Sidney Jones, Singapore – When I think of the people who had the most impact in bringing about a democratic Indonesia, Munir would be up there near the top. He was everything a human rights champion should be: principled, tough, smart, funny, and fearless. He stood up to people in power, he made them angry, he got threat after threat after threat, and he never gave up.

David Jenkins – General Benny Moerdani, who has died in Jakarta at the age of 71, was a special forces officer who went on to become the head of Indonesia's widely feared intelligence services and the architect of his nation's brutal subjugation of East Timor. He was for many years the second most powerful man in Indonesia, after his mentor, President Soeharto.

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – Jakarta stocks and rupiah closed lower on Thursday on the back of renewed security fears stemming from the deadly bomb blast in front of the Australian Embassy.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The House of Representatives will unlikely be able to finish deliberating the Indonesian Military (TNI) bill before ending its five-year term early next month, as many contentious issues remain unresolved, lawmakers say.

Jakarta – Thursday's bombing at the Australian Embassy, which killed at least seven people, drew strong nationwide condemnation, with many saying the latest terror attack would further tarnish the predominantly Muslim country's image.

The Malaysian government has again deported Indonesian illegal workers, which has added to the unemployment issues here.

Jakarta – Indonesian security forces killed 11 suspected rebels during gunbattles in the country's restive Aceh province, a military spokesman said Thursday.

Munir's life and career exemplify that of a man who answers his calling to the end. The diminutive rights activist championed a great cause during an extremely difficult period in Indonesian history.

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – Another former military chief, Gen. (ret) Andi Mohamad Jusuf, died on Wednesday, just a week after the death of Gen.(ret) L. Benny Moerdani on Aug. 29.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Six years after a banking bail-out that cost some US$60 billion (Rp555 trillion), Bank Permata, Indonesia's second-largest bank and the last of the nationalized banks taken over during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, is up for grabs.

The death of Indonesia's most outstanding human rights activist, Munir, while still in the prime of life, is a profound loss to the NGO community, civil society and the people of Indonesia.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Attempts to heal the wounds of those victimized by large scale human rights violations in the past should be the priority of the truth and reconciliation commission, which is due to be set up next year, activists said.

Irwan Firdaus, Jakarta – General Andi Muhammad Jusuf, a former Indonesian army chief who played a pivotal role in the rise to power of former dictator Suharto (news – web sites) nearly four decades ago, has died. He was 76.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – In order to ensure fairness within the Indonesian Military (TNI) forces, several factions in the House of Representatives proposed on Wednesday that the TNI chief's position should be alternated regularly between the Army, Navy and Air Force.

Jakarta – General Andi Muhammad Jusuf, a former Indonesian army chief who played a pivotal role in the rise to power of former dictator Suharto nearly four decades ago, has died. He was 76.

Gen Andi, a retired four-star general, died late on Wednesday from kidney failure and other complications in the central city of Makassar, his doctor, Dr John Adam, said yesterday.

Indramayu – Almost twenty-five percent of school buildings are damaged in Indramayu regency, West Java province, it was reported recently.

Almost 200 elementary school buildings, or some 25 percent of the total 869 school buildings in the regency, are on the brink of collapse due to old age and damage due to natural disasters, an official said on Wednesday.

Indonesia will investigate atrocities including the East Timor slaughter after agreeing on a truth and reconciliation commission.

Parliament agreed to set up the panel yesterday after a three-month row sparked by the military's objection to the inclusion of "truth" in its title.

Tiarma Siboro and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Condolences poured in on Wednesday for the family and relatives of top human rights campaigner Munir who died on board a Garuda flight to Amsterdam, while the precise cause of his death remained a mystery.

Last week was the fifth anniversary of the independence vote in East Timor and the Indonesian atrocities that followed. At the time of the killings there was an international uproar and some confidence that the perpetrators would be prosecuted. That confidence has now turned to dust. As promised, Indonesia put its own military on trial.

Jon Afrizal, Jambi – The haze in Jambi and Central Kalimantan provinces worsened on Wednesday, prompting local authorities, particularly in Jambi province, to close several schools.

Jane Perlez and Evelyn Rusli, Uyat Bay Beach – First the fish began to disappear. Then villagers began developing strange rashes and bumps. Finally in January, Masna Stirman, aided by a $1.50 wet nurse, gave birth to a tiny, shriveled girl with small lumps and wrinkled skin.

Papang Hidayat and Usman Hamid, Jakarta – Amid the fanfare and bustle of this year's general elections, the trial of the gross human right violations in 1984's Tanjung Priok incident has gone almost unnoticed by the public. While the elections seem to promise a brighter future, the trial is a reminder of a dark past that few will remember with fondness.

East Timor's foreign minister reaffirmed his opposition to an international rights tribunal Wednesday, telling parliament that the country's economic future depended on good relations with its former occupier.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Defying criticism from human rights activists and victims of rights abuses, the House of Representatives unanimously endorsed the bill for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Tuesday.

Jakarta – Indonesian troops shot and killed five alleged separatist rebels – all but one of them unarmed – in the country's westernmost province of Aceh, a military spokesman said Wednesday.

The men were gunned down in separate incidents Monday and Tuesday, said Lt. Col. Asep Sapari. Soldiers seized one handgun and ammunition from the men, he said. He gave no more details.

Munir was in a class by himself. He had an electric intelligence and an encyclopedic memory. In meetings, he was able to draw on a kaleidoscope of detailed fact and sharp analytical insight to present a clear image of what needed to be done.

ID Nugroho and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Two weeks to go before the election runoff on September 20, both presidential candidates are availing of every opportunity they can to woo the voters.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) blamed on Monday flawed campaign regulations for "disguised campaigning" by the presidential candidates' election teams.

Kiki Verico, Jakarta – On July 31, 2004 in Geneva, Director General Supachai Panitchpakdi successfully led the meeting of 147 WTO member governments to approve "the package of frameworks and other agreements" considered as vital in supporting the Doha round.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The government demanded on Monday that the Indonesian Military be granted the power to take preemptive measures against groups suspected of threatening national unity before they were capable of launching an armed rebellion.

Samarinda – Hundreds of Mulawarman University students held a rally on Monday here, demanding that the local government allocate a greater budget for education.

The students said the provincial administration had allocated only Rp 2.6 billion of the Rp 3 trillion 2004 provincial budget toward education, or only 0.087 percent.

Jakarta – Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) clerics have issued conflicting statements to voters grouped in the country's largest Muslim organisation in the run-up to the September 20 presidential poll.

Jakarta – The Golkar Party has officially reprimanded all members who have defied the party's official decision to support Megawati Soekarnoputri in the presidential election runoff on September 20.

Richel Langit, Jakarta – Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tanjung is not contesting the September 20 election, nor is he a member of either political party whose candidates advanced to the second round of the presidential election.

Maryadi, Jakarta – Hundreds of people from the Committee Against the Criminalisation of the Press (Komite Anti Kriminalisasi Terhadap Pers, Kakap) held a demonstration at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout on Sunday September 5 at 3pm.

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – Hundreds of villagers in East Lampung blocked off a section of the Sumatra East Coast Highway that is under repair in protest of a company they accuse of failing to honor its promise to provide electricity for their villages.

Together with journalists of other printed media, The Jakarta Post's Sri Wahyuni was recently invited to join an investigative team formed by the Yogyakarta-based Silvagama Foundation.

Jakarta – Thick haze from forest fires and farmland burnings blanketed the Indonesian province of Jambi, delayed flights to and from the eastern Sumatra region, officials said on Tuesday.

Semarang – Some 25 former residents of East Timor descended upon the Central Java provincial administration on Monday, demanding that the Indonesian government pay the compensation promised to them after they fled East Timor in 1999.

The East Timorese relocated to Indonesia, mostly to areas in Central Java, after East Timor claimed independence in 1999.

Munir, one of Indonesia's most respected and courageous – yet also most humble – human rights activists, passed away Tuesday (7/9/04), apparently due to cirrhosis of the liver, while on a flight from Jakarta to the Netherlands, where he had planned to pursue a masters degree in law. He was 38.

Lisbon – East Timor's religious leader, Catholic Bishop Basilio do Nascimento, is optimistic over efforts, backed by Portugal, to re-introduce the use of Portuguese in his newly independent country.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Supporters of terror suspect Abu Bakar Ba'asyir fought a running battle with police officers and hurled shoes and other debris inside a courtroom, shortly after a judge dismissed on Monday the lawsuit against the arrest of the elderly cleric.

Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Pekanbaru/Jambi/Samarinda – A senior official at the Office of the State Minister of the Environment said on Sunday that at least two-thirds of the over 1,000 forest fires that recently hit Kalimantan and Sumatra sprung up in areas owned by plantation companies.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The House of Representatives is expected to endorse the bill on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Tuesday, but a human rights campaigner doubts the effectiveness of the commission to fulfill its tasks.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – The government and the House of Representatives seems set not to learn from the debacles that have arisen under the existing bankruptcy legislation, as proposed amendments of the law still contain many loopholes that could allow creditors to easily bankrupt solvent companies.

Jakarta – A non-governmental organization (NGO) expressed its concern about the presence of 19 alleged militias in Aceh, which all fall under the supervision of the local military command.

In a statement signed by coordinator Bonar Tigor Naipospos, the Friends of Aceh said the militias could trigger conflict among civilians in the war-torn province.

Jakarta – International and national pressure has intensified against settling disputes over media reports using criminal charges, saying the trend will sacrifice press freedom and curb the public's right to information.

Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh, still the subject of an ongoing corruption investigation, is now facing accusations of supporting the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – New shopping malls and lavish condominium buildings are sprouting up across the capital city and hypermarkets such as Carrefour are expanding fast, at the expense of smaller supermarkets and traditional grocers.

Cellphones sell like hot cakes and new motorcycles and cars abound. But these trends belie reality.

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Nearly 1,250 of 1,784 state schools in Tangerang regency are in need of renovation, but the regency administration has only allocated enough money, about Rp 60 billion (US$6.45 million), to renovate 75 of the schools.