Pontianak – Indonesia's environment minister said on a visit to the smoke-choked island of Borneo on Friday corruption was blocking the international help needed to tackle forest fires.

Jakarta – Outspoken activist Azas Tigor Nainggolan was arrested by city police on Thursday for slandering Governor Sutiyoso by alleging that he had bribed city councillors.

After decades of authoritarian rule, Indonesia closed its notorious Department of Information three years ago and declared censorship was dead. But journalists, academics and commentators were right to remain cautious.

A former Australian University lecturer who is being held by police in the Indonesian province of Aceh is reportedly sick and in need of medical attention.

The head of political and international studies at Deakin University in Melbourne, Damien Kingsbury, says he contacted Lesley McCulloch last night and is concerned for her well-being.

Ellen Nakashima and Alan Sipress, Jakarta – Police are investigating an allegation that Indonesian army special forces carried out the ambush in Papua province last month that killed two Americans and one Indonesian.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Debt collectors, not a terror group, were behind Monday's deadly grenade explosion near a building owned by the United States embassy, police said.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Four Indonesian soldiers were at the site of an ambush last month in which three school teachers attached to the United States-owned Freeport mine in Papua were killed, the author of a new report into the shootings said yesterday.

Bill Guerin – Thousands of Javanese sugarcane farmers staged a massive rally in Jakarta on Tuesday demanding protection from the glut of cheap imported sugar that has threatened their very existence.

Schools have been ordered to close in the capital of Indonesia's Central Kalimantan province because of persistent choking haze caused by fires, an official said.

Dean Yates, Jakarta – Indonesia's military chief said on Thursday that foreign terrorists were in the world's most populous Muslim nation, saying they had operated in two eastern regions hit by Muslim-Christian violence.

New York – East Timor's fragile peace will only hold if the international community continues to provide assistance and not abandon the country, said the fledgling nation's foreign minister.

East Timor, which gained independence from Indonesia through a United Nations-backed referendum in 1999, is desperately poor and heavily dependent on foreign aid.

Jane Counsel – A former top executive with US oil and gas group Unocal is set to reopen the debate about the Sunrise gasfield in the Timor Sea by arguing its gas should be piped to East Timor, not Darwin.

Jakarta – Legislators have once again raised some issues regarding President Megawati Soekarnoputri's overseas trips.

Robson Seth – "Kill the police" were the only words part-time soldier, Lieutenant Colonel Greg Hart, could understand, as he faced an angry mob of East Timorese dissidents.

Sophie Douez, Canberra – The Federal Government yesterday denied refugee claims to 168 East Timorese who fled the then-Indonesian territory seeking asylum in Australia almost a decade ago.

Four people were wounded when a bomb exploded near police headquarters in the troubled town of Poso in Central Sulawesi province in Indonesia.

The bomb exploded inside a public minibus outside the Poso main market. The minibus was just 10 metres from the town's district police headquarters. Another public minibus was also damaged.

Agencies, Jakarta – Army soldiers from Indonesia's Kopassus special forces were involved in a deadly ambush on employees of the Freeport mine in Papua, a human rights investigator alleged on Wednesday.

Don Greenlees, Jakarta – A human rights group claimed yesterday to have evidence that members of the Indonesian army's special forces, Kopassus, were implicated in the killing of two Americans and one Indonesian working for the Freeport copper and gold mine in Papua.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Two home-made bombs exploded near the airport hours before President Megawati Sukarnoputri's lightning visit to Aceh yesterday, adding urgency to her pledge to restore security to the province.

[Indonesia is moving to settle its maritime border issues with East Timor and is keen to see Australia do the same, according to a senior government advisor. East Timor is keen to renegotiate its maritime boundaries with Australia to maximise its share of the rich Timor Sea oil and gas resources, a move Australia is resisting.

[This article was distributed on September 25 on an online discussion list of academics focusing on Indonesia and appears here via the Joyo Indonesia News Service.]

Dili – East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta has said that despite his country's 24-year struggle for freedom from Indonesian rule, it would not support independence movements in Aceh, Papua and other restive parts of Indonesia.

Surakata – About 1,500 militant Muslims from various regions in Java and Sumatra attended a mass anti-US rally in Surakata on Wednesday and declared they were ready to wage a jihad against Washington.

Ray Brindal Canberra – East Timor has been poorly dealt with by Australia and companies wanting to develop vast natural gas resources in the Timor Sea, John Imle, a former president and former vice president of US- based energy company Unocal Corp., said this week.

Jakarta – Thousands of farmers across the country marked National Farmers' Day on Tuesday with protests demanding comprehensive land reform and protection from the relentless onslaught of the free market.

But an agricultural analyst said that the country needed agrarian reform and not land reform as demanded by farmers.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Residents in several parts of Java and the Indonesian capital are suffering from a water shortage – the result of a drought caused by the extremely dry El Nino season in the country.

Dean Yates, Solo – Abu Bakar Bashir ambles around the grounds of an Islamic school in Indonesia's central Java in white robes and a skull cap, chatting with students and looking every bit the avuncular teacher he claims to be.

[A group of Indonesian politicians has called for President Megawati Sukarnoputri to address the parliament on US intelligence reports that Islamic extremists have twice unsuccessfully tried to assassinate her.

Jakarta – The Federation of State Enterprises' Labor Unions (FSP-BUMN) threatened on Tuesday to file a class action against State Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi should he proceed with the ongoing privatization of state enterprises.

Jakarta – After conflicting statements made about a deadly grenade explosion near a house belonging to the US Embassy on Monday, the police have linked the fatal incident to a loan dispute, quelling allegations that the case may have been an act of terrorism.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The anti-US backlash in Indonesia is approaching a feverish pitch.

Dr Amien Rais, Speaker of the country's top legislative body, wrote yesterday in his nationally syndicated column which appeared in many newspapers, that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has cooked up "misleading information in order to provoke trouble in Indonesia".

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – Thousands of workers from various labor unions continued their rowdy rallies on Tuesday to voice their opposition to the two controversial labor bills, a move labor experts claim will backfire on the workers themselves.

The rallies turned ugly when the police called up water cannon as the workers began shaking the House's entrance gate.

Jakarta – The National Mandate Party (PAN) urged the police on Tuesday to question a gubernatorial candidate who reportedly gave 10 cheques worth Rp 450 million each to 10 of the party's coucillors to vote for him as governor during the recent election.

Tim Dodd – Indonesia's Foreign Ministry has a message for Australia that it evidently wants to be heard loud and clear, rather than in the confines of normally discreet diplomatic communication.

The leading human rights group in Indonesian Papua, Elsham, has released a report on its investigation into last month's killing of one Indonesian and two American schoolteachers, at the American owned gold and copper mine Freeport. Suspicion for the attack fell initially on the Free Papua Movement's armed wing, the OPM.

James Balowski – Three weeks after the fatal shooting of two Americans and an Indonesian from the Freeport gold and copper mine in Indonesia's eastern-most province of West Papua, the identity of the perpetrators is still unclear.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – A fortnight after the former University of Tasmania lecturer Lesley McCulloch and a friend were picked up by police in Indonesia's Aceh province, two things look increasingly likely: Ms McCulloch will be sentenced to jail and travel for Westerners to Aceh will become more restricted.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – After nine months without a permanent director, the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Foundation (YLBHI) elected on Tuesday Munarman its top executive.

Munarman, who formerly headed the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), pledged to consolidate the foundation members as his first move.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The United States envoy told moderate Muslim leaders in Jakarta yesterday that the Al-Qaeda network is present here and urged all Indonesians to tackle the problem.

Cimahi – Around 2,000 workers demonstrated at the Leuwigajah market in Cimahi, West Java on Tuesday. Thirty two demonstrators were arrested by police because they were said to have demonstrated without asking for permission from security forces.

Jakarta – Thousands of demonstrators from a number of groups demonstrated in front of the parliament in Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon. The workers were rejecting the Draft Law on the Resolution of Industrial Disputes and the Draft Law on Establishment of Labour Efficiency.

About 60 per cent of Indonesia's four million civil servants are reportedly unqualified for their jobs.

The state administrative reforms minister Feisal Tamin says studies by his office and other parties show that only 40 per cent of Indonesia's civil servant force are qualified.

Maros – Around 300 workers from the Indonesian National Front For Labor Struggle (Front Nasional Perjuangan Buruh Indonesia, FNPBI) clashed with Mobil Brigade (Brimob) troops in the area of the Hasanuddin airport in the Moros regency of South Sulawasi on Monday.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak and Jupriadi, Jakarta/Makassar – Following the indefinite delay to the endorsement of two bills on labor issues, the House of Representatives offered on Monday to mediate between employers and workers, both of whom are upset, in a bid to improve the draft laws.

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Some 6,800 locked-out workers of PT Doson Indonesia, a subcontractor for shoe giant Nike, staged a rally on Monday in front of the company factory. They protested that the management had closed the company suddenly without giving them any advance warning.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – About 2,000 bus drivers, conductors and other employees of state-owned Djakarta Transportation company (PPD) went on strike on Monday morning, causing thousands of commuters to be left stranded at bus stops and stations during rush hour.

About 1,000 Indonesian workers have stormed the parliament building in a protest against a draft labor law which they said favors employers.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Traffic on the roads was as chaotic as any other day, offices and shops were open for business and people made their way about the city unperturbed.

Jakarta – The calls for Mr Akbar Tandjung to quit as Golkar chief are growing louder. In the second serious blow to his grip over the party, his right-hand man Agung Laksono joined the ranks of those demanding his ouster.

Jakarta – Noted economist Syahrir declared on Monday the formation of the New Indonesian Association Party (PIB) at Hotel Indonesia and was observed by some 3,000 people.