Jason Koutsoukis – The $3.5 billion Bayu-Undan natural gas project between Australia and East Timor received a major boost yesterday when a joint federal parliamentary committee recommended ratification of a joint ownership treaty.
The treaty will give project operator Phillips Petroleum the required certainty to proceed with the second phase of the project.
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Nani Farida, Jakarta/Banda Aceh – Fear of the worst bloodshed is looming in Aceh as the Indonesian Military (TNI) continue their siege on separatist rebels, who refused to budge and rejected calls for their surrender on Monday.
Jill Jolliffe, Dili – Witnesses at East Timor's truth and reconciliation commission have described atrocities going back to 1975 involving Indonesian soldiers, militia groups – and the Fretilin Party that liberated the newly independent nation.
Linda Mottram – Out of control and not to be trusted: that's the caution being sounded this morning to the Federal Government about Kopassus, as Canberra contemplates re-establishing links with Indonesia's disgraced special forces unit, which is also the country's special counter-terrorism unit.
A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Shocking government statistics show that more than 25 percent of Indonesia's 18 million under five-year-old children are suffering from malnutrition.
And experts are warning the "alarming" figure is worsening due to the government's lack of will to deal with the problem.
Dili – East Timorese students and human rights groups called Tuesday for an international court to judge those responsible for human rights abuses during the Indonesian occupation of Timor, on the anniversary of a massacre in which over 100 people died.
Dili – About 1,000 protesters Tuesday demanding that the Indonesian soldiers who shot to death 200 people at a rally 11 years ago be brought to justice.
The November 12, 1991, massacre at the Santa Cruz cemetery, in the capital, Dili, was secretly caught on video and broadcast around the world. It galvanized opposition to Indonesia's brutal rule of East Timor.
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Press activists criticized the government's plan to establish a public information dissemination agency for fear that it would only pave the way for a return to the New Order's tight information policy.
Debbie A. Lubis, Jakarta – Embattled former ruling party Golkar has recruited a number of retired police and military officers into its ranks, which analysts described as a move to maintain or even improve its performance in the 2004 general elections.
Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri inaugurated on Sunday the Seroja Memorial, located inside the compound of the Indonesian Military (TNI) Headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, as part of a ceremony commemorating National Heroes Day.
Jakarta – Prosecutors on Monday sought the minimum 10-year jail sentence for a former Indonesian army chief officer charged with crimes against humanity in East Timor in 1999.
Todung Mulya Lubis – The Bali tragedy, which killed over 190 people and wounded countless others, has finally jolted the government into admitting the existence of terrorism in Indonesia.
Dili – Australia is using East Timor's vulnerability as one of the world's poorest nations to gain leverage in negotiations on the carving up of oil resources in the Timor Sea, Dili's prime minister said Monday.
Jennifer Hewett – The Minister for Defence, Robert Hill, has given his strongest backing yet to the controversial idea of Australia working with the Indonesian special forces unit Kopassus, despite concerns about its human rights abuses and possible links with some Islamic terrorist groups.
[Indonesia's Armed Forces chief, General Endriartono Sutarto, has agreed to send a special team to the province of Papua, to probe claims of military involvement in killings of three three people at the American-owned Freeport gold and copper mine, 10 weeks ago.
Fitri Wulandari and A'an Suryana, Jakarta/Bali – Oddities in the police investigation into the Bali bombing need further explanation for the sake of credibility, an intelligence analyst said on Sunday.
Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – A few days before the Bali bombing, a Yemen national quietly slipped into Indonesia.
Stephen Khan – A Scottish woman who has been under arrest in Indonesia since September for allegedly misusing a tourist visa faces being held for a further 20 days without charge.
[Just what was Jakarta trying to achieve two days ago by sending its acting ambassador scurrying back to Canberra with threats that the Government might have to withdraw its cooperation in the Bali investigation?
Jakarta – Police blockaded the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh to prevent 5,000 people from attending a mass prayer held by the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) on Friday, El Shinta radio station reported.
Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said here on Friday the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has no authority whatsoever to declare a cease-fire as it is an outlawed group that is not entitled to possess weapons.
Jakarta – Defense Minister Matori Abdul Djalil rejected here on Friday the idea of including foreign observers in a team that would monitor the implementation of a possible peace agreement between the government and the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Aceh.
When neighbours become ensnared by mutual insults and perceived slights the easiest, and most perilous, course of action is to escalate the dispute.
Bill Guerin – Indonesian investors are to be wooed in a deliberate effort to release the potential of the domestic economy and get money flowing through the business infrastructures.
Jill Jolliffe, Dili – A United Nations prosecutor has hailed the indictment of two Indonesian officers for the 1999 murder of Dutch journalist Sander Thoenes as a turning point in East Timor war crimes charges.
Mark Baker, Sarah Crichton, Mark Riley and agencies – The suspect who has allegedly admitted taking part in the Bali bombings has told police he wanted to kill as many Americans as possible and "wasn't happy" that Australians died.
John Roberts – An article published in the Washington Post last weekend reported evidence that the highest levels of the Indonesian armed forces (TNI), including TNI chief General Endriartono Sutarto, were involved in the August 31 ambush of employees of the Freeport McMoRan Inc mine in the province of Papua.
Serang, Banten – The Muhammadiyah Students Association (IMM), a student wing of the Muhammadiyah Muslim organization, during its 16th national congress from November 4-6, will confer the "Terrorism Award" to the United States, its chairman Piet Hizbullah Haidir disclosed here on Thursday.
Don Greenlees, Jakarta – Indonesian armed forces commander General Endriartono Sutarto has sent a special team to Papua to investigate allegations that the military were involved in the murders of three employees of the Freeport copper and gold mine, including two Americans.
Robert Go, Jakarta – A radical group, infamous for using Islamic teachings to justify threats against Westerners and attacks on nightclubs and bars, has announced that it is suspending its activities.
This is seen as yet another sign that radical Islam followers could be losing ground support.
Central Java Governor Mardiyanto has asked former members of the recently disbanded radical Islamic group Laskar Jihad to help the province cope with natural disasters and major accidents.
Kupang – The people of the western half of Timor Island, East Nusa Tenggara, must also enjoy their traditional rights as owners of the Timor Sea, the site of oil and gas explorations known as the Timor Gap, and not merely receiving the impacts of damage of the ecosystem in the Timor Sea.
Jakarta – The government has agreed to hold a special repatriation program for East Timorese refugees who want to go home late this year, Antara reported.
East Nusa Tenggara Governor Piet A. Tallo said on Friday that the decision was conveyed by Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Yusuf Kalla in a letter sent to a group tasked to handle the refugees.
Jakarta – The leader of a worker union at the Pondok Indah hospital in South Jakarta went on trial Wednesday for allegedly torturing his supervisor two months ago.
Prosecutor Hari Wahyudi told the South Jakarta District Court that defendant Edi Waluyo attempted to choke Nugroho Marwanto after the hospital management reprimanded him for neglecting patients.
Yuliansyah, Banjarmasin – Some 463 workers at Pelaihari Sugar Company in Tanah Laut regency, South Kalimantan, have lost their jobs without compensation after their once reputable firm was liquidated by the Office of the State Minister of State Enterprises last month.
The workers have been out of work for three months since the company ceased operations.
Robert Go, Tabanan (Bali) – Some of Indonesia's top businessmen are thumbing their noses at the nation's latest bid to collect outstanding debts worth more than US$13 billion, leaving officials frustrated over their blatant attempt to use the legal system to their advantage.
David Costello – Should Australia conduct joint exercises and training with Indonesia's special forces to boost the fight against terrorism and the hunt for the Bali bombers? The question has become a political football in Canberra and Washington.
Tom Fawthrop – The highly politicized Indonesian military, trained in waging terror during more than 30 years of General Suharto's dictatorship, are among the suspects in last month's Bali bombing, according to a respected Indonesian commentator.
A former militia chief has denied he had committed human rights abuses in East Timor three years ago and said he was a victim of the Indonesian government's desire to appease international criticism.
Dean Yates, Jakarta – Investigators in East Timor have issued an indictment against two Indonesian military officers over the 1999 killing of a Dutch journalist around the time the territory voted to break from Jakarta's harsh rule.
Matthew Moore, Mark Riley and Mark Baker – The Indonesian President, Megawati Soekarnoputri, has cautioned Australia not to overreact to the terrorism threat and not to harass Indonesian nationals, as the increasingly brittle relationship between the countries became further strained.
The Australian Government is continuing to discuss the prospect of renewing military links with Indonesia's notorious Special Forces, Kopassus.
The Defence Minister, Robert Hill has previously said Australia might work with Kopassus to fight terrorism in the region.
The Indonesian military is reported to be engaged in its biggest operation for five months as light tanks and armored personnel carriers pounded a base of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
Troops were using light tanks and armored personnel carriers against a suspected concentration of GAM rebels in an area 35 kilometers south of the industrial township of Lhokseumawe.
Jakarta – As many as 20 military officers went on trial Wednesday for allegedly involvement in the deadly attack at the Langkat police station and the Binjai Mobile Brigade headquarters in September.
Dan Murphy, Jakarta – Investigators on three continents are moving closer to definitively tying Al Qaeda and its Indonesian allies to the October 12 bomb blast at the Sari Club on the island of Bali that killed at least 190 people.
Vice president Hamzah Haz said that he was not sure of the involvement of international terrorist groups or the al-Qaeda network in last month's bombings in Bali, El Shinta radio station reported.
Hamzah's remarks were quoted by the head of the Indonesian Islamic Student (PII), Zulfikar, following a meeting at the Vice Presidential palace.
Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The latest draft of the broadcasting law, to be deliberated in the next two weeks, reveals the ignorance of the House of Representatives and the government in regards public demands for revision of several contentious articles.
Dili – The leadership of East Timor's ruling Fretilin party met Thursday with its deputies in the Dili parliament to discuss recent revelations of high absenteeism among Fretilin MPs and threats by the party's chiefs to expel "rogue" members.
Iggy Kim – On October 24, a debate was held in Britain's House of Commons over the Foreign Office's handling of the detention of Lesley McCulloch in Indonesia. The debate was initiated by Alan Reid, the Scottish Liberal Democrats member for Argyll and Bute, where McCulloch's parents live. McCulloch is a British citizen and resident of Australia.
East Timor's first Portuguese-language newspaper in more than a quarter century will be formally launched in Dili Thursday.