Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The central government should intensify its communication with the international community and win the hearts of Papuan people, instead of employing a military approach, to crush the Free Papua Movement (OPM), according to community and religious leaders in Papua.

Jakarta – Soon after unveiling its findings in a recent investigation in Aceh last week, members of the National Commission of Human Rights (Komnas HAM) have been threatened against speaking out further about any possible human rights violations in the war-torn province.

Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – Resolving the conflict in Aceh through war will only increase the number of civilian casualties.

For this reason, around 200 students from the Peace Committee for Humanity (Komite Perdamian untuk Kemanusiaan, KPK) held a demonstration calling for the war between the Indonesian armed forces (TNI) and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to be stopped.

The government's announcement that Acehnese working for the administration must undergo special screenings is the latest in a series of measures, introduced since the imposition of martial law, that will only further alienate the people of Aceh.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The central government and the martial law administration in Aceh will expand the scope of a proposed screening program to local elected representatives and village heads in the war-torn province.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – An American freelance journalist who has spent five weeks with Acehnese separatist rebels says the fighting and casualties are much more extensive than reported and the rebels retain overwhelming support among villagers.

Berni K. Moestafa, Lhokseumawe – Over 10,000 Acehnese people staying in a refugee camp in Bireuen regency are facing a shortage of clean water as the military offensive enters its fifth week.

Central Jakarta District Court has sentenced a Muslim activist to five months in jail for insulting President Megawati Sukarnoputri during an anti-government protest.

Iqbal Siregar (36), a member of the Islamic Youth Movement (Gerakan Pemuda Islam, GPI) was arrested after participating in a January 15 demonstration against fuel price increases.

Indonesia says Australian Government aid money has been used to help seperatist movements in Indonesia. The head of the Indonesian embassy in Canberra, Imron Cotan, says the Australian aid bureau, AusAid, has given funds to two Non-Government Organisations which support rebel movements. AusAid has denied that any aid funding has been used contrary to Indonesian law.

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – A journalist-producer with SCTV television station has claimed he was dismissed due to an interview he did with a victim of a past military operation in Aceh to make the Indonesian Military (TNI) consider civilian victims during its current operation to crush Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels.

Tom Wright, Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund said it approves of Indonesia's plans to end its current IMF lending program when it runs out this year.

But it urged the country to continue to push through reforms aimed at weeding out corruption – and enticing back foreign investment – after the fund's $5 billion program finishes at the end of 2003.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – They used to be commonly found in discotheques or dark alleyways in unsavoury parts of the city, sold by professional peddlers.

But these days, school campuses are the easiest place to find illegal drugs, and children who are barely into their teens are not only a target market, some have been forced to sell the drugs to fund their addiction.

Ainur R. Sophiaan, Surabaya – The efforts of the police force to boost its image hit another snag when four members of East Java Police were detained for allegedly abducting and torturing three workers of housewares manufacturing company PT Maspion.

Lisbon – East Timor, one of the world's poorest countries, on Monday called on rich nations to boost international aid and reduce their trade barriers in order to help lift developing countries out of poverty.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – The ongoing military operation to crush the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Aceh has put Acehnese living outside the war-torn province, Jakarta in particular, in a difficult position as the authorities have ordered that their activities be tightly monitored.

Jakarta – Two separatist guerrillas were wounded when an Indonesian military patrol clashed with rebels in Papua province on Tuesday, the military said.

Jakarta (Agencies) – The Central Jakarta District Court on Monday jailed a Muslim youth activist for five months for insulting President Megawati Sukarnoputri during a protest in January.

Asad Latif – Indonesia has shown real statesmanship in its dealings with Timor Leste, the latter's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta said during a visit to Singapore.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) has allocated US$1 million (Rp 8.2 billion) to help cope with the high infant mortality rate and spread of HIV/AIDS in the resource-rich province of Papua.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Golkar will give its chairman Akbar Tandjung a chance to contest the national convention, which will elect the party's presidential candidate to run in the 2004 election.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) said on Friday that its team sent to Aceh had verified the May 21 incident at Matang Mamplan village in Bireuen, where seven unarmed civilians were shot dead, including a boy aged 13.

Greg Sheridan – Indonesia has no plans to ban foreign journalists from the troubled province of Aceh, according to Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Hasan Wirayudah. But it will tighten the regulation over who goes there and make the province, on the northern tip of Sumatra, off limits to foreign tourists.

Jakarta – Three people have been arrested for an attack on two foreign bosses at an Indonesian dealer for Swedish truckmaker Volvo, police said yesterday.

Jakarta – More groups in the archipelago joined North Sulawesi's move on Friday to reject the newly endorsed education bill by filing a petition for a judicial review with the Supreme Court.

Bernie K. Moestafa, Lhokseumawe – A convoy of five marine trucks, two armored personnel carriers and a tank rumbled into Pulo Ara village, a group of wooden houses on a sandy beach and nestled among banana and palm trees.

Lhokseumawe – At least 10,000 people fled their homes in nine villages across Juli district in Bireuen regency on Friday to escape intense firefights between government troops and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Forum on the Environment (Walhi) said on Thursday it would file a lawsuit against 20 companies and seven local governments in Riau later this week over forest fires and their disastrous effects on the environment in the province.

Zakki Hakim and Fifi Yulianti, Jakarta – City officials, accompanied by police and security personnel, Thursday barged into homes in a densely populated Jakarta residential neighborhood checking for residents' ID cards.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's top bureaucrat has launched a stinging attack on the very team under his leadership. He says most of the country's four million civil servants are unproductive and unprofessional.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Indonesia's National Assembly Speaker and presidential hopeful Amien Rais has unveiled a star-studded list of potential running mates for next year's elections.

Jakarta – Indonesian businessmen have expressed hope that a business figure will be elected as the next president, so that the prolonged economic crisis in the country would end.

Businessmen such as Aburizal Bakrie and Lalu Mara Satriawangsa made the statement during a national convention on Golkar Party's presidential candidates, held on Wednesday night.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – East Timor has called on Indonesians to invest in the country, saying there are a number of business opportunities open to investors.

East Timor Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said on Thursday that tourism, trade and manufacturing were among the sectors that could be attractive to Indonesian investors.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – State-owned social security company PT Jamsostek is encouraging employees to check their participation in the social security schemes as many employers were found to be dishonest in registering their employees with the mandatory insurance programs.

Jakarta – The popularity of the large political in the lead-up to the 2004 general elections is continuing to decline in the eyes of the public. People believe that the political parties don't care about the future and the interests of ordinary people, they are egotistic and the elite are constantly squabbling.

Lhokseumawe – People in Bireuen regency flocked to their respective district offices on Wednesday and Thursday to apply for new ID cards, in one of the first places in war-torn Aceh where the martial law administration is attempting to separate separatist rebels from civilians.

Lhokseumawe – The military's biggest setback during three weeks of the offensive to crush the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has prompted Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu to seek a quick end to the war, but added his troops were ready to fight the rebels for as long as it took.

Indonesian troops fired artillery and moved hundreds of villagers from their homes during an attack on a suspected separatist rebel base, a local resident said.

The resident heard 38 rounds fired throughout the morning towards a hilly area in Juli sub-district just south of Bireuen town. The private RCTI television station also showed pictures of artillery being fired.

Suwarjono, Jakarta – Two members of the Aceh regional parliament (DPRD) are reported to be involved with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and are being investigated by police. Vice-president Hamzah Haz who is also the chairperson of the United Development Party (PPP) has invited security personnel to investigate those members of his party who are involved with GAM.

Jakarta – Six activists in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua are facing up to 18 months in jail for holding a protest against the authorities, a report said Thursday.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The House of Representatives endorsed the controversial education bill on Wednesday despite the absence of the largest faction, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).

Jakarta – East Timor's prime minister, Mari Alkatiri, called Thursday for an amnesty for prisoners currently serving sentences in Timorese jails for crimes committed around the time of the territory's 1999 bloody independence ballot.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – East Timor foreign minister Jose Ramos Horta reiterated here on Wednesday that his government did not intend to pursue an international tribunal against Indonesian military officials charged with rights abuses in East Timor.

Lhokseumawe – A military tribunal on Thursday found three low-ranking soldiers guilty of beating villagers unconscious during the military's offensive against separatist rebels in Aceh province, and sentenced them to short jail terms. They are the second batch of soldiers found guilty of the same crime during an operation in Lawang village on May 27.

Jakarta – The Indonesian military said Thursday it will check reports from the country's national human rights commission that a mass grave has been discovered in Aceh province.

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) told AFP Wednesday that its representatives in Aceh had received information about a grave believed to contain dozens of bodies.

Banda Aceh – All of Aceh's 67,000 civil servants will be re-registered and asked to attend roll-calls to affirm their loyalty to the country, a regional administration spokesman said on Wednesday.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – The Indonesian Government is planning new regulations to restrict foreign access to the war-torn Aceh province, as evidence emerges that the Indonesian army has trained militia groups to help its military offensive against the separatist movement GAM.

Prangtip Daorueng, Jakarta – The Indonesian government is once again using nationalistic propaganda and media censorship to gain public support for its military offensive in Aceh, but journalists and activists say Jakarta would do well to learn from its previous mistakes in East Timor.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for People' Welfare Jusuf Kalla insisted on Wednesday that the martial law administrator in Aceh would issue a new measure soon, to bar all foreigners from entering the province.

Nana Rukmana, Indramayu, West Java – Over 45,000 hectares of rice plants in the Indramayu and Cirebon regencies, known as the rice belt of West Java, have withered following the early arrival of the annual drought, predicted to last until November.

Jayapura – Trikora Military Commander Maj. Gen. Nurdin Zainal who overseas Papua withdrew a defamation suit on Wednesday against EL-SHAM Papua for accusing the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) of involvement in the attack on a PT Freeport employee bus in Tembagapura last August. Two foreigners and an Indonesian were killed in the incident.