Alan Boyd, Sydney – A diplomatic offensive by Indonesia appears to have succeeded in bumping West Papua off the global human-rights agenda, and has probably set the stage for a bloody military solution.

Rob Wesley-Smith – Much joy from NT government and business has accompanied the rushing of the Timor Sea Treaty (TST) through both houses of the Australian Parliament 2 weeks ago. But is it a good deal for both sides?

An Islamic youth group threatened to force US and allied diplomats to leave Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-populated nation, amid rising condemnation of the planned war against Iraq.

Anshor, the youth wing of Indonesia's largest Islamic organisation Nahdlatul Ulama, also said it plans a national boycott of US products.

Jakarta – As many as 31 non-government organisations (NGO) and one political party have agreed to conduct open resistance against the plans for the entry of the military (TNI) into the political and civil chessboard in Indonesia.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The government has moved to consult the House of Representatives (DPR) to decide on immediate action against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist group, whom it said had sparked fresh violence in the province.

Apriadi Gunawan, Jakarta – A 12-day-long protest by 600 Acehnese transmigrant refugees over the slow disbursement of resettlement funds has claimed the life of one, and hospitalized four others.

Kasparman, Padang – Some 1,400 fishermen on Monday threatened to cut off the water supply to the Singkarak hydropower plant in West Sumatra, saying its operations had depleted the Singkarak Lake's fish population.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesian lawmakers, whose official salaries are around $3,000 a month, ride Jaguars and BMWs, and lunch regularly at five-star hotels near the parliamentary compound.

Some have disclosed having millions of dollars in their bank accounts. Senior civil servants make less, officially, so they make do with Mont Blancs and Rolexes.

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Denpasar – The National Freedom Bulls Party (PNBK) has accused supporters of President Megawati Soekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) of attacking its office in Tabanan, Bali, over the weekend.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Pressure has continued to rise on the Indonesian Military (TNI) and National Police to stop allowing their personnel to receive "honorariums" from sources other than the state, with observers saying it would weaken the two security forces' commitment and loyalty to the state.

Dean Yates, Jakarta – Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, blasted the United States on Tuesday for its ultimatum to Iraq as moderate Islamic leaders warned that war would trigger major street protests.

Jakarta (Agencies) – Military authorities in West Timor have arrested six pro-Jakarta militiamen for their alleged involvement in last month's ambush of a passenger bus in East Timor and other acts of violence, agencies reported.

Jakarta – Describing their clients as national heroes, attorneys for seven Indonesian soldiers on trial for the killing of a leading politician in independence- minded Papua province, said their clients were innocent and charges against them should be dropped.

Jakarta – Prosecutors plan to soon appeal a string of verdicts acquitting Indonesian police and military officers accused over the violence that swept East Timor during its break from Indonesia in 1999, a court spokesman said Monday.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – When you're talking tar, few cigarettes can match it with Indonesia's kreteks, the aromatic tobacco and clove mix preferred by 90 per cent of smokers here.

The most potent full-flavour cigarettes available in Australia these days have 14milligrams of tar and 1.4mg of nicotine. But in Indonesia the Government has decided high tar will stay.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) must stop collecting protection money from firms operating in the country as the largess would confirm the impression that TNI personnel were mercenaries who only sold their services to the highest bidder, analysts say.

An Australian Army inquiry, yet to be released, has cleared members of the elite SAS of torture claims in East Timor. But it's believed the inquiry currently has an open finding on the central allegation, that 11 Timorese were held handcuffed and blindfolded for two days without food and water.

Arya Abhiseka, Jakarta – Oka claims that he sells every kind of music available, and has all his wares stacked neatly on a blanket spread on the street in front of West Jakarta's Glodok retail center, the city's largest market for pirated CDs and cassettes.

Ibnu Matnoor, Banda Aceh – The killing of four Acehnese in the latest spree of violence on Saturday has increased the distrust between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), pushing their three-month-old peace agreement closer to the brink of collapse.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Five years ago, they were the leading lights of a reform movement that toppled the regime of former President Suharto, surviving such horrors as abduction and torture by the Indonesian army.

But today, some of these erstwhile student and human-rights activists have been accused of losing their way. Some have become establishment figures.

Jayapura – Trikora military commander Major-General Mahidin Simbolon had strongly denied rumours (the word he used was 'rumor') that the armed forces has received US$5.6 million from PT. Freeport for guarding the mining company's operations.

A military commander overseeing Indonesian West Timor has ordered his men to shoot on sight any armed militiamen found trying to cross the border with independent East Timor.

The order came from Major General Agus Suyitno, the state Antara news agency reported late Sunday.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – The head of Indonesia's military, General Endriartono Sutarto, said he "didn't know" that an American mining company last year paid the military about $US5.6 million to protect its mine where 15 people were shot in an ambush.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Soetarto said on Friday some 600 troops stationed at the Freeport mine in Papua to protect the company's assets receive daily allowances and lunches from the United States-based company.

Three Indonesian policemen were wounded in the latest skirmish with rebels despite a ceasefire agreement in Aceh province, police said.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The police force is under fire again, this time for allegedly mishandling a dispute between one of Indonesia's richest men and the country's most respected weekly news magazine.

Tony Sitathan, Jakarta – Adhong is a former junior officer from the Indonesian Army. He recalls the Suharto era when he was deployed in Irian Jaya (now West Papua) and Nusa Tenggara, where sectarian clashes and rivalries between religious groups was nothing unusual.

Jakarta – The US Freeport company paid the Indonesian military (TNI) about US$5.6 million last year to protect employees of its giant copper and gold mine in Papua province, according to a report released Thursday.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – The legendary Tempo magazine, which began life in March 1971 by copying Time's style and format, is a national institution in Indonesia. Pithy satire and outrageous caricatures and cartoons have spiced up hard-hitting investigative reporting on topical issues, and made Tempo the darling of the middle class.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Pressure is growing on the Indonesian government to reduce its dependence on foreign loans, with critics saying that as much as 30 per cent of donors' funds is being lost to corruption and inefficiency.

This comes at a time when analysts and regional surveys are increasingly describing Indonesia as the most corrupt place in Asia to do business.

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Local officials have allegedly marked up the cost of the projects to renovate and build school buildings here by as much as 100 percent.

The Tangerang municipal administration has allocated Rp 37 billion from its 2003 budget to rebuild or renovate a total of 71 decrepit schools spread across 13 districts in the municipality.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The national meeting of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) ended on a low note on Thursday as party executives left chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri to choose her own running mate for the 2004 presidential election.

Marco Kusumawijaya, Jakarta – Many Jakartans have just seen the movie The Gangs of New York.

Jakarta – The Indonesian provinces of Aceh and Papua, as well as Ambon city in Maluku province, are still closed to foreign researchers for security reasons, an official said on Friday.

Damar Harsanto and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The police confirmed on Thursday that the fire that razed the sixth floor of the finance ministry building and destroyed records of state assets last Tuesday was an act of arson.

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – At least 80 percent of Indonesia's 215 million population have no access to piped water, according to a country report prepared for the third World Water Forum (WWF) in Kyoto, a copy of which was obtained by The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Religious leaders have requested members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) and National Police to stop backing prostitution and drug trafficking to help reduce the spread of HIV.

Jakarta – International credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service has maintained its positive outlook for Indonesia, on the back of the country's political stability and continued commitments to reform.

Jayapura – A crowd of some 100 students demonstrated on Monday before the provincial legislature against Jakarta's move to split Papua into three provinces, arguing it would attract more migrants to the natural resources-rich, yet sparely populated region.

Indonesia's top political parties – all of which are regarded as corrupt – are busy contemplating possible coalitions ahead of next year's general election, keenly aware that no party will win an outright majority.

The emergence of a corruption case involving state-owned oil and gas Pertamina has created a new threat not only to former Mines and Energy Minister Ginandjar Kartasasmita, but also to other Suharto cronies and the former president's children.

Sem Karoba is a student leader and representative of the West Papua Presidium Council (West Papua's alternative to the Indonesian government) who is on his second visit to Ireland, lobbying for international support for his people.

Andrew Burrell, Jakarta – A senior Indonesian military officer convicted yesterday over the bloodshed in East Timor in 1999 will remain free, despite being sentenced to five years jail for failing to prevent attacks against civilians in the former Indonesian province.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – A retired military officer has admitted that reforms are moving very slowly within the Indonesian Military (TNI) but put the blame on the government's failure to provide adequate funds to achieve change within the institution.

Tiarma Siboro and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Leaders of the Indonesian military (TNI) have agreed to pay more attention to sea security and secessionist movements in Papua and Aceh provinces in 2003.

Chris McCall – It is only a rough map, but the message is clear. East Timor is shown surrounded by Falintil freedom fighters, with a huge cross close to Dili. In the new, independent East Timor, the strange quasi-Catholicism of Sagrada Familia can finally be expressed openly, even if it is not exactly an orthodox brand of Christianity.

John McBeth, Jakarta – The troubled task of clearing the way to resume limited military cooperation between the United States and Indonesia now lies in the hands of agents of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Chris McCall – Small boys play on a rusting warship off Dili harbour, the detritus of war that has become their home. On the beach, men scavenge for rubbish they can use or sell.

Chris McCall – In the mist of East Timor's central mountains, Florindo Soares explains why he helped kill his neighbour's brother 25 years ago. Outside the schoolhouse, a bird of prey circles majestically over a lake backed by lush rainforest, like an omen.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's human rights tribunal yesterday convicted Brigadier-General Noer Muis, a former military chief in then-East Timor, of crimes against humanity committed just before its independence referendum in 1999.