central Sulawesi on October 12.

ID Nugroho and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Surabaya/Jakarta – Nahdlatul Ulama chairman Hasyim Muzadi called for a moral movement to eradicate corruption because the law had proven toothless.

Jakarta – Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) chairman Hasyim Muzadi criticized the country's security authorities for issuing repeated warnings of possible disturbances ahead of the 2004 elections, saying this would only succeed in causing anxiety.

Netty Dharma Somba & Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jayapura/Jakarta – Papuan human rights activists said they were prepared to support the planned investigation by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) into alleged atrocities in the province.

Lesley McCulloch – It is too easy for the world to forget Aceh, an embattled, silent and closed province in the northwest of Indonesia. The reason is simple: international journalists are prevented from entering legally and the local media are either embedded in the military or attacked – even kidnapped – when attempting to work independently.

Chris Brummitt, Jakarta – Indonesia's military promised Saturday to investigate claims that it carried out extra-judicial killings and torture in Papua province. But it warned that if the charges were not true, it would pursue legal action against the body that made them, the National Commission on Human Rights.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) said on Friday that based on preliminary findings the Indonesian military (TNI) committed gross abuses in Papua in 2001 and 2003, and says it is launching a legal probe into the incidents.

Post-independence confidence in East Timor has declined, with nearly 40 per cent of East Timorese saying they feel worse off now than under Indonesian rule and less than half optimistic about the future, according to a survey.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Indonesia's House of Representatives, now debating privatizing the country's water supply, should probably take a close look at the one place in the nation where water distribution is already in private hands – Jakarta, where a comedy of errors has produced skyrocketing costs and little else.