Linda Mottram: Though domestic issues are resurgent with the resumption of Federal Parliamentary sittings, security remains dominant, and the matter of how best to fight terrorism in Indonesia is fuelling a heated debate here in Australia.

Kurniawan Hari and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Following last week's Marriott bombing, the government is mulling the adoption of a draconian law to preempt terrorist strikes, but House of Representatives' leaders appear to be having none of it.

Jakarta – If the forces of peace are winning over the forces of violence in the "war on terror", it is far from obvious in Indonesia.

Matthew Moore and Karuni Rompies, Jakarta – The terrorist suspected of blowing up Jakarta's Marriott Hotel was a member of a new suicide brigade of up to 15 bombers who are preparing more attacks, Indonesian police have warned.

A court in East Timor jailed a former pro-Jakarta militiaman for eight years and eight months for crimes against humanity during the territory's bloody breakaway from Indonesia in 1999.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Alleging that the labor dispute settlement committee (P4) was plagued by corruption, Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea strongly urged employers and workers to settle their industrial disputes between each other, without going to P4.

A female activist faces 20 years in jail if found guilty in a treason trial which began in Indonesia's Aceh province, where troops are battling separatist rebels.

Almost 300 civilians were killed in the first two months of the Indonesian military's campaign to crush separatist rebels in Aceh, a rights group in the province said.

The Aceh Referendum Information Centre (SIRA) said in a statement that 235 civilians were killed in the first month after the offensive was launched on May 19 and another 60 in the second month.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Lhokseumawe – In an apparent attempt to bury the hatchet with the Indonesian Military (TNI), the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has pledged its support to the ongoing conflict in Aceh.

Jakarta – In the era of reformasi a national leadership crisis has developed, including among the younger generation. Therefore the younger generation needs to hold a youth congress which can then give rise to a future leader. This leader must have a spirit of leadership and prestige.

Nigel Wilson – Australia has agreed to begin talks with East Timor before the end of the year on changing the maritime boundaries between the two countries.

It was overshadowed by the Jakarta bombing. But the conviction last week of a senior Indonesian general for crimes against humanity should not be overlooked. Indonesia did all it could to avoid having its officers brought before international war crimes tribunals over their behaviour during East Timor's independence vote four years ago.

Bandung – Hundreds of students from various organizations staged a demonstration on Friday afternoon in front of the Domestic Administration College (STPDN) in Jatinagor, Sumedang district, West Java, where President Megawati Soekarnoputri attended a student inaugural ceremony.

Bryan Lee – The bomb blast in Jakarta earlier this week may have left several dead and many injured, but investor sentiment in Indonesia seems to have been largely unscathed.

Fund managers cited a host of reasons that work in favour of the Indonesian market. Among them: A huge market, a country with vast resources and cheap stock valuations.

The Australian Army is considering further action against a SAS soldier accused of kicking a militia corpse in East Timor after the case against him collapsed in a military court.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The State Intelligence Body (BIN) has asked for more power in the war on terror, but an analyst on Friday suggested that coordination among the country's intelligence institutions was a better solution to prevent terror attacks.

Jakarta – Indonesian newspapers have welcomed the death sentence handed to Bali bomber Amrozi even as they took President Megawati Sukarnoputri's government to task for being too laid back in tackling terrorism.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Foreign infidels may have been the targets but nine of the 10 people killed in the Jakarta bombing on Tuesday were Indonesians just going about their daily life in the Indonesian capital.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Four national figures – Abdurrahman Wahid, Nurcholish Madjid, Adnan Buyung Nasution, and Salim Said – will testify before an inquiry of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) investigating the 1998 May riots.

Jakarta – Indonesian police said yesterday that rebels from the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) were behind last month's bomb attack on Parliament, and that one man still wanted over the incident had fled to the rebellious province.

Police arrested two men late on Wednesday over the July 14 attack that caused minor damage. No one was hurt in the incident.

Atambua – Former Chief of the Integration Fighters Legion (PPI) Joao da Silva Tavares has called on all East Timorese people to continue reconciliation process.

The only way to create stability in East Timor is to reconcile all East Timorese people, Tavares who is also a former chief of Bobonaro district between 1976 and 1989 told newsmen here Friday.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – A survey by the Washington-based Pew Research Centre last December revealed some startling facts about Muslim attitudes in Indonesia towards terrorism. It suggested some 25 per cent of 220 million Indonesians felt terrorism was a legitimate weapon in defending Islam.

Ari A. Perdana, Jakarta – The wounds have yet to heal. The pain caused by several bombing incidents in the last few years had yet to become relief while yet another explosion hit the country. The issue here is not about where it happened – it was in one of Jakarta's business districts.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Indonesia is bracing itself for more hardship following Tuesday's Jakarta hotel bomb attack. As well as the death toll of at least 14 Indonesians and one foreigner, there may be serious consequences for an economy that had been on the mend.

United Nations – A UN official said today that an international tribunal to try Indonesian soldiers accused of massacring East Timor civilians is a possibility, given the light sentences meted out so far.

"The UN has been closely monitoring the conduct of the trials that had taken place in Indonesia and the secretary general is considering its options," a UN official said.

Rowan Callick – Australia's biggest investor in East Timor is reconsidering its role after losing a bizarre court battle against its former joint-venture partner, a local businessman.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – The city administration is doing almost nothing to prevent Jakarta's rivers from becoming industrial and household dump sites. City Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD) environment impact protection head Ridwan Panjaitan claimed the condition of the rivers was worsened by the absence of a sewerage system in the city.

Deborah Snow – The case against a former senior SAS soldier charged with kicking a militiaman's corpse in East Timor in October 1999 is set to collapse, with crucial witnesses backing away from their original accounts.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Lhokseumawe – The martial law administration in Aceh probably had not anticipated that people in the province would suffer when troops drove them into refugee camps in a bid to split them from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Close to tears, veteran politician Akbar Tandjung handed in his application form to contest the race for the Golkar party's candidate for the 2004 general elections.

Jakarta – Although the hopes and interests of society with regard to the 2004 general elections are very positive and indicate an attitude of enthusiasm, society feels pessimistic about whether the elections will be able to change their lives.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) concluded its Annual Session on Thursday with a call for President Megawati Soekarnoputri to create a clean government.

MPR chairman Amien Rais also reminded both the government and lawmakers that some reform agendas had not been attained, more than five years after the movement was launched in 1998.

As the Bali verdicts begin to unfold, the investigation is still fresh into the bombing of the Marriott hotel in Jakarta this week. While Indonesian police are saying they believe it was the work of Jemaah Islamiah, an investigation has been launched into the possible involvement of the country's armed forces.

A severed head found at the scene of Jakarta's deadly hotel bombing belonged to a member of the Jemaah Islamiyah extremist network, Indonesian police said.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, the country's two largest Muslim organizations, led a chorus of condemnation against the bomb attack on JW Marriott Hotel and called on people to remain calm.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Three student activists were acquitted on Wednesday by the Central Jakarta District Court on charges related to a rally that was held last January 22.

"I couldn't believe it. I thought I would be punished," said Rico Marbun, one of the defendants.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Some 300 bajaj (three-wheeled motorized vehicles) were parked at the City Council compound on Wednesday in a noisy and smoky protest against the administration's plan to replace them with the Kancil (four-wheeled vehicles).

Indonesian troops have shot dead another eight suspected separatist rebels in Aceh province, the military said.

Troops shot dead five men believed to be Free Aceh Movement (GAM) guerrillas during a clash at Meukek in South Aceh district on Wednesday, said military spokesman Ahmad Yani Basuki. A marine was shot and wounded in the 30-minute clash, he added.

Bandung – West Java Governor Danny Setiawan asked workers from state-owned aircraft company PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PT DI) on Wednesday to cease their daily protest rallies against their suspension to curb potential security disturbances.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Indonesian Navy is currently questioning four Marine soldiers over their alleged involvement in the murders of a businessman and his Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) bodyguard last month.

There are renewed calls for an international tribunal to re-investigate crimes committed in East Timor against independence supporters in 1999. A Jakarta tribunal has sentenced the last of 18 defendants to appear on charges related to a wave of militia violence backed by the Indonesian military.

Presenter/Interviewer: Sonya De Masi

Jakarta – Hundreds of university students grouped in the Greater Jakarta University Students' Executive Body (BEM) staged a rally in front of the parliament here Wednesday demanding the discontinuation of the ongoing annual People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) session.

An Indonesian court on Thursday found an Islamic militant called Amrozi guilty of the Bali bombing last October and sentenced him to death.

Indonesia, hit on Tuesday by its second high-profile terrorist bombing in less than a year, is acquiring a reputation as a soft target for international terrorism. The country's oil, large Muslim population and strategic location are all contributing factors. But as important as anything are the cumulative effects of chronic misgovernment.

At the Marriott Hotel bomb site in Jakarta, investigators have been sifting for clues into the attack, but suspicion has already fallen on regional terror network, Jemaah Islamiah because of a mounting series of parallels to the Bali bombings.

There are fears the Jakarta bombing has shaken the commitment of President Megawati Sukarnoputri to Indonesia's five year experiment with democracy. Two major terrorist strikes in twelve months has prompted a senior government minister to argue that some of Indonesia's new found civil liberties may have to be sacrificed.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – The blasts that rocked the Indonesian capital came a day after the reopening of Paddy's bar which was devastated in the Bali bombings.

Now, Indonesians are wondering how they will pick up the pieces of an economy which had just begun to show signs of recovery from the earlier attack, the Iraq war and the Sars outbreak.

Indonesia's police chief linked the deadly bombing of a Jakarta hotel to the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror network and warned of fresh attacks by the al Qaeda-connected group.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Two weeks ago, I received a phone call from a long-standing and well-placed informant in Indonesia. He passed me critical information that the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terrorist network was planning a major strike in Indonesia this month.

Former Indonesian military chief general Wiranto, who is accused by rights groups of war crimes in East Timor, said he would contest next year's presidential election on a ticket from the party of former dictator Soeharto.

"I'm ready to be the sixth president of Indonesia in 2004," Wiranto was quoted by the official Antara news agency as saying yesterday.