The Indonesian military said it has killed 12 separatist rebels in troubled Aceh province.

Soldiers killed eight Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members in a 30-minute encounter at Alam Jeumpa in West Aceh district on Wednesday, said provincial military spokesman Major Zaenal Muttaqin.

Jakarta – Most Indonesians and parliament would back the government if it imposed civil emergency status on the rebellious Aceh region, Indonesia's top security minister said on Thursday.

Kathy Fairfax, Sydney – Husaini Hasan, chairperson of the Government Council of the Free Acheh Movement (MPGAM), told a meeting on July 11 that his people's struggle for a referendum would not be realised without international solidarity. The meeting was organised by Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific (APSN). Hasan has lived in exile in Sweden for many years.

Max Lane, Jakarta – Sukarno, the first president of Indonesia, was 27 years old when he became chairperson of the Indonesian National Party in the 1920s. Mohammed Hatta was a similar age when he took over the leadership of the nationalist Pendidikan Nasional Indonesia a little later.

Jakarta – An investigation into the murder of a Dutch journalist in East Timor in 1999 is still open, a Dutch police officer said Wednesday after giving Indonesian prosecutors fresh evidence in the case.

Jakarta – Indonesian prosecutors said Wednesday they would seek to reopen the investigation into the killing of a Dutch journalist in East Timor, after receiving new evidence from Dutch authorities.

Andrew Trounson, Melbourne – East Timor is getting down to business. And that means playing tough, even with your friends.

American military cooperation with Jakarta, suspended during the Suharto dictatorship over the Indonesian Army's human rights abuses, should not be resumed without strict conditions and careful controls.

The Indonesian military, until recently occupiers of East Timor, may soon begin training officers for Dili's fledgling defense force, the UN mission in the newly independent country said Wednesday.

Jim Lobe – More than 50 human rights groups in Washington D.C. are pressing a key Senate committee to retain tough conditions on military aid to Indonesia which the administration of President George W. Bush sees as an important ally in its "war on terrorism."

Seven young women belonging to a pro-democracy group in rebellious Aceh province have been arrested for insulting President Megawati Sukarnoputri and Vice President Hamzah Haz.

John Roberts – Under considerable international pressure, the Supreme Court of Indonesia on July 8 overruled a decision by the country's Commercial Court declaring bankrupt the local subsidiary of the Canadian-based Manulife Financial Corporation.

Rachel Clarke – Indonesia's leaders are trying to work out what to do next with strife-torn Aceh.

More troops could be sent to the northern province, a civil emergency could be declared to give the authorities more powers or full military law could be imposed.

Catharine Munro, Jakarta – Indonesian human rights prosecutors today raised the prospect of dropping charges against some defendants facing trial for gross human rights violations in East Timor in 1999.

A survivor of a bloody attack on a refugee-filled church compound in East Timor in April 1999 said Wednesday he saw uniformed Indonesian soldiers and police fire shots into the compound.

Antonio Concecao Santos, 27, was testifying to Indonesia's human right court in the trial of two officers and one former official for gross human rights violations in the territory.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Former president Suharto's children enjoy a measure of protection from the establishment even today, analysts said after prosecutors pressed for a lighter sentence for murder suspect Tommy Suharto.

Ainur R. Sophiaan, Surabaya – Some 300 people rallied in front of the Surabaya legislative council on Monday, claiming its decision to dismiss the city's mayor last week was illegal.

The protesters, calling themselves the National Generation Forum, urged the council to lift its motion against Surabaya mayor Bambang Dwi Hartono, otherwise it would have to be dissolved.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Two of the largest parties in the Indonesian Parliament, the ruling PDI-P and Golkar, are trying to dislodge Mr Amien Rais as the National Assembly Speaker next month in an apparent bid to thwart his presidential ambitions.

After signing and approving East Timor's state budget Tuesday, President Xanana Gusmao called for revision of the measures within four months, while also lamenting the lackluster nature of parliamentary debate and opposition parties in the new country.

A draft bill on amnesty and pardoning of sentences has been criticized as being "unconstitutional", "too general" and open to "dangerous interpretation", by a leading Timorese nongovernmental organization concerned with legal matters.

Irwan Firdaus, Jakarta – The former commander of Indonesian troops in East Timor went on trial Tuesday on charges of crimes against humanity for allegedly allowing his soldiers to commit atrocities in the former province.

"I am not a human rights abuser," declared Brig. Gen. Tono Suratman – now Indonesia's deputy military spokesman – moments before his trial began.

Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta – Senior politicians from Muslim-based parties met again here on Monday in an apparent move to counter a coalition between the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and the Golkar Party, the two largest political parties.

Bangkok – The Aceh separatists' regional connection was bared after police in Thailand seized a major arms cache, including 68 AK-47 rifles, bound for the rebels in Indonesia's troubled northern province.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Despite public opposition to a state of emergency in Aceh, Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has asked the President to deploy 8,000 more troops to the restive province.

The Indonesian embassy appealed to all its citizens living in Malaysia illegally to return home before an amnesty period ends in two weeks.

Ambassador Hadi Wayarabi Alhadar said only 216,000 Indonesians have responded to the Malaysian amnesty, which runs from March 21 to July 31 to allow illegals to leave the country without being prosecuted.

Theresia Sufa, Bogor – Hundreds of residents from Kampung Walahir in Nambo village, Klapa Nunggal district, protested on Monday to demand the closure of a waste treatment plant located in the village. The plant is owned by PT Prasadha Pamunah Limbah Industry.

Cilacap – Hundreds of fishermen in Donan subdistrict here have protested to state oil company Pertamina for allegedly polluting the river from which they making their living.

The fishermen went to the local legislature to seek its support for their fight against Pertamina, which for some time has been dumping waste from its refinery in Cilacap into the Donan river.

Michael Shari, Surabaya – When Indonesia's President Suharto fell from power in 1998 and the business empires of his cronies melted down, young Hary Tanoesoedibjo saw a chance to snap up cheap businesses.

Lesley McCulloch – The pursuit of a negotiated settlement to the conflict in Aceh has been viewed with skepticism by many for some time. But now confirmation of the Indonesian government's lack of commitment to the peace process seems imminent.

John Garnaut – Forget luring Allan Jones to 2GB, or his role in rescuing Channel 10 – John Singleton looks set to realise his most lucrative media deal tomorrow.

Twenty per cent of Indonesian TV station SCTV has been floated and will list on the Jakarta Stock Exchange at lunchtime tomorrow, delivering a 100 per cent return for Singleton's consortium in less just 18 months.

Nani Farida and Muhammad Nafik, Banda Aceh/Jakarta – As most Acehnese have rejected the government's proposal that a state of civil emergency be imposed on the restive province, there is no option left for the government except to forge ahead with dialog, activists and legislators said on Sunday.

Jakarta – Over 60 per cent of Indonesians back the imposition of a civil emergency in the restive Aceh province, according to a nationwide survey.

Grace Nirang, Jakarta – Indonesia's plans to impose higher tariffs on a string of agricultural commodities might not help farmers as intended but instead raise consumer prices and encourage smuggling, analysts say.

They also say the benefits are likely be swallowed up by traders and intermediaries ahead of farmers in Indonesia's long and convoluted trading chain.

A radical Indonesian Muslim cleric that Singapore accuses of leading a terrorist network, has accused Washington of being behind a recent Philippine court's jailing of an Indonesian over weapons possession.

Leo Wahyudi S, Jakarta – With the new school year beginning, parents are facing increased financial demands. Those parents unable to come up with their children's school fees are forced to turn to pawnshops to raise the necessary cash.

President Xanana Gusmao will address the East Timorese Tuesday in a nationally broadcast speech that an aide described Monday as centered on his two-week delay in signing the government's budget.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The rampant practice of exorbitant mark-ups will likely continue as a senior defense official responsible for equipment procurement has refused to cut out the role of contractors.

The involvement of the Soeharto family in the country's arms procurement business only started in the early 1990s. Nevertheless, in a short time, their reach had quickly spread to various quarters of the military.

Debbie A. Lubis, Jakarta – With HIV spreading rapidly in Indonesia, the country cannot expect much from the government but instead many non-governmental organizations and foreign groups are tackling the problems.

The government is moving slowly with its eight-year-old National AIDS Commission (KPA) to prevent the possible emergence of an out-of-control HIV epidemic.

Apriadi Gunawan and Jacob Herin, Medan/Maumere – More than 430 workers from East Java occupied the North Sumatra legislature building out of fear of being traded like slaves in neighboring country Malaysia, demanding the government send them back home as soon as possible.

Jane Perlez, Lhokseumawe – The silvery pipes that extract hundreds of millions of dollars in natural gas a year for Exxon Mobil glint in the tropical sun here, a glittering contrast to the ramshackle huts and rice fields of the villagers nearby.

A teenager was killed and four other people were wounded when a bomb exploded outside their bus in the troubled Poso district of Central Sulawesi, according to police.

It is the latest challenge to a peace deal signed between Muslims and Christians in the area last December.

Nigel Wilson – East Timor's decision to pursue maritime boundaries that might include substantial Australian oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea will not derail talks aimed at defining the legal and commercial position of the Sunrise gas reservoirs.

Two former top Indonesian ministers told a human rights trial yesterday that a savage outbreak of militia violence in East Timor in September 1999 caught the Jakarta government unawares.

Yogita Tahilramani and Edith Hartanto, East Java – This year's drought has dealt a severe blow to East Java province causing the country's major rice producing area to suffer losses to the tune of Rp 8.4 billion.

The loss has been caused mainly by a water shortage, ravaging hundreds of thousands of hectares of paddy fields and crops in 12 regencies.

Jakarta – Garbage problems continue to haunt the Jakarta city administration.

The Bekasi legislative council complained on Thursday about what they saw as poor management of the garbage dumped at the Bantar Gebang site by the Jakarta Sanitation Agency.

[East Timor's fledgling parliament has made a key decision about the nation's borders which could be the first big test of its relations with Australia. Its declared a maritime boundary with Australia that would give East Timor full ownership of lucrative oil and gas deposits that now fall inside Australian waters ..

Jakarta/Medan – West Kalimantan Governor Aspar Aswin declared his province on top alert on Thursday, urging local governments to tackle forest fire outbreaks which have been blanketing the province in a haze for the past week.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Indonesia's offer to act as the honest broker between the two Koreas, made during North Korean number two leader Kim Yong Nam's first visit here, has been greeted with scepticism.

Observers point out that President Megawati Sukarnoputri has only the slimmest of chances to ease tensions and revive dialogue between the two feuding neighbours.

Jakarta – The Democratic People's Party (PRD) launched on Thursday the Democracy Front to unite like-minded reformers within a forum in a bid to revive the country's original reform movement.

PRD secretary-general Natalia Scholastika said the Democracy Front could prove to become a viable opposition force to the government and the legislature.