John B. Haseman – Indonesia's difficult transition from autocracy to democracy is almost five years old. The huge and disparate country struggles with economic, social and political problems that have proved far more difficult than expected.

Jakarta – Ex-president B.J. Habibie told a human rights court Thursday that the bloodshed which swept across East Timor after its independence referendum in 1999 was the work of criminals, not the result of any order from his administration.

Australia's Islamic neighbour Indonesia has fiercely opposed the US-led attack on Iraq calling on the UN to hold an emergency session. President Megawati Sukarnoputri who made the call after a lengthy cabinet meeting in Jakarta, had earlier assured Australian Prime Minister John Howard that she understood a war in Iraq was not a war against Islam.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The growing menace of premans or thugs is taking centre stage as the Indonesian public now vent their frustrations openly after the controversial Tempo magazine harassment case.

About 3,000 Indonesian teachers have flooded the grounds of parliament in protest against a bill on religious teaching in schools.

The teachers shouted and waved placards urging the government to scrap an article in a new bill, which stipulates all students, even in religion-based schools, have the right to receive instruction in their own religion.

Iggy Kim – Dita Sari, head of the Indonesian National Front for Workers' Struggle, was in Baghdad on March 14-18 as part of high-profile Asian peace mission to Iraq. Mission members visited hospitals, orphanages and schools. They met with a wide range of Iraqi civilians. The mission was an act of solidarity and opposition to the impending war.

James Balowski, Jakarta – In response to continuing protests and press criticism, the government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri is resorting to the tactics used by the Suharto dictatorship to suppress dissent.

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?

Suherdjoko and Apriadi Gunawan, Medan/Semarang – Hundreds of journalists staged a demonstration in Semarang, the capital of Central Java, and Medan, the capital of North Sumatra, to condemn intimidation toward the media, saying thuggery in all forms must be halted to ensure legal certainty and press freedom.

Jakarta – National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Tuesday that the police had accepted a gift of a car from businessman Tomy Winata, whose supporters are accused of assaulting three journalists of Tempo news magazine.

The acknowledgement by Freeport McMoran (partly owned by Rio Tinto, the world's largest mining transnational) that it pays money to the armed forces (TNI) for security in its area of operation, confirms suspicions about the close ties between the armed forces and the police and transnational corporations.

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.

Sri Wahyuni, Yogyakarta – Anticorruption activists urged the prosecutors' office here on Tuesday to investigate provincial councillors and officials connected to a bribery case that led to councillor Herman Abdurrachman's two-year jail sentence.

Karl Schoenberger, Jakarta – As the United States braces for a terrorist backlash from war, the Indonesian military is exploiting US concern about Islamist militants in Southeast Asia in its bid to regain the power and political clout forfeited after strongman Suharto was deposed five years ago.

Palu – A rally by hundreds of students opposing possible US-led military action in Iraq here on Tuesday ended with them illegally barricading an outlet of the US-based Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) fast-food restaurant chain.

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.

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.

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 – 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.