Max Lane, Jakarta – On October 13, the Indonesian armed forces (TNI) announced the cancellation of a November 6 visit to Australian Defence Force facilities in Perth by a TNI delegation. The decision was in response to the Australian government's policy of vetting individual TNI participants for any joint military programs.

How to describe this urbane gentleman who so smoothly changed his image as Soeharto's loyal man to that of defender of democracy and development? What should we do to stop him from manipulating the proreform forces and prevent him from restoring the power of the New Order regime? Who should be blamed for this messy situation?

Ben Packham, Melbourne – East Timorese trade unionists have ended the nation's first-ever strike. The country's aviation workers ended the two-week strike after reaching an interim agreement with air-freight company Timor Aviation Services.

Gede Suardana, Denpasar – Around 30 students demonstrated in front of the US Consulate General in Denpasar opposing a visit by George Bush who will arrive in Bali tomorrow, October 22.

Jakarta - Prospective presidential candidates who are involved in cases of corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN), as well as those who have been involved in violations of human rights will not get support from the public.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Golkar's convention deputy secretary Rully Chairul Azwar admitted on Monday that the decision to delay the selection of Golkar's sole candidate from February to April was taken to secure the chances of party chairman Akbar Tandjung.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Golkar kicked off a preliminary convention last night to pick seven candidates to contest the party's presidential ticket next year.

Amid internal bickering which has significant implications for party unity, Golkar cadres are staring at several well-known contenders, including retired generals and business tycoons.

Protests against the arrival of US President George W. Bush were held today in a number of Indonesian cities. Protests occurred in Solo, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Denpasar, Jakarta, Jember and Makassar. The protests were marked by US flags and posters of George Bush being burnt.

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – The government plans to revoke the status of 137 parties as corporate entities following their failure to pass the administrative screening conducted by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.

Letters giving notice of the revocation are being drafted by the ministry, which will ban the parties from staging political activities.

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

In Jakarta, about 300 members of the Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front (KAMMI) rallied outside the US Embassy, torching pictures and an effigy of Bush, as well as American flags.

Jakarta – The approach of Christmas heightens the risk of terrorist attacks in Indonesia, said chief security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono yesterday.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Trikora Military Command, which is responsible for military affairs in the troubled province of Papua, has dishonorably discharged at least 63 soldiers this year, mostly on account of desertion, an officer said here on Monday.

Banda Aceh – A court here on Tuesday handed a 13-year prison term to a negotiator for the separatist rebels of Aceh after convicting him of treason and planning acts of arson, murder and bombings.

Banda Aceh – A court here on Tuesday sentenced a female Aceh independence activist to 11 years imprisonment on charges of treason.

The Banda Aceh District Court said in its ruling Nur Asikin had been found guilty of committing an act of treason by her involvement in the struggle to separate Aceh from the unitary state of Republic of Indonesia.

Police have broken up a training session by Indonesia's official human rights commission in Aceh province, where the military is in its sixth month of a major offensive against separatist rebels.

Jakarta/Banda Aceh – Experts are calling for the revocation of martial law and the establishment of a transitional administration with full support from the central government in Nanggroe Aceh Darusalam in a bid to resolve the conflict there.

Dili – East Timorese leaders, returning home from a European tour, expressed optimism Tuesday about continued European Union aid but said Dili's expectations should be "realistic".

The steep decline in the number of bankruptcy lawsuits filed with the Commercial Court in Jakarta by no means indicates a strong recovery in the business sector but is simply further evidence of distrust by businesses in the bombed-out, corrupt court system, especially the bankruptcy regime.

The East Timor Action Network (ETAN) today urged President Bush to set the record straight and restrict all military assistance for the Indonesian military (TNI) when he visits Bali, Indonesia.

Jakarta – Leaders of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah Islamic organizations, Hasyim Muzadi and Ahmad Syafii Maarif, in the meeting on Wednesday in Bali will tell US President George W. Bush that US policies in the Middle East, seen as favouring Israel, are one of the root causes of terror attacks in Asia.

Jakarta – The World Bank said Monday that Indonesia was failing to eradicate the culture of graft inherited from ex-dictator Soeharto, hampering development and exacerbating poverty in the world's fourth most populous country.

Jakarta – The State Minister of National Development Planning, Kwik Kian Gie, said all the nation's problems stemmed from rampant corruption, collusion and nepotism, known by the Indonesian acronym KKN.

Jakarta – Police have shot dead five suspects and arrested a total of 13 after a chase through the forests of the troubled Poso in Central Sulawesi province following deadly attacks, police said Monday.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) will withdraw its support of Governor Sutiyoso if he continues to conduct wide-scale evictions in the city.

Shawn Donnan, Jakarta – Moderate Islamic leaders say they are prepared to give US President George W. Bush a tongue-lashing over the US invasion of Iraq and what they see as the anti-Muslim tenor of Washington's war against terrorism.

Scott Burchill – The attacks on the United States in September 2001, the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and further terrorist attacks around the world since – including in Bali on 12 October 2002, have had a significant effect upon the way the West views Indonesia politically and strategically.

Dana Priest – President Bush misspoke when he said last week that the United States was ready to "go forward with" a new package of military training programs with Indonesia, according to a White House official questioned about the president's remarks.

Shawn Donnan, Jakarta – The family of former strongman Suharto and other interests tied to his 32-year regime and its widespread corruption continue to "flourish" in Indonesia and are hindering efforts to combat graft, the World Bank says.

Jakarta – It is doubtful that the 2004 general elections will produce a new leadership which can break the vicious circle of continuing economic, social and political crisis.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Golkar has decided to delay selecting a presidential candidate until after the legislative election in April 2004 instead of its targeted date of February 2004.

Compared to three months ago, the public's assessment of the performance of President Megawati Sukarnoputri's government in the ninth quarter of the government's term is showing signs of a decline.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Around 1,200 Indonesian workers who have been languishing in Malaysian jails for up to seven months were left stranded in Belawan regency, North Sumatra, on Saturday after being deported from Malaysia for visa violations.

They were temporarily housed at Transito Dormitory in Belawan and demanded the local government send them home soon.

Banda Aceh – Government troops killed or captured up to 2,000 separatist rebels in the troubled province of Aceh during the first five months of an offensive aimed at crushing the 27-year-long insurgency, a military official said Monday.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Experts have called on the government to lift martial law imposed on Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam since May 19 and back instead a clean, civilian government to lead the Acehnese to the 2004 general elections.

Jill Jolliffe, Batugade – East Timorese self-sufficiency came a step closer at the weekend as United Nations peacekeepers handed control of the Indonesian border area to local police.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – A group of frustrated Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) executives in the East Java town of Sidoarjo have switched their allegiance to the National Mandate Party (PAN).

Many of the executives said the decision to leave PDI Perjuangan was triggered by the party's failure to accommodate the interests of grassroots supporters.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – As many as 48 East Timorese citizens sneaked into East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province seeking protection from the Indonesia government, claiming they were victims of intimidation, police said on Friday.

Banda Aceh – A court here on Saturday sentenced a separatist rebel to 11 years in prison for his part in a long-running independence battle in the oil and gas-rich province of Aceh.

Jakarta – Indonesia needs to increase economic growth by at least 7 percent in order to alleviate the state of poverty under which 38 million people live, the economic minister said on Friday.

Marian Wilkinson Washington, Matthew Moore Jakarta – President George Bush has announced he is ready to resume military aid to Indonesia and renew ties with its armed forces, in a statement that has stunned members of the US Congress.

Leo Wahyudi S. – Many poor people say that hospitals, including those run by the state, offer them inferior services because they do not have the money to pay for quality health care. The Jakarta Post spoke with a number of residents about the issue.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – The city has the money and its share of poor people, but the poor do not get to enjoy the money. The capital's health budget is Rp 74.45 billion (US$ 8.83 million) for 83,364 poor families.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Along the banks of Jakarta's dirty Muara Angke River, several thousand families are preparing for their first-ever appearance on television.

They are not sure when their big day will arrive, though today is looking likely. But they know what to expect, as they have seen it on the television news for weeks. And now it's their turn.

Jakarta – Dozens of vendors from the Senayan Vendors Association (HPSJ) staged a protest at the City Council on Friday, demanding that the management of the Bung Karno Sports Complex halt plans to evict them.

Jakarta – Indonesian police said on Saturday they had killed three men and arrested five suspected of involvement in a string of deadly attacks in Central Sulawesi province.

Anindhita Maharrani, Jakarta – Cleaning up the New Order [regime of former President Suharto] is truly a super difficult job. Basically, almost all of the political parties at the moment are leftovers of the New Order who more or less have the same mentality.

Tiarma Siboro, Banda Aceh – Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said on Friday the Aceh operation would not be halted during the fasting month of Ramadhan, as had been demanded by rights activists.

Michael Casey, Jakarta – The prime minister of East Timor said Friday that his nation has little hope of overcoming its desperate poverty unless the United Nations extends its presence there and donor countries reject proposals to reduce aid.

A historic agreement was reached Wednesday between the country's largest Muslim organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, on eradicating corruption in a nation that continues to rank among the most corrupt countries in the world. Indonesian Corruption Watch coordinator Teten Masduki shared his views with The Jakarta Post's Ati Nurbaiti on the issue.

Jakarta – Unidentified gangs on Friday attempted to set fire to houses in troubled Poso, Central Sulawesi province, where 13 people have died this month in a fresh outbreak of well-planned violence, police officials said.