For the first time since it was called into the case, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is believed to be following several promising leads in the investigation into the slaying of two American teachers near the Papua mining town of Tembagapura in August 2002.

East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao said today he would not stand for re-election in his country's second presidential elections, are slated for 2007.

"I am tired. Five years is enough for me," the independence hero and former guerrilla leader told the Portuguese news agency Lusa.

Guido Guillart, Dili – An American group said on Thursday it cancelled plans to distribute a children's book on democracy in East Timor, after the country's leaders complained that the illustrations portrayed them as monkeys.

Luhur Hertanto, Jakarta – If there is money, the parties are popular. If they only have T-shirts they are ignored.

Jakarta – Separatist rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province urged Acehnese on Wednesday to vote in next month's elections and said they would not try to disrupt the polls.

Ishak Daud, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) operations commander in East Aceh, said the security presence is so intense that he expects all electors will cast ballots to avoid physical reprisals.

Indra Shalihin, Jakarta – Scores of students from the University of Indonesia (UI) Student Action Front (Front Aksi Mahasiswa, FAM) held an demonstration against New Order [regime of former President Suharto] political parties. They burnt United Development Party (PPP), Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Golkar Party paraphernalia.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati and A. Junaidi, Jakarta – Another list naming "rotten" politicians would be released to the public soon, the group behind the publications said on Tuesday.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Don't be fooled by the apparent enthusiasm for giveaways from political parties – including money – many people are aware of what party and who to vote for, an analyst here said.

The major parties might think their campaigns are successfully erasing the collective memory of their past performance, said Mochtar Pabottingi on Tuesday.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – With the House of Representatives in recess, and campaigning for seats in the new legislature heating up, a cabinet meeting chaired by President Megawati Sukarnoputri issued an administrative order allowing mining companies with contracts in place before 1999 to resume activities in protected forests.

Moch. N. Kurniawan and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Amid the growing trend among most of the 24 political parties to distribute money or staple food to entice voters, the Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) warned them on Tuesday not to offer money during the campaign period.

A. Junaidi and Rusman, Jakarta/Samarinda – Necessity is the mother of invention, as they say, and Regional Representatives Council (DPD) candidates are running the campaign gamut from mass gatherings, publications to mobile phone messages as they compete on rough terrain, not only against other candidates, but also against concurrent party campaigns.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The youngest of Sukarno's children from his third wife Fatmawati, Guruh Soekarnoputra, expressed his pain over the open rift between her three sisters, especially between incumbent President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Rachmawati Soekarnoputri.

Jakarta – The lackluster reception since last Thursday's kick-off of the 22-day campaign period vanished on Tuesday – at least in part, as indicated by severe traffic jams and accompanying moods caused across the city by a vigorous show of force by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Muslim-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

Robert Go, Jakarta – They think that the tougher-looking they are, the better. And so, members of Indonesian political parties' youth wings wear dark sunglasses, bandanas or berets and military boots and fatigues.

Dean Yates, Bojong Gede – Indonesia's most famous novelist, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, nearly totters over from age and illness.

Grabbing the arm of a visiting reporter to steady himself, Pramoedya, 79, sits down at a table inside his comfortable villa in the leafy province of West Java before reaching for a packet of Indonesia's clove-scented cigarettes called kreteks.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Police here said on Tuesday they had named four more suspects charged with involvement in last week's deadly protest that killed four people in Manggarai regency on the eastern island of Flores.

Manggarai Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Wasiran Robert said the four brought the number of suspects to 14 people, all civilian locals.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Seven of Indonesia's most senior judges have retired to consider their verdict in a case that could result in convictions against all leading Bali bombers being overturned.

The verdict also has implications for soldiers convicted of gross human rights abuses.

Geneva – A leading environmental group on Tuesday warned that the exotic Sumatran tiger was bound for extinction if the government of Indonesia did not crack down on illegal trading in the endangered species.

The WWF said only 400-500 tigers remained on the island of Sumatra as hunters continue to kill the animal commercially and for sport.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government Tuesday issued Rp 2 trillion ($1=IDR8,457) of bonds with a weighted average yield of 11.57%, the finance ministry said.

The weighted average yield was in line with market expectations and lower than the 11.82% weighted average yield for the bonds it issued last month.

Dili – A former Australian diplomat said his country's "policy of failure" was partly to blame for Indonesia's 1975 invasion of East Timor and its subsequent 24-year occupation that resulted in more than 150,000 deaths.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Monopolistic practices and a lack of concern toward public complaints were continuing to perpetuate a culture of poor public service in the country, the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) lamented on Monday.

Jakarta – Five alleged members of the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah group have been jailed on terror charges by an Indonesian court, the presiding judge who sentenced them said on Tuesday.

I Nyoman Sumanada, head of the Palu district court, said the five were sentenced on Monday to terms ranging from three to six years.

Jakarta, Kompas – Accusations of human rights violations have not affected retired Lieutenant General Prabowo Subianto's plan to advance towards the presidency. The former head of Kopassus who is believed to be linked to the abductions of a number of students(1) continues to move forward in Golkar's presidential candidate selection process.

Jakarta – Idealists and officials have spoken for years of the benefits of "dialog campaigns" rather than rowdy rallies and convoys, but on the fifth day of campaigning, political parties were still struggling to get people interested in any attempt at dialog.

P.C. Naommy and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) revealed on Monday that it planned to send a fact-finding mission to investigate the shooting by police officers of demonstrating farmers in Manggarai, Flores, last week.

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar – The Indonesian general election campaign started with a bang last week, but it will end with a whimper. Never have 24 parties given people so little reason to celebrate.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – It began with a bang. Just six days ago, party faithful thronged the streets of Indonesia in carnival mood to mark the start of the country's election campaigning.

Jakarta – Almost all of the 24 political parties contesting this year's elections had committed 100 violations as of Monday, according to the Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu).

Jakarta – Two family members of former dictator Suharto have launched separate campaigns for the coming Indonesian elections.

His eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti "Tutut" Rukmana, clearly aware of the popular longing for a return to the rapid economic development of the Suharto era, has promised to bring the people back to the good old days.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Islamic-leaning political parties contesting this year's general elections have selected more non-Muslim candidates, a move to pluralism that has been welcomed by political commentators.

A pro-independence group in Indonesia's Aceh province has accused police and troops of intimidation and violence in the run-up to the general election on April 5.

Jakarta – A coalition of Indonesian groups has released a list of names of 61 candidates in the upcoming parliamentary election who it alleges are "crooked politicians", the Jakarta Post reported yesterday.

Jakarta – Government troops have shot dead a separatist leader in Indonesia's eastern most province of Papua, a military spokesman said on Saturday.

Former Indonesian security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who quit after a row with Presidenti Megawati Surkanoputri, has confirmed that he will stand in July's presidential elections.

Wahyoe Boediwardhana and Fabiola Desy Unandjaja, Gianyar/Jakarta – Megawati Soekarnoputri and her presidential challengers strived to make the most of their "comparative advantages" in their election campaign debuts on Friday.

Ruslan Sangadji, Palu – The situation in Donggala, Central Sulawesi, remained tense on Friday following a bloody attack on a predominantly Christian village in the regency a day before.

Robert Go, Jakarta – With just 23 days to go, Indonesia faces critical hurdles that could impede a smooth parliamentary election next month, officials and observers said.

Any last-minute rush to complete poll preparations, they warned, could increase the possibility of honest errors occurring, or even the chances for manipulation of results.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – In a land where the school system is rotting and health care is worse, where millions drink from dying rivers while the rich pay cash for Mercedes, it seems only natural that Indonesians have such a deep interest in their looming elections.

Jakarta – Although the 22-day election campaign period just commenced on Thursday, minor political parties scheduled for Friday's first round of campaigns across the country had already begun showing signs that their funding was running out.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – A group of environmental non-governmental organizations (NGO) lashed out on Friday at the government for permitting 13 mining companies to resume activities in protected forests through the issuance of a regulation in lieu of law, or perpu.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – The man behind the first efforts to privatize Indonesia's state-owned enterprises, and a staunch critic of the slow pace of the program, has been brought back into the fold to bring state-owned PT Telkom, the country's largest company, back into line after chronic audit problems and market uncertainty.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – An alliance of 23 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) joined force on Friday to call on the National Commission of Human Rights to carry out an independent and thorough investigation into the Manggarai shooting that left five dead and 28 others wounded.

Jakarta – Following mass rioting at the Manggarai district police station in Ruteng, East Nusa Tenggara, which resulted in the death of four farmers last Wednesday, the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) has been asked to immediately go to the location to gather facts.

Derwin Pereiradevi Asmarani – Indonesian security czar Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono quit his Cabinet post yesterday after falling out with the President.

His resignation – the first by a minister in the current administration – is the clearest signal yet that he is gunning for the presidency, a move that could pit him against incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri in the July polls.

As long-term readers of this column will have realised, Pierpont is unfashionable. He is white, Anglo-Saxon, Anglican, heterosexual, married and monarchist.