La Remi, Palu – Reinforced security forces were on alert in North Lore sub-district, part of the conflict-torn regency of Poso, on Monday after a rampaging mob attacked a local police station after police refused to hand over a suspect in the killing of a local resident.

Jakarta – The ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) is the most corrupt party in Indonesia and will crumble during the next elections, PDI-Perjuangan's very own State Minister of National Development Planning Kwik Kian Gie said Monday.

Jakarta – The US Embassy here is now full of praise for Indonesia's fight against terrorism, in a marked departure from the sharp criticism levelled by US officials at the government here for nearly two years.

In Jakarta, President Megawati Sukarnoputri's PDIP party has come under fire for continuing the corruption that has long been a part of Indonesian political life. But this time the criticisim comes from within her own ranks. Long serving PDIP member and National Development Planning Minister Kwik Kian Gie says the president's party is the most corrupt in the country.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday took civil servants to task again, saying they performed badly and were frequently absent from work.

Her comment followed a proposal for a rise in civil servants' salaries to up to 10 million rupiah (S$2,000) a month.

Jakarta – Indonesia's economy probably expanded in the fourth quarter as Muslim holy days and other festivals spurred spending on food and gifts, analysts say.

Banda Aceh – Government troops and rebels in Aceh are both guilty of serious breaches of a recent peace deal, the Swiss-based group mediating the conflict between the two sides said yesterday.

"It is clear and without any doubt in my mind that these cases constitute violations," said Major-General Tanongsuk Tuvinun, senior envoy for Geneva-based Henri Dunant Centre.

Simon Elegant – Patricia Spier was heading home from a mountaintop picnic in Indonesia's eastern province of Papua when the ambush began. Out of nowhere, a hail of automatic-weapon fire perforated the two Toyota Land Cruisers in which the American schoolteacher and a group of her colleagues and husband were traveling in.

Jakarta – A former Indonesian military chief for East Timor said Monday he tried to prevent massacres in East Timor in September 1999 and that none of his own men were involved.

"None of the witnesses who were heard in court said that the TNI [the armed forces] was involved in the attacks," Colonel Noer Muis told a human rights court.

Dennis Shanahan, Jakarta – Aid agencies operating in Indonesia using Australian government funding face scrutiny after John Howard offered to investigate if any of the funds were being spent to undermine Indonesian control in the rebellious provinces of Aceh and Papua.

More troubles surfaced last week in the government and Bank Indonesia's (BI) efforts to cover the costs of the disastrous bank bailout of the late 1990s just as many of those responsible for the catastrophe put their names forward for the position of central bank governor.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The chief of Indonesia's largest Muslim organisation has warned that an attack on Iraq would spark street riots and the resurgence of radicalism in the world's most populous nation.

Zakki Hakim, Jakarta – A coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) will use the occasion of the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) in Geneva next month to press for international intervention in the ongoing East Timor human rights trials.

Bill Guerin – Indonesia has some 200 pharmaceutical manufacturers and 1,600 pharmaceutical distributors. Several international pharmaceutical companies have manufacturing plants and offices in Indonesia, including Astra Zeneca, Bayer, Glaxo Wellcome and Schering. State-owned pharmaceutical giants PT Indofarma and PT Kimia dominate the domestic market.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – West Timorese people have demanded the United Nations to revoke a security status imposed on the province after a mob killed three UN humanitarian workers in 2000, saying it was keeping away aid workers, tourists and foreign investors.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Six of the largest political parties qualified for the general election scheduled for 2004 following the House of Representatives approval of electoral threshold on Friday.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – A small group of East Timorese ex-prisoners listens, transfixed, to the text of the UN's 1987 Convention on Torture.

For the first time they learn that the people who tortured them are considered criminals. The listeners break into broad smiles and give thumbs-up signals.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Stealing the nomination start, the Golkar Party, a political machine that backed the former, repressive New Order regime, has nominated five political figures in its race to return to power in 2004, from whom one will be selected as the party's presidential candidate.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Four thousand workers of Bandung-based aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PT DI) went on strike on Friday to protest the company's reported plan to lay off 3,500 workers.

The workers, organized by the Communication Forum for PT DI Workers (FKK), laid down their tools for two hours and picketed outside the company's front office.

Aceh – The police in Banda Aceh are still pursuing a prodemocracy activist Kautsar who mobilized Acehnese to go on strike recently without permission from security authorities.

The spokesman for the Aceh Provincial Police, Adj. Sr. Comr. Sayed Hoessainy, said on Friday the police would continue to hunt the suspect.

Paul Toohey – Critically needed containers of medical, health and school supplies have been stockpiled on Dili's wharf because of heavy smuggling and what East Timorese-based aid workers say is suspicion of Australia's motives.

Jim Buckell – Pressure from the Indonesian Government has forced RMIT University to withdraw official support for a conference on West Papuan independence scheduled for later this month.

Tony Sitathan, Jakarta – Indonesia is hoping to improve its image as a safe haven for foreign direct investment, especially after the Bali bombings. That task will evidently include a tough battle to win the hearts and minds of workers, who account for almost one-third of Indonesia's 220 million population.

Jakarta – Former Indonesian military chief General Wiranto on Thursday defended his record over East Timor's bloody 1999 breakaway from Jakarta, saying he had helped prevent a civil war there.

Bogor – Floods and killer landslides that followed each other in quick succession in Indonesia – flood warnings reached a peak this month – are the latest reminders that the country has a long way to go in correcting past environmental mistakes.

Indonesian police have arrested a leading pro-independence activist in Aceh province after accusing him of organising an unauthorised rally.

Muhammad Nazar, chairman of the Aceh Referendum Information Centre (SIRA), was detained after six policemen kicked down the door of his home at 1.30 am, according to his wife.

Royal Abbott, Melbourne – Five Melbourne mayors have joined the Victorian government in appealing to Canberra to halt plans to forcibly deport 1,400 East Timorese who have been denied permanent residency.

Many of the East Timorese have lived legally in Australia for 10 years and have established roots they are unwilling to sever to return to their once-troubled homeland.

The Free Papua Movement's representative in Vanuatu, Andy Ayamiseba, says the Indonesian plan to split Papua province into three is aimed at crushing the independence movement.

Canberra – The United Nations and Australia agreed it was too early to withdraw peacekeepers from East Timor after riots in December but its police must be strengthened so they can take over from troops, Prime Minister John Howard said.

Nani Farida and Ibnu Matnoor, Aceh – The Joint Security Committee (JSC) named on Monday six new peace zones to shore up the fragile peace deal between rebels and the government, which brought an end to almost three decades of a separatist war in the restive province of Aceh.

Separatist rebels in Indonesia's Aceh said they have begun disarming as part of a peace deal but warned that the military must relocate its troops if the process is to continue.

Some weapons were stored at a beach area in East Aceh on Sunday, said the Free Aceh Movement's (GAM) military chief Muzakkir Manaf.

Nethy Dharma Somba and Kanis Dursin, Jayapura – The Papua Legislative Council (Papua DPRD) rejected on Monday the government decision to split up the province into three provinces and vowed to file a judicial review with the Supreme Court against a presidential decree endorsing the establishment of the provinces of Central and West Irian Jaya.

Aceh arrests and attacks expose sham of Indonesia's commitment to peace process

Over the past week in Aceh, Indonesia has repeatedly violated the December 10 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA), arresting civil movement activists and carrying out military offensives.

Stephen Steele, Washington – More than three years after East Timor voted for independence, access to adequate health care, education and basic human rights remains out of reach for most people in the country, said an East Timorese human rights worker.

After five months jail in an Indonesian prison, Australian academic Lesley McCulloch has been finally been released. The British-born McCulloch was sentenced to five months prison for visa violations in Indonesia's rebel Aceh province. She was detained on September 10 with American nurse Joy Lee Sadler.

Matthew Moore – The academic Lesley McCulloch was yesterday released after five months' imprisonment in Indonesia's Aceh province and will return to Australia next month to write an account of her experience.

Suwarjono, Jakarta – Although [President] Megawati's supporters have come out into the streets, students are not trembling with fear. This afternoon (Monday), 1000 students from 12 organisations will be calling for the "Tritura" (*) at the presidential palace. Tritura is the three demands of the people (*), reduce prices, try the corrupters and build a self-reliant nation.

Jakarta – About one thousand students from various universities in the Papua capital of Jayapura held a rally Monday to protest the government's decision to divide the province into three, Antara reported.

Thousands of Indonesians hit the streets of Jakarta on Sunday, staging a peaceful demonstration against the looming US-led war on Iraq.

Organized by the relatively small Justice Party (Partai Keadilan), it was clearly the biggest ever anti-American protest in Indonesia, involving students, Muslim activists and families carrying babies.

The Indonesian government and Aceh rebels on Sunday entered the crucial demilitarization stage in the process to end a bloody 26-year separatist war in the resource-rich province.

It was a palace insider, Brutus, who stabbed Julius Caesar from behind, not any external enemy. President Megawati Sukarnoputri also knows that it is highly likely the organized action to pull down her government comes not from outside, but from within her inner circle.

Jakarta – Indonesia has decided to go ahead with its decision to divide the easternmost Papua province into three smaller provinces in the face of objections from local officials and religious leaders who have warned the move may spark unrest.

Indonesia is gradually winding back the elaborate system of discrimination against its Chinese citizens.

Foreign travellers arriving in Indonesia are still asked if they are carrying pornographic magazines or more than a litre of liquor, but the question asking if you possess material printed in Chinese has suddenly disappeared.

Jakarta – The Riau chapter of Koham (Human Rights Commission) will sue 11 plywood and pulp and paper companies operating in Riau for allegedly causing the recent flooding in the province, Antara has reported.

Nani Farida, Aceh – Demilitarization in the restive province of Aceh is scheduled to start on Sunday as part of last December's peace deal to end long-standing hostilities, but exactly how it will work remains unclear.

Kornelius Purba, Aceh – As stipulated by the cessation of hostilities agreement signed by Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the GAM rebels are to begin disarming by February 9, while the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police will at the same time begin pulling back their combat forces to defensive areas.

Jakarta – An estimated 140,000 out of 583,000 current tuberculosis sufferers in Indonesia die every year compared to 2 million worldwide, Sri Astuti Suparmanto, the Health Ministry's acting director general for contagious disease control and environmental health, said here on Friday.

Bill Guerin – Jakarta has officially announced that regional governments can now borrow from foreign sources if certain conditions are met.

Joanne Collins, Jakarta – A UN investigator examining Indonesia's legal system called on the government to take urgent and drastic action to tackle corruption in the country's judiciary, or see badly needed investment dwindle.

John Ward and Peter Symonds – The Australian government is deliberately delaying the signing of an agreement with East Timor, known as the Timor Sea Treaty, as a means of blackmailing the small, newly independent country into conceding a greater share of off-shore oil and gas reserves to Canberra.