Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Australia's senior diplomat in Jakarta, Mr John McCarthy, has accused Indonesia's former military chief, General Wiranto, of having "broad knowledge" of the violence and destruction in East Timor last year.

Mark Dodd, Dili – Indonesian military officials actively directed and organised last year's murderous political violence in East Timor, according to new evidence uncovered by a United Nations official investigating war crimes in the soon to be independent territory.

Jakarta – Thousands of settlers have fled from Wamena town in Irian Jaya (West Papua), following last months ethnic rioting that left at least 31 people killed and dozens badly wounded.

Marianne Kearney, Cianjur – West Java has been hit by a wave of brutal killings of shamans, with at least 19 suspected sorcerers being killed by enraged mobs in the past three months.

Dili – Women's groups and rape investigators say the victims of militia rape and sex slavery continue to bear the scars of post-ballot violence in East Timor, facing ostracism on their return home.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid calls on both electronic and print media to promote truth in their coverage, saying there are media who get paid to spread lies and slanders.

Jakarta – A flood of settlers who dominate the economy, Islamization and human rights abuses by the military are at the root of growing separatist sentiments in Indonesia's province of Irian Jaya, a researcher said.

Jakarta – Deadlocks are looming between Indonesia and the United Nations, as a UN Security Council mission reports to headquarters on Monday on the situation in camps in West Timor holding tens of thousand of East Timorese refugees.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid flew back to Jakarta this week into stormy weather that has nothing to do with the arrival of the monsoon season. Members of Indonesia's elite are stepping up their attacks on the 60-year-old President amid behind-the-scenes manoeuvring to unseat him.

Jakarta – Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto lashed out on Friday at bickering civilian politicians, who he said were grabbing power with utter disregard of the negative repercussions for the nation.

Robert Go, Jakarta – With President Abdurrahman Wahid breathing down their necks, the Indonesian authorities have stepped up the hunt for former strongman Suharto's youngest son. They plan to seize his properties throughout Jakarta and subpoena his wife to testify on Monday.

Mark Dodd, Dili – The United Nations has entered talks with senior militia leaders implicated in some of the worst crimes in East Timor last year, but whose return may lead to the repatriation of thousands of refugees.

Jakarta – The World Bank yesterday expressed opposition to a reported Indonesian plan to raise rice import tariffs, saying such a move would contradict the government's stated "pro-poor" policy.

Catharine Munro Balibo, East Timor – Forensic investigators are looking for the remains of five Western journalists murdered here 25 years ago during Indonesia's occupation of East Timor.

Jakarta – In the latest blow to Indonesia's shaky economic recovery, five central bank executives have resigned in a dispute over who should shoulder responsibility for a bungled bailout of the nation's insolvent financial sector.

Haidir Anwar Tanjung/BI & GB, Pekanbaru – Up to a hundred people from the village of Okura, Bukit Raya sub-district, Pekanbaru, Riau, have set up makeshift tents at the entrance of PT Surya Inti Fariraya. They are picketing the company in order to receive compensation for land that was forcefully taken from them in 1989.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Indonesia is sending 1,300 more combat-ready troops to West Papua as its army chief, General Endriartono Sutarto, warned that secessionist demands could break up the country.

Jakarta – Renewed clashes between government troops and separatist rebels have left at least five people dead in Indonesia's Aceh province, police and rights workers said Friday.

Supt. Herarus Sumarman, the local police chief, said three people died when guerrillas attacked a police patrol on Wednesday in the west of the province, 1,750 kilometers northwest of Jakarta.

Jakarta – United States Ambassador to Indonesia Robert Gelbard, who has embroiled in a war of words with ministers in the Jakarta government, has returned here with a message that Washington would like to see a stable Indonesia.

Muchus BR/Hendra & GB, Sukoharjo – After two days of fruitless negotiations over an increase to Christmas and Ramadhan Bonuses (THR), hundreds of workers of plastic bag and sack producer PT Sami Surya Indah Plastik, Sukoharjo, Central Java, ultimately occupied the Legislative Council (DPRD). They threatened to remain on strike until their demands are fulfilled.

Jakarta – The Golkar party, Indonesia's second largest political party, announced yesterday that it would not support calls by certain MPs for President Abdurrahman Wahid to resign.

Iwan Triono/Hendra & GB, Jakarta – The Central Leaders' Committee of the People's Democratic Party (KPP-PRD) denied there has been a split in the party. The PRD maintains there was no break-away faction but rather the sacking of six inactive members who then announced the formation of a new organisation: the Socialist Democratic Association (PDS).

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – Indonesia will put on trial 22 military and police officers, government officials and militia members accused of human rights violations in East Timor, the Indonesian Attorney-General, Mr Marzuki Darusman, said yesterday.

Jakarta – Indonesia's economic woes have hit the country's air force. Limiting the flying hours of jet pilots owing to budget shortages, has been blamed for the spate of jet crashes this year.

Craig Skehan, Bandar Seri Begawan – Australian Prime Minister John Howard has used talks with Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid in a concerted bid to ease tensions over East Timor through active opposition to independence demands in West Papua.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Foreign companies in Indonesia are concerned that neither local nor central governments can control the anger of aggrieved local people, making their investments very risky.

Mark Dodd, Atambua – Ringed with fading yellow police tape, the smashed office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is an eerie deserted shell – a house of death.

Joanna Jolly, Atambua – A secret meeting between senior East Timorese militia leaders, United Nations political staff and East Timorese political and military leaders could result in the return home of thousands of East Timorese refugees from camps in Indonesian West Timor.

Makassar – Army Chief Endriartono Sutarto has warned that ongoing calls for secession and independence in some parts of the country could lead to national disintegration.

Ben Dolven, Jayapura, Wamena and Timika – No matter where you go in Irian Jaya, it's hard to avoid the signs that this remote province is desperate to break free of Indonesia. Street vendors hawk flags and T-shirts reading "Ballot Yes, Bullet No" in the main square of the capital, Jayapura.

Rayhan Anas Lubis/Fitri & PT, Banda Aceh – The Greater Aceh Police has released a warrant to apprehend the head of the Information Center for the Aceh Referendum (SIRA) Muhammad Nazar. If he is not found within two or three days, Muhammad Nazar would be listed as a fugitive by the Greater Aceh Police.

Chris McCall, Jakarta – Support for independence in troubled Aceh has reached fever pitch and separatists say the campaign's momentum now is almost unstoppable. Indonesia largely has its own security forces to blame, they say.

Banda Aceh – The Indonesian government and the separatist Aceh Merdeka movement (GAM) issued a joint call Thursday for restraint to stop the violence in the troubled province of Aceh.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Grassroots anger with international conglomerates' business practices – making millions from people's land while the people themselves remain poor – is causing disruption to companies across Indonesia and millions of dollars worth of losses.

Jon Land – On November 5, the Channel 9 Sunday program screened a special report titled "On Patrol in Timor", which claimed to show "how moderate militia factions are politically battling hardline groups still ready to attack the UN peacekeepers". The report, however, muddied many facts and issues surrounding the militia.

James Balowski – Some 400,000 people converged on the capital of Indonesia's nothernmost province of Aceh, Banda Aceh, on November 10 for a two-day independence rally, despite scores of killings by security forces trying to prevent demonstrators attending.

Lukmanul Hakim/GB, Jakarta – Results of polling carried out by the Aceh Referendum Information Centre (SIRA) show that a clear majority of Acehnese would chose independence from Indonesia. 92% of recipients chose to break with the republic.

Jakarta – Papua Presidium Council (PDP) chief Theys Hiyo Eluay and six other PDP leaders will soon be tried for alleged separatist activities, Irian Jaya Police chief Brig. Gen. Sylvanus Yulian Wenas said on Tuesday.

Jim Mcilroy, Dili – Street stallholders selling food and drinks on the seafront near the centre of the city here faced an attempt to forcibly evict them from their established positions on November 3, as the United Nations Transitional Administration of East Timor (UNTAET) moved to "clean up" the waterfront area, as part of a plan to make Dili a place attractive to tourists and the

Muharram M. Nur, Banda Aceh – With a peace process in shambles and violence escalating, about 50,000 people rallied in Indonesia's Aceh province Tuesday to demand independence.

Merrilyn Treasure, Sydney – Having won liberation after 25 years of struggle, the East Timorese people's first challenge is to defend their right to freedom, East Timorese leader Xanana Gusmao told 500 people at a "Peace and Justice in East Timor" public meeting here on November 9. Gusmao was delivering the 2000 Sydney Peace Prize lecture.

Jakarta – Former military commander Feisal Tanjung gave the order for the deadly 1996 attack on the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), a former intelligence official implied yesterday.

Former military intelligence chief Lieutenant General Moetojib said the attack of July 27, 1996, was ordered by the commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI).

Bronwyn Curran, Dili – UN Security Council envoys wrapped up a two-day mission to East Timor Tuesday, concluding that it was ready for independence but in dire need of international support.

Jakarta – Rush-hour traffic in downtown Jakarta ground to a halt yesterday as protesters blocked streets, demanding that former President B.J. Habibie and his security chief be prosecuted for the deaths of 10 students two years ago.

Mark Dodd, Suai – United Nations police in this shattered town had been forced to free people who had confessed to rape and murder because of a lack of resources to pursue investigations, a senior UN official told a visiting Security Council mission yesterday.

Tom Wright, Jakarta – Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab's premature response to an apparent Bush victory in the US presidential election last week showed how much Jakarta wants to see a Republican in the White House.

Banda Aceh – Separatists in the Indonesian province of Aceh threatened Tuesday to launch a campaign of civil disobedience to win independence as police in Jakarta called for a free hand to crack down on the rebels.

Tom Allard, Brunei – The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Downer, has rejected suggestions of double standards over Australia's refusal to back an independence vote in West Papua, saying Indonesia would disintegrate into a "bloodbath" should the province secede.

Jakarta – A massive clash broke out in Irian Jaya (West Papua) yesterday between transmigrants and natives. There were no immediate reports of any casualties, although there were many injuries. The violence occurred at the central market in Abepura subdistrict and lasted for at least one hour, Antara reported.

Once again political developments in Indonesia have reached a crisis point and once again President Abdurrahman Wahid is abroad – this time traveling to Qatar to attend an Organization of the Islamic Conference meeting, then to Brunei for the annual Apec summit photo-ops. Crises perhaps seek out Wahid absences or, given the frequency of both, there are bound to be coincidences.