Desperate positivism. That could be a way of describing the reactions toward the recently concluded talks in Helsinki between Aceh separatist leaders (GAM) and Indonesian government representatives.

The two-day meeting provided little substance in terms of progress on ending the ongoing hostilities. Calling the talks positive may be clutching at straws.

Baradan Kuppusamy, Kuala Lumpur – Despite the devastation inflicted on South and Southeast Asia by the December 26 tsunami, the disaster has been unable to make compassion-fatigued Malaysia balk at its latest order: the deportation of all undocumented workers back to their tsunami-hit countries.

Firebrand Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir told his terrorism trial that religious extremists were wrong to stage attacks in Indonesia because the world's largest Muslim-populated country was not at war with anyone.

Bashir said if Muslims wanted to wage jihad or holy war against the United States, they should go to countries like Afghanistan.

Jakarta – Army chief Ryamrizard Ryacudu says that the TNI (armed forces) will continue to take a defensive position with regard to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in spite of the fact that negotiations between GAM and the Indonesian government in Helsinki Finland have failed to produce an agreement.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – While other regions across the country are gearing up to hold the first direct regional elections in June, five regencies in Aceh will have to postpone the event following the tsunami disaster.

Jakarta – Indonesia on Tuesday rejected an offer by Acehnese rebels to put their independence claims on hold in return for an eventual referendum on the issue, but mediators were optimistic that coming peace talks could be fruitful.

Tiarma Siboro and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Plans to hold further peace talks between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) look likely to stalemate as both parties cannot agree on the final goal of the dialog.

Jakarta – Tsunami-stricken areas in Indonesia were in need of more medical supplies rather than additional medical workers due to the declining number of patients and the already excessive number of medical workers, a senior aid official said on Monday.

Jerry Norton and Jim Loney, Jakarta – Talks to end a decades-long conflict in Indonesia's tsunami-stricken Aceh province could be on a fast track to nowhere unless there are changes in positions and negotiating approaches, analysts said on Monday.

Acehnese rebels have said they are willing to put their demand for secession on hold if Indonesia accepts a "face-saving" formula that would allow the tsunami-hit province to hold an independence referendum within five to 10 years.

Jakarta – Negotiators from the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) wound up two days of talks in Helsinki on Saturday without a concrete result on how to end the decades-long war in Aceh, but pledged to meet again soon to seek a peace deal.

Natural gas reserves in Indonesia have risen by 7.45 trillion standard cubic feet (TCF), thanks to new reserves found in either new sites or existing fields, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has revealed.

Murray Hiebert in Washington and Timothy Mapes in Jakarta – The administration of US President George W. Bush is expected to begin pressing Congress to permit the resumption of American training for Indonesian armed-forces officers in a step to repair military ties disrupted more than a decade ago over human-rights abuses by Jakarta's army.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The appointment of Army Special Forces (Kopassus) commander Maj. Gen. Sriyanto Muntrasan as the new commander of the high profile Siliwangi Military Command overseeing West Java drew strong criticism from a human rights group and expert.

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – The Tangerang regency council is summoning two developers to answer allegations their coastal reclamation projects have irrevocably damaged the environment and destroyed the life of a fishing community.

Indra Harsaputra, Surabaya – Most coastal areas in East Java, similar to tsunami-hit coastal regions in Aceh and North Sumatra, are susceptible to disasters like tsunami, warns an official.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Gobble ... gobble ... gobble ... is the onomatopoeic phrase often used in cartoon stories whenever characters eat their food in a hurry. It is also the sound a turkey makes.

Ambon, Maluku – A communal clash between two gangs of warring youths reignited in Central Maluku late on Saturday, leaving five buildings damaged and one totally destroyed.

The youths from the Hitu Lama and Hitu Messing subdistricts have been feuding for months. It was not known what had sparked the dispute.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – After winning the largest number of seats in the House of Representatives in the 2004 legislative election, the Golkar Party is preparing its mammoth political machine to grab the lion's share of top regional administration posts.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) announced on Saturday its first major reshuffle in a year, affecting 42 high-ranking officers, including Commander of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) Maj. Gen. Sriyanto Muntrasan, who has been named as Siliwangi Military Commander overseeing West Java and Banten provinces.

Reported by: Rev. Socratez Sofyan Yoman, MA, President of West Papuan Baptist Church

A. The burning of School and District buildings

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Deep mistrust among local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and foreign aid agencies of the government-sanctioned National Relief Committee is to blame for the chaotic nature of the relief operation on the west coast of Aceh, a prominent activist says.

Jakarta – The Aceh military authorities have detained an army officer for questioning after he allegedly assaulted an anticorruption activist accused of stealing relief aid from the air force base in Banda Aceh.

Jakarta – Dozens of journalists protested on Friday against a House of Representatives Commission, which summoned three editors after its members were questioned by journalists about a possible graft story.

The House of Representatives' Commission III for legal affairs on Friday summoned the editors of two daily newspapers and two radio stations.

Outrageous is one word to describe a beating Indonesian soldiers meted out to anticorruption activist Farid Faqih in Banda Aceh, an outspoken critic of the military, who now faces charges of stealing donated goods from the Iskandar Muda Airport.

Banda Aceh – A lawyer Saturday demanded the release of an anti-corruption activist who was allegedly beaten while in detention after being accused of stealing aid in the tsunami-hit Aceh province.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Global acknowledgement of the country's macroeconomic stability, as evident in the recent upgrading of Indonesia's debt rating, would boost positive sentiment in the rupiah, possibly to below the Rp 9,000 level, according to the central bank.

Pekanbaru – Hundreds of students from different universities took to the streets on Thursday to protest at what they claimed were extravagant allowances and payments for Pekanbaru city administration executives and city councillors.

Shirley Shackleton – I have studied the TNI (the Indonesian military) for 30 years and what is happening in Aceh has striking similarities to what happened in East Timor. The TNI terrorised the East Timorese for a quarter of a century and they have done the same to Acehnese citizens for 31 years.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, struggling to cope with the tsunami disaster as he completes 100 days in office, has apologised to Indonesians for failing to fulfil a range of pledges including an end to corruption.

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar – History will judge the cataclysmic earthquake and tsunami that devastated Aceh last month as the defining event of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's first 100 days as Indonesia's president.

East Timor's charismatic president Xanana Gusmao today made an emotional visit to the Indonesian prison where he was held for four years as a rebel before his country was granted independence.

Semarang – Tayu police station in Pati regency, Central Java was attacked and wrecked by a crowd of about one hundred people late on Thursday following the death of two motorcyclists who were being pursued by the police.

Jakarta – East Timor President Xanana Gusmao in a three-day visit here Friday sought to mend bilateral ties with Indonesia, hand humanitarian assistance to tsunami victims and express opposition against US military embargo.

Jakarta – Indonesia and Timor Leste (East Timor) have agreed to establish a permanent border crossing (PLB) for traditional communities that live on the border between the two countries to strengthen kinship ties and to preserve peace.

Astrid Felicia Lim, Jakarta – The Timor Leste (East Timor) government has promised to lobby the US government in its congress, in February 2005 about withdrawing the embargo on Indonesian military requirements.

M. Taufiqurrahman and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The government admitted on Thursday that the management of public donations for the tsunami survivors in Aceh and North Sumatra had been tainted by malfeasance.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Tsunami-devastated Aceh, which only a month ago was a war zone, has now become the testing ground for a concerted push to persuade the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which has been fighting for independence, to lay down its arms.

Jakarta – The House of Representatives' Commission II for home and regional affairs has recommended the government delay the direct elections of local executive heads in tsunami-ravaged Aceh.

Commission member Abdul Gafur said on Thursday the proposed delay be imposed until the conditions improved in Aceh.

Although the Jakarta administration has continued to carry out measures to fight flooding, dredging 13 rivers, maintaining sluice gates and setting up early warning systems and emergency response teams, it could not stop the annual floods. The Jakarta Post asked residents about their opinion of the administration's flood-mitigation efforts.

The Pentagon and the Indonesian government are using the tragic tsunami that struck Aceh to call for US support including weapons and training – for Indonesia's brutal military.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Today marks the 100th day of the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. According to many assessments, his government has yet to produce results in terms of the economy, having failed to bring improvement to the country's investment and business climate.

Jakarta – Improving the economic welfare of communities living in forested areas would do little to reduce the widespread illegal logging across the country, environmentalists say.

Jakarta – Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who is being tried on charges of involvement in acts of terror, and his lawyers walked out of the courtroom on Wednesday in protest against the judges' decision to allow the prosecution to read out the sworn statements of four witnesses in their absence.

Ray Rangkuti, executive director of the Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP):

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Hundreds of Punclut residents, environmentalists and artists protested on the streets of Bandung on Thursday, rejecting the planned construction of a hotel and resort in Punclut, a water catchment area in North Bandung.

Jayapura – Papua police have arrested seven suspected Papuan rebels in the past five days in Tolikara regency, some 700 kilometers southwest of Jayapura, the Papuan capital.

Slobodan Lekic, Jakarta – The widow of an American schoolteacher killed in a 2002 attack initially blamed on Indonesian soldiers urged the Bush administration Friday not to lift a ban on military ties with Jakarta until the case if fully resolved.

There was little to talk about when the widely trumpeted first 100-day economic agenda of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government ended. It is not even an exaggeration to say that the government miserably failed to capitalize on its strong political mandate to launch bold, if unpopular, measures to accelerate the process of regaining foreign investor confidence.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said on Wednesday that any decision on the reshuffling of the military leadership rested solely with the President.