At least five people were killed in the Indonesian province of Aceh where separatist rebels are fighting government forces, military and rebels said Saturday
Gunfight broke out Friday in the Krueng Sabee area of West Aceh between military soldiers and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels, killing a soldier and three rebels, said military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Firdaus.
Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Once the Permuda Pancasila comprised the strong arm of the ruling Golkar party. Its members ran everything from karaoke clubs to gambling and prostitution rackets. They inspired fear and loathing across the archipelago ruling not just the back alleys of Jakarta, but also ensuring that none of the government's opponents got out of line.
Jakarta – Indonesia's Home Affairs Minister Hari Sabarno on Monday urged local authorities to revoke dozens of regional regulations deemed to hinder the flow of goods and capital.
Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – The House of Representatives is playing for time and lacks seriousness in its plan to investigate the alleged involvement of its speaker, Akbar Tandjung, in a Rp 40 billion (US$4 million) corruption case, analysts say.
Annastashya Emmanuelle, Jakarta – To some, the thought of everyday life without the assistance of domestic helpers is unbearable. The fact that human labor is inexpensive, and, at times, taken for granted, means that the services of domestic helpers are accessible to most households in the city. It also enables the latter to live increasingly self-indulgent lifestyles.
Dean Yates, Jakarta – Indonesia's tolerant brand of Islam has passed the test of US attacks on Afghanistan largely intact despite images of burning American flags, proving the nation will not become a breeding ground for Muslim extremism.
Slobodan Lekic, Jakarta – Wracked by separatist struggles across its vast chain of islands, Indonesia is being especially haunted by a referendum 32 years ago that former United Nations officials now admit was a sham.
Don Greenlees, Jakarta – United Nations prosecutors in East Timor have lodged an indictment against 21 people, including senior Indonesian military, militia and government officials, over the massacre in the Catholic church in the town of Liquica in April 1999.
Alan Boyd, Sydney – Don't play with fire near gasoline, Theys Hiyo Eluay once warned Indonesia of its ruthless efforts to assimilate the 225 tribal groupings and hundreds of languages and dialects of Irian Jaya.
Geneva – The United Nations Committee against Torture said on Friday that it was concerned about a "climate of impunity" for torture committed by security forces in Indonesia.
Kupang – A top military officer here said East Timorese refugees in East Nusa Tenggara province no longer feel they have leaders. The sentiment now prevailed among the refugees because those claiming to be their leaders had never paid attention to their fate, Chief of Udayana regional military command Major General Willem da Costa said.
Paul Osborne Brisbane – The problems of East Timorese refugees in West Timor and the disarmament of militia should be resolved within three months, the emerging nation's foreign minister Jose Ramos Horta said today.
Eleven people, including seven separatist rebels, have been killed in Indonesia's violence-torn Aceh province, the military and civilians said.
Ainur R. Sophiaan, Surabaya – The chairman of the East Java chapter of the People's Democratic Party (PRD), Eusebius Purwadi, denied charges that he had circulated antigovernment pamphlets and incited local people to reject President Megawati Soekarnoputri's government.
Dita Sari, chairperson of the Indonesian National Front or Labour Struggles (FNPBI) was released from police custody on the evening of November 9. She had been arrested, along with 30 workers, earlier in the day when police violently dispersed a 1000-strong rally in Jakarta by striking department store workers.
Max Lane – On November 11, a panel of three judges in Banda Aceh handed down their findings after two weeks of hearings in the case brought by the Indonesian National Police against Kautsar, a central leader of the Acehnese freedom movement.
Pip Hinman, Sydney – The November 10 assassination in Jayapura of West Papuan leader Theys Eluay drew condemnation from a wide range of public figures at a press conference in the NSW Parliament House here on November 15.
Karen Polglaze, Melbourne – The interests of the people of East Timor would have been totally compromised had former Labor prime minister Paul Keating stayed in the top job, Prime Minister John Howard said today.
Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Friday insisted that the recently exercised regional autonomy was not a blank check for provinces to do as they please.
Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – The country's highest electoral authority said on Thursday it would soon submit a new bill to the House of Representatives that would impose tighter requirements for those of the country's more than 300 political parties wishing to contest the general election in 2004.
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The National Awakening Party (PKB), under the leadership of Alwi Shihab, officially dismissed Matori Abdul Djalil on Thursday from the party for disloyalty.
Jakarta – Some 150 "jihad" fighters from Indonesia are still with the Taliban in Afghanistan while others have fled to neighboring Pakistan or are stranded on the border, their recruiter said Friday.
John Zarocostas, Geneva – A UN panel Friday criticized Indonesia for human-rights abuses, including sexual abuse, in its troubled provinces.
Chris McCall, Jayapura – It is a crude report from one tiny area of the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya.
It lists 614 people who all died violent deaths between 1969 and 1998. In the column for "doer", all entries contain the word "Abri", an abbreviation for the Indonesian military.
Sentani – Indigenous separatists in Irian Jaya province have threatened to retaliate against settlers from other parts of Indonesia, following the recent killing of their pro-independence leader Theys Eluay.
Activists from across the far-flung province – also known as West Papua – have been gathering in Mr Theys' hometown here for tomorrow's funeral service.
Jakarta – The secretary-general of the proindependence Papuan Presidium Council (PDP), Thaha Al Hamid, said in Jayapura on Thursday that Papuans (indigenous people of Irian Jaya) wanted the government to guarantee their right to life despite their constant demands for freedom.
Asip Hasani and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta/Yogyakarta – Despite internal conflict among Papuan leaders, the 'murder' of pro-independence figure Theys Hiyo Eluay is believed to have been triggered by vested political interests of members of the political elite in Jakarta.
Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Dozens of minibus crews at the Blok M bus terminal remained on strike for a third consecutive day on Thursday protesting the new bus routes designated by the City Land Transportation Agency, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded.
Jakarta – Five Indonesian state firms suffered losses or potential losses of four billion dollars due to inefficiency over in 1995-1999, according to independent international auditors. The audit results were reported in Friday's Jakarta Post and by the state Antara news agency.
Panca Nugraha, Mataram – In observance of the International Day of the Eradication of Violence against Women, which will fall on November 25, more than 200 women held a demonstration against violence in the city on Wednesday, demanding the government introduce laws to protect Indonesian women both at home and overseas.
Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – After firing five warning shots, the police successfully broke up a rally on Wednesday and arrested eight workers of PT Koinus Jaya Garment who had been demonstrating, along with some 250 others, to demand severance payment from the company.
Nigel Wilson – Government-level talks in East Timor next week are seen as the last chance of early development of vast Timor Sea gas reserves.
Jakarta – At least seven separatist rebels and one soldier have been killed in the restive Indonesian province of Aceh in the run-up to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the military and the insurgents said Thursday.
Makassar – The authority of central government was challenged afresh as the South Sulawesi House of Representatives (DPRD) issued a statement rejecting a plan to sell PT Semen Tonasa, a local subsidiary of publicly listed, state-owned cement producer PT Semen Gresik Tbk., to Mexican cement company Cemex S.A. under a put option (shareholder's contractual right to sell).
Jakarta – Indonesia recorded year-on-year growth of 3.47 percent in the third quarter and full-year growth is likely to at least match this, the Central Bureau of Statistics said Thursday.
Jakarta – Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-populated nation, is bracing for the seasonal price rises, curbs on night-time entertainment and mass treks homeward that come with the holy fasting month, Ramadan.
Muslims, who account for more than 80 percent of the 210 million people here, will start Ramadan on Friday or Saturday depending on the sighting of the new moon.
Jakarta – Around 35,000 families here would be left homeless if the Jakarta administration continued with the controversial demolition of slum areas across the capital, including those along the city's riverbanks, an activist said on Wednesday.
Berni K. Moestafa and Tantri Yuliandini, Jakarta – Defying signs of a revenue shortfall in this year's state budget, the government denied it had begun planning spending cuts in the budget, arguing that other options existed to avoid this move.
Nana Rukmana, Indramayu – Illegal logging in the regency of Indramayu, West Java, has reached such alarming levels that stern police actions are needed to stop it, according to a coalition of non-governmental organizations (KLI) in Indramayu.
Chris McCall, Jayapura – Accompanied by thousands of grieving supporters the murdered Papuan separatist leader Theys Eluay was escorted home for the last time yesterday in his coffin, draped in the banned Morning Star flag.
R.K. Nugroho & Jupriadi, Jayapura/Makassar – Thousands of people, including many university students, on Tuesday accompanied the ambulance which was carrying the body of Theys Hiyo Eluay from the provincial legislative council building in Jayapura to his residence in Sentani.
Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – As Jakarta came under pressure to mount a credible investigation into the death of Papuan independence leader Theys Eluay, his widow and human-rights activists charged that he was killed by military personnel or someone with a military background.
Jakarta – President Megawati Soekartnoputri's political party on Tuesday condemned the (suspected) murder of Irian Jaya independence leader Theys Hiyo Eluai and urged that the security authorities uncover the mystery surrounding his death.
Annastashya Emmanuelle, Jakarta – Pollutants emanating from onshore are the largest contributors to the pollution of Jakarta Bay while there has been as yet no significant effort made by government agencies and the community to manage waste effectively, the head of Jakarta's Environmental Impact Management Agency (Bapedalda) said on Tuesday.
Agus Maryono, Banjarnegara – Eighty percent of 10,190 junior high school graduates in the Central Java regency of Banjarnegara did not continue their studies at senior high school this year because of economic problems, says a local official.
Jupriadi, Makassar – Thousands of local people and employees of state-owned cement company PT Semen Tonasa staged a demonstration at the South Sulawesi provincial legislative council compound in the city on Tuesday, demanding the government to spin off the cement factory from parent PT Semen Gresik.
Approximately 100 students from Atma Jaya University asked the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) on Tuesday to continue investigating the fatal shootings of Trisakti and Semanggi, which killed 30 people, mostly students.
Max Lane – Leaders of a militant union, including former political prisoner Dita Sari, have been arrested by Indonesian police during a crackdown on striking workers.
Darren Whiteside, Jayapura – Around 10,000 pro-independence supporters in Indonesia's remote Papua province marched peacefully behind the body of their dead leader on Tuesday, making the long trek to his home town.
Jakarta – Thousands rallied Tuesday in an Indonesian province to demand the central government cancel the sale of a local cement plant in another blow to Jakarta's stalled privatisation programme.