It may not have quite the power of the image of Nelson Mandela applauding his former jailer, F.W. de Klerk, when the two were awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1993, but yesterday's beaming photo in The Australian of East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao and Indonesian presidential candidate General Wiranto was a stunner.

Robert Go, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday launched a re-election charm offensive aimed at drawing support from Indonesia's millions of poor people.

With barely five weeks to go before the July 5 presidential election, she is trailing about 20 points in opinion polls behind the frontrunner, retired general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – What is the most attractive catch for presidential contenders in Indonesia today? Answer: The 40 million votes of the Nadhlatul Ulama (NU).

In a battle for numbers, the NU – together with other Muslim-based outfits – may well prove to be the decisive swing factor that could shift the political balance in favour of any one candidate.

Robert Go, Jakarta – For Indonesia's five pairs of presidential and vice-presidential hopefuls, yesterday began with prayers, the signing of a unity declaration, a parade of floats and promises.

Bekasi – Residents of the Jakarta satellite city of Bekasi who are fed up with the poor condition of roads have again taken action by planting trees on damaged roads. Not only that, on Monday May 31 they also released fish into the larger pot holes on Jalan Perjuangan which are constantly full of water.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The police plan to question Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam governor Abdullah Puteh would not, for the time being, affect his status as civil emergency administrator, the government said on Sunday.

Lenore Taylor – Woodside Petroleum is increasingly wedged between a rock and a hard place as its multibillion-dollar Greater Sunrise joint venture becomes the bargaining chip in an increasingly bitter feud between the fledgling government of East Timor and Australia.

Pamela Bone – Australia gives to poor countries with one hand and takes back with the other.

Nigel Wilson – Australia could face a compensation claim from East Timor for up to $US6 billion ($8.4 billion) because Australia did not halt production in the disputed oil fields of the Timor Sea.

Rowan Callick – Two years after guiding his country to independence, East Timor's Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos-Horta, is struggling to contain issues that threaten to set the impoverished nation at odds with both of its much bigger neighbours, Indonesia and Australia.

Indonesian troops gunned down 12 suspected separatist rebels over the weekend as violence continues despite the government's decision to lift martial law in the troubled Aceh province.

Nine rebels were shot dead Saturday in gunbattles across the region on the northern tip of Sumatra island, said Lt. Col. Asep Sapari.

Dili – East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao returned home Monday from a weekend meeting with former Indonesian military chief General Wiranto to face dozens of angry demonstrators, demanding justice for atrocities committed by Indonesian forces in 1999.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao has publicly embraced the man accused of responsibility for the deaths of 1500 East Timorese.

In a dramatic sign of his determination for East Timor to put the past behind it, Mr Gusmao met former Indonesian armed forces commander Wiranto in Bali for two hours late on Saturday night.

Banda Aceh – Indonesian troops have shot dead four separatist guerrillas and captured another in Aceh province, the military said on Monday.

The government has shut down one foreign non-governmental organization (NGO) in Jakarta and is closely monitoring 19 others, including local ones, citing that reports they have made could disrupt stability.

The murder last week of a prosecutor in the case of three suspected Bali bombers has been blamed in some quarters on the regional militant network, Jemaah Islamiyah.

Max Lane, Murdoch WA, Australia – On May 26 The Jakarta Post published two interesting opinion pieces: Indonesian democracy or 'demo-crazy'? by Ziad Salim and Complacency: Indonesia's democratic deficit by Adam Tyson. In some key respects, these two articles presented opposite points of view.

Those people that have been busy opposing the idea of presidential candidates with military backgrounds have their own reasons. The presence of ex-military candidates is seen as having the potential to bring about a return to the militaristic and authoritarian New Order and to hamper the reform process, especially reform of the law, because of their actions in the past.

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Both the Tangerang regency and municipality administrations on Saturday ordered public order officers to arrest city truck drivers known to be regularly dumping raw sewage directly into the Cisadane River.

Sari Setiogi and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – A group of well-known national figures criticized the government for intimidating and terrorizing non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and individuals campaigning for human rights and democracy.

Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri, in a rare meeting with the press on Monday, denied responsibility for the pending expulsion of the International Crisis Group (ICG) director in Indonesia, Sidney Jones.

"I never expelled – using your word – this person Sidney Jones," said Megawati, responding to questions from foreign journalists after a brief press conference.

Akmal Nasery Basral – It seems that calamity has now struck within the International Crisis Group (ICG), a worldwide institution known for its study and review of national and international flash-points, including groundbreaking work on conflicts in Aceh and Irian Jaya. ICG's problems surfaced last week in Jakarta-not at the organization's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

Leony Aurora, Jakarta – People coming out of the two great arched doors of Kota railway station in West Jakarta are first greeted by blue public minivans, with touts frantically screaming the destinations and ushering the passengers into the vehicles.

Budi Hartadi, Surabaya – The day before the presidential campaign was to start around 150 activists from the Indonesian National Student Movement (GMNI) and the National University Student Executive Council (BEM) demonstrated against military presidential candidates and burnt Golkar Party T-shirts and military clothing.

Dian Intannia, Jakarta – Scores of students from the City Network (Jaringan Kota) have again demonstrated against military presidential and vice-presidential candidates by burning photographs of [former armed forces chief and Golkar presidential candidate] Wiranto, [former coordinating minister for politics and security and Democratic Party presidential candidate] Susilo Bambang Yud

Movements opposed to a military president have spread into a number of cities-some with apparent help from the competition.

Under the glaring light of the Jakarta Convention Center in South Jakarta, General (ret) Wiranto stood with a sullen face, quite bereft of his usual strength. Maybe the famous chin was held uplifted, but the smile seemed just a little too forced. For those looking carefully that Tuesday night two weeks ago, it was clear the Golkar Party presidential candidate was disturbed.

Edy Budiyarso – The success team of Golkar Party presidential and vice-presidential candidates Wiranto and Solahuddin Wahid is controlled from the Imperium Tower in Kuningan, South Jakarta. As if it were an army base or veteran's hospital, staff and visitors to the luxurious office include a surprising scattering of retired generals.

Surabaya – No less than 500 sex workers operating in six red-light districts across the East Java capital of Surabaya gathered on Sunday for a mass prayer, to pray for a peaceful presidential election.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The razzle-dazzle begins tomorrow. Tooting horns, banging drums and waving flags and banners, thousands will take to the streets across Indonesia for the start of the July 5 presidential election campaign.

Jakarta – Campaigning starts Tuesday for a July 5 election in which Indonesian voters will for the first time choose their president directly. Five candidates are running, but analysts doubt the outcome will usher in sweeping reforms for the problem-ridden Southeast Asian nation.

Peter Cronau: A month ago, the Australian intelligence community took a direct hit. The detonation, a series of leaks to the media about a powerful pro-Indonesia bias in Australia's military intelligence and foreign affairs establishment. The missile was one of our top military intelligence officers.

Dean Yates, Garut – The dramatic rise of Indonesian presidential frontrunner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is all the more surprising when you look at his campaign headquarters in the West Java town of Garut.

East Timor's Foreign Minister on Sunday criticized his head of state's meeting with an Indonesian presidential candidate indicted for war crimes for his role in the killing of some 1,500 people during the half-island's 1999 fight for independence.

Indonesia's presidential race gets under way this week, with two ex-generals among the front-runners to lead a nation which was ruled for most of its history by authoritarian figures.

Sian Powell – For the East Timorese, it's simple. Scratch a diagram of the Timor Sea into the dirt, with the island of Timor on one side and the great landmass of Australia on the other, and draw a line between them.

Jakarta – For the second time in a week, former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid has hit a snag in efforts to revive his chances of returning to power.

The General Elections Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) rejected on Friday a demand to include his name in the roster of eligible candidates.

Moch. N. Kurniawan and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Golkar Party and the National Awakening Party (PKB) signed a coalition agreement on Friday, but doubts remain if the alliance would boost their candidates' chance of winning the July 5 presidential election.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Many political parties have not submitted the appropriate reports on campaign expenditures for the April 5 legislative election to the General Elections Commission (KPU), a civil governance non-governmental organization disclosed on Friday.

Bogor – Vice presidential candidate Hasyim Muzadi was met by a rally during a visit to the Bogor Institute of Agriculture campus, where he was scheduled to talk.

Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri has complained about Cabinet ministers who quit to challenge her in the coming presidential election.

Their departure weakened her government, she said on Thursday at a General Elections Commission (KPU) meeting.

Dili – Peacekeepers marked their withdrawal from Timor Leste yesterday, winding down a nearly five-year mission that ended Indonesia's brutal occupation and oversaw the birth of the world's newest nation.

A. Junaidi, Jakarta – The government and women activists have settled their dispute on a controversial article on marital rape in the domestic violence bill which, if enacted, will carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The contents of a draft domestic violence law are considered so sensitive by the government that it has been reluctant to start deliberations in the House, despite the fact that the bill was initiated by the legislature six years ago.

Jakarta – General Hendropriyono, the chief of the National Intelligence Agency, BIN, has been challengd to reveal in public the information he submitted to parliament (DPR) about twenty local and foreign NGOs which are accused of disrupting national security in the period leading up to the presidential election on 5 July.

Abdul Khalik and Ruslan Sangadji, Jakarta/Palu – Prosecutors and judges in conflict areas have been provided police protection following Wednesday's murder of prosecutor Ferry Silalahi in the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu.

Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri has given police the go-ahead to investigate allegations of a multimillion-dollar graft case involving the governor of the war-torn province of Aceh.

Nani Afrida – The Jakarta Post's correspondent in Aceh, spent two nights two weeks ago at the Free Aceh Movement's (GAM) hideout in East Aceh regency, after she and five other journalists offered themselves as collateral for the release of about 100 GAM hostages, including RCTI television cameraman Fery Santoro.

Jakarta – Despite strong opposition from a senior minister, East Timor President Xanana Gusmao is being firm in his decision to go ahead with a scheduled Saturday meeting in Bali with presidential aspirant Gen. (ret) Wiranto, who has been indicted by a United Nations-backed East Timorese court for crimes against humanity in the former Indonesian territory.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – The number of people suffering from psychiatric ailments has been on the rise over the past few years in the West Java capital of Bandung, with much of the increase being attributed to the economic hardship that has persisted since the economic crisis hit Indonesia in 1997.