["A Woman of Independence". By Kirsty Sword Gusmao. Macmillan, 321pp, $30.]

Atambua – The Belu district government said it was treating the 26 East Timorese seeking asylum in Atambua as foreign nationals.

"We will never treat them as if they are former East Timorese refugees. They came to this district as foreign nationals in dire need of protection," chief of the Belu police resort Adjunct Chief Commissioner Agus Nugroho said here Saturday.

Sudrajat and Hanibal – Due to criticisms of human rights violations, TNI will no longer guard sites of vital national interest.

A good intention does not always become a blessing for others. On the contrary, it can become a "hot potato" which one is reluctant to receive.

Jakarta – The Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) Commander Maj. Gen. Sriyanto Muntrasan denied on Thursday allegations that his troops intimidated witnesses of the 1984 Tanjung Priok tragedy not to testify against him.

He urged any witnesses to file a legal complaint with the Military Police if they received such threats during the ongoing trial.

Amy Chew, Semarang – Jakarta's Chinatown was ablaze and the city's shopping centres were being looted by mobs. On the streets students were baying for President Suharto's blood.

In desperation, Mr Suharto ordered his army commander to "neutralise" the protesters and seize power to stave off the collapse of his dictatorship.

Jill Jolliffe – Today's pilgrimage to Balibo by the families of the five television reporters killed in an Indonesian attack on the East Timorese border town 28 years ago is a turning point in their unfinished mourning and in their quest for the truth about the killings.

Keith Suter – The largest loss of life ever sustained by the Australian media industry took place on October 16, 1975, at the East Timor village of Balibo. Five journalists were killed. All the governments that had citizens involved in the deaths have refused to reveal all that they know.

A high-level Acehnese separatist rebel who was reported killed by the Indonesian military last month has made a public appearance and thanked the army for saving his life.

The military reported last month that Dailami, 32, and his wife were shot dead during an exchange of fire with troops.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Next year's general elections will result in the same unqualified, corrupt leaders heading the nation, political analyst Arbi Sanit said on Thursday. And these same leaders had designed the law to ensure that was the case, he said.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Despite the thoroughgoing political disgrace that the Suharto family has seemingly endured since Indonesia's political and financial bubbles burst in 1998, his avaricious children seem to have endured their downfall rather well. At least three remain locked into a stream of profits from the remnants of enterprises in place before the collapse.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Net profits at the publicly-listed Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), the country's second largest bank in terms of assets, plunged by 45 percent in the first nine months of this year due to a huge loan scandal.

Jakarta – Indonesia described on Friday the recent decision by the US Senate to hold back on educational training for the country's armed forces as a "domestic matter" for American politicians.

Jim Lobe, Washington – Two weeks after President George W Bush announced that he was ready to normalize military ties with Indonesia, the US Senate approved an amendment to the 2004 foreign-aid bill banning training for Indonesian army officers.

Jakarta/Bandung/Cirebon – Two JW Marriott Hotel bombing suspects, who were arrested on Wednesday morning, told police that their cohorts were planning more bomb attacks in the country, National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said here on Thursday.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Jakarta governor Sutiyoso is feeling the heat again, this time for evicting tens of thousands of squatters from government or privately owned land around the capital.

The mop-up operation has in fact been going on all year. But the authorities, joined by unidentified stick-bearing thugs, have stepped up activities since September.

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – Councillors, labor leaders and businesspeople failed to reach an agreement here on Thursday over whether to raise minimum wages of workers in South Sulawesi province next year.

Jakarta - Although the initial suit was rejected by the panel of judges, the case against Presidential Decree Number 28/2003 on the declaration of a dangerous situation at the level of a military emergency in Aceh will continue.

Waingapu – East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao has expressed anger over attitude of the country's citizens seeking asylum in Atambua, Belu district, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), a military officer said on Thursday.

Kupang – The leaders of two ex-East Timorese refugee organizations have urged the Indonesian government to refrain from deporting 26 East Timorese asylum seekers currently staying in Atambua, East Nusatenggara, citing humanitarian considerations.

Jayapura – XVII/Trikora Commander, Maj-Gen Nurdin Zainal MM, on Thursday (28 October) fulfilled his promise to meet with students and residents of Koteka in relation to the "Mulia Case" which resulted in several deaths.

Jakarta – Masked attackers threw petrol bombs at homes in Bali on Monday in revenge for a deadly weekend clash between supporters of rival political parties, police and a party official said yesterday.

Several homes in Buleleng town almost went up in flames during the attacks, said detective Ngurah Darma.

Protests against US President George Bush were staged in several cities across Indonesia on October 21, one day ahead of his brief visit to Bali.

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – The evictions of the city's poorest inhabitants continued on the second day of Ramadhan, despite promises from Governor Sutiyoso to stop the practices during the holy month.

A former militia leader, who was sentenced to 10 years for his role in the 1999 East Timor violence, unfurled a giant Indonesian flag yesterday and called on the country to "rekindle" its nationalist spirit.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Around 20 victims of the 1984 Tanjung Priok violence and their families asked the police to protect them from people they said were Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) soldiers.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – East Timor President Xanana Gusmao called on East Timor asylum seekers on Monday in the Indonesia's territory of Atambua here to return to their homeland in East Timor. But, his appeal was quickly rejected by the asylum seekers, who still fear intimidation back home.

In Indonesia, for the first time, military officers are being tried for human rights abuses during the regime of former President Suharto. The leader of Indonesia's special force, Kopassus, and 13 other officers have been accused of involvement in a massacre of political protestors in 1984.

Shawn Donnan – A.M. Fatwa, the deputy speaker ofIndonesia's parliament, has cause to be angry.

Atambua – The Indonesian military and police have agreed to deport 26 East Timorese who are seeking asylum at Belu police resort in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Papua Hundreds of students and local Papuans staged a protest on Friday in Jayapura, to reject a plan by the General Elections Commission (KPU) to establish a provincial KPU (KPUD) in the soon to be established province of West Irian Jaya.

The continuing terror threat from Islamic radicals will overshadow Ramadan this year in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-populated nation.

Top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned that the extremists who staged bombing attacks on the resort island of Bali and a Jakarta hotel are determined to strike again soon.

Jayapura – Hundreds of Papuans, including students, launched a peaceful rally at the provincial legislative building on Friday to reject the establishment of West Irian Jaya province.

[The article below was published in a slightly abridged form in the Post's opinion pages.]

Max Lane – Prime Minister Mohummad Mahathir's speech at the Putra Jaya meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) articulated an anger against the West which is slowly but steadily accumulating, or re-accumulating, around the world.

Jakarta – Indonesia's economy might enter a crucial period from April to September next year but its overall situation would not be significantly different from that of this year, an economic observer has said.

Zakki Hakim, Jakarta – The government has wasted a golden opportunity to resolve the secession issue in Aceh and Papua by failing to show goodwill to the people of the two resource-rich provinces, further complicating the matter, an expert said.

The Australian High Commissioner believes that the interim legal framework for Timor Sea petroleum development is a winner for East Timor (letters, October 20).

Lesley McCulloch, Kuala Lumpur – When her husband died in January, Faridah (not her real name) fled with her two-and- a-half-year-old son from the province of Aceh in Indonesia's northwest. The heart attack that killed her husband was, according to Faridah, brought on by the stress of being hounded by the Indonesian military.

Zakki Hakim, Jakarta – Alarmed by the increasing number of HIV/AIDS cases in Indonesia, the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) has decided to revise its five-year program to include HIV/AIDS awareness in its campaigns.

Dili – An East Timorese court Thursday convicted and sentenced two former pro-Jakarta militiaman for murdering three independence supporters during the country's break from Indonesia in 1999.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) is trying to sell the government's entire 52 percent stake in what was described last year as the "best Indonesian retail bank" by industry magazine The Asian Banker.

Jakarta – Although small in number, demonstrations opposing US President George Bush are continuing in Bali. Twenty demonstrators however, who were unable to break into the airport, were detained at the Siur intersection.

Kuta – Police dispersed a peaceful rally staged on Wednesday by some 50 students from the Association of Islamic Students (HMI) and the Muhammadiyah Students Association (IMM), who were protesting US President George W. Bush's three-hour visit here.

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – The Banda Aceh District Court sentenced on Tuesday three negotiators of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), including chief negotiator Sofyan Ibrahim Tiba, and women activist Cut Nurasyikin, to prison terms of between 11 years and 15 years.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara said on Tuesday that reconciliation would not stop the legal process against rights abusers or justify impunity.

Sian Powell, Jakarta – The chief of Indonesia's special forces will make history tomorrow when his trial begins in Jakarta's central court.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Golkar's presidential candidates presented their electoral platforms before some 500 party members from across the country on Tuesday, but analysts said their programs were too general and vague.

Tantri Yuliandini and Kasparman Piliang, Bukittinggi – Certain cultural values Indonesians hold dearly encourage corruption, making it almost impossible to eradicate such practices, secretary general of Transparency International Indonesia Emmy Hafild said on Tuesday.

Jakarta - The involvement of the Armed Forces Intelligence Body (Badan Intelijen ABRI, BIA) and ABRI's Social and Political Unit (Sospol ABRI) in the takeover of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters on Jalan Diponegoro in Central Jakarta on July 27 1996(1), was revealed in a Central Jakarta State Court hearing on Tuesday October 21.

Zakki Hakim, Jakarta – Research suggests that 66.3 percent of people living in the city have yet to participate in political activities, especially those concerned with policy-making.

The results of a survey conducted by the Institute for Civil Society (INCIS) on Jakarta's socio-political participation were published in a book launched on Tuesday.

Jakarta – The small, but outspoken, Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) stated here on Wednesday that it was against the visit of US President George W. Bush to Indonesia.