Jakarta – A flag of the separatist South Maluku Republic (RMS) was Wednesday briefly flown in Ambon the capital of Indonesia's Maluku province before police took it down, a participant and a report said.

Vaudine England, Jogyakarta – Hundreds of people are signing up for membership of a new anti-communist front at the head office of the Golkar political party, organisers claim.

Tanya Vanaja, Dili – East Timor's social and political tensions may boil over into violence during elections scheduled for August, the country's first since it gained freedom from Indonesian military rule in 1999.

Sibylle Kaczorek – In a country oppressed for 400 years by colonial Portugal, then brutalised by 24 years of Indonesian military rule, and now suffering from dire poverty, the issues of women have long been considered secondary. But now East Timor's socialists are seeking to tackle women's oppression.

Jakarta – Up to US$300 million of mining investments in Indonesia are caught in legal limbo because of a new ban on mining in protected forests, said the Indonesian Mining Association (IMA).

Some 120 mining firms own exploration permits in forests which are now protected, and they may have to abandon their investments in these areas, said IMA official Paul Coutrier.

Banda Aceh – Independence fighters in the Indonesian state of Aceh pledged Sunday that they were ready for all-out resistance against new government troops being sent to the region.

The Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which has been fighting for independence for the last 25 years, also warned non-Acehnese to leave the province immediately.

Lindsay Murdoch, Viqueque – Madalena Soares fought back tears as she told how her 12-year-old daughter Cesaltina was stolen.

It was late 1999 – she can't remember the exact date because of the trauma of fleeing East Timor – when Octavio Soares came to see her in a refugee camp in Indonesian West Timor, where she found herself with three of her four children.

Jakarta – Four thieves attacked and stabbed the Australian-born wife of East Timor independence hero Xanana Gusmao on Tuesday in the latest in a string of violent robberies in the impoverished territory, an official said.

Mark Dodd, Dili – East Timor's de facto parliament was hit yesterday with the resignation of a second high-profile political leader in less than a month.

Shinta M Sinaga/Fitri & HY, Jakarta – Around six thousands workers are set to march along the streets of Jakarta to celebrate May Day – International Labour Day - on May 1st, 2001. On that day, all employers are urged to give their workers the day off.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Indonesian soldiers were airlifted to the restive province of Aceh yesterday to mark a new phase of a potentially long and bloody guerilla warfare against rebels fighting for an independent state.

Marianne Kearney, Pangkalanbun – Indonesia's new Forestry Minister, Mr Marzuki Usman, said after touring forests in Kalimantan that he was shocked by the breakneck speed at which the country's parks were being destroyed.

Daniel Cooney, Nyaru Menteng – Seven-month-old Nabima often has nightmares. She wakes in the night screaming and crying, says Lone Droscher-Nielsen, who is looking after the little orangutan on Borneo Island.

The President of CNRT, Xanana Gusmao said Satruday that the success of the general election this year was still the number one priority of CNRT. He said this when talking to reporters on his arrival back from Jakarta.

Jakarta – The Pro-democratic Activists Network (PRODEM) and the Action Study Circle for Indonesian Democracy (LS-ADI) carried out a protest at Jakarta Stock Exchange (BEJ) building today, April 23. They demanded that the IMF, which resides in the JSX building, immediately cancel Indonesian foreign debt that accrued during the era of the New Order government.

Jakarta – Indonesia on Monday outlined five key steps to keep its budget deficit at the forecast 3.7 percent of gross domestic product in 2001 amid fears of an uncontrollable blowout.

Jakarta – Over the next two weeks, the Indonesian government will send 200 judges to riot-torn areas such as Aceh, Maluku and Irian Jaya to restore their battered systems of justice.

Jakarta – The chairman of the former ruling Golkar Party, Akbar Tandjung, said on Sunday that Indonesia would get a lot better when the party wins the general election in 2004 and takes control in the country again.

Jakarta – Experts see the announcement of public servants' wealth as a good start in fighting corruption, but say it will take time before any effect is seen.

Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association chairman Hendardi said on Saturday that announcing official's wealth would be useless unless it was followed by investigation.

Kornelius Purba, Jakarta – According to the official data, Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri is 17 times wealthier than President Abdurrahman Wahid, whose personal assets are valued at Rp 3.5 billion.

Devi Asmarani, Atambua – Tension is running high in this border town 2 1/2 years after the influx of over 200,000 East Timorese who fled the post-ballot violence in their homeland.

Sydney – Nobel peace laureate Bishop Carlos Belo of East Timor appealed Monday for an international tribunal to punish crimes against humanity in his country and help the fledgling nation come to terms with atrocities committed after it voted for independence from Indonesia.

Geraldine Goh, Jakarta – East Timorese leader Xanana Gusmao said new blood is needed to lead his country towards self-rule.

Christiani Tumelap in Atambua and Lindsay Murdoch in Dili – A 16-year-old East Timorese girl allegedly kidnapped as a war prize has defended the notorious militia leader who fathered her son, saying she is "doing just fine" and wants to stay with him and his three de facto wives.

Jakarta – About 40,000 refugees of the strife-torn North Maluku have returned to their homes in the regencies of Halmahera, Morotai, Bacan and other islands after living for nearly two years in refugee camps.

North Maluku Governor Muhyi Effendie said on Thursday that the refugees – both Muslims and Christians – decided to go home on their own initiative, Antara reported.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid warned on Thursday of a "nationwide rebellion" against the House of Representatives (DPR) if its attempts to oust him continue.

Speaking at a seminar on the country's future, Abdurrahman added that the DPR's attempt to impeach him was "legally impossible".

Jakarta – A group of influential Muslim clerics and organizations in East Java launched on Thursday the Ukhuwah Islamiyah Forum (FUI) which aims to promote peace and national unity and pledges to prevent President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid's fanatical followers from thronging the capital.

Marianne Kearney, Surabaya – Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri's PDI-P party is launching its own counter-offensive to staunch mass violence on the streets, and cleverly projecting the party as the one struggling to hold Indonesia together as President Abdurrahman Wahid again threatened "nationwide rebellion" if the parliament proceeds with impeachment attempts.

Jakarta – Indonesia's disgraced former military chief General Wiranto Friday accused the country's political leadership of driving the nation to the edge of an abyss and mobilizing personal militias.

Jakarta – A policeman and three separatist rebels were killed in the continuing violence in strife-torn Aceh, an official said on Thursday.

Police's Cinta Meunasah II Operation spokesman Comr. Sudarsono said two rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) were shot dead in West Aceh regency of Gagak village in Darul Makmur district on Wednesday.

Banda Aceh – Violence in Indonesia's Aceh province has left at least five people dead since Thursday, hospital staff said.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – As the East Timorese capital was being looted and burned on a stifling hot day in September 1999, an Indonesian Army officer rushed to the Turismo hotel.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – An investigation by a former Australian diplomat, Mr James Dunn, identifies a group of still-serving officers who secretly planned and supervised a campaign of violence to counter a surge of support for independence and then to punish East Timorese for rejecting Indonesia's rule.

Jakarta – East Timorese leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao insisted on Thursday that overcoming the territory's complex social and economic problems was his most immediate priority, and not the convening of a tribunal to try past human rights abusers.

Dili – UN officials in East Timor Friday distanced themselves from a report that accuses senior Indonesian army generals of masterminding the wave of violence that swept the territory after an independence vote in 1999.

Geniva – The United Nations urged Indonesia on Friday to bring those responsible for bloodshed in East Timor to justice and rein in militias intimidating thousands of refugees still in camps.

Jakarta – A former army commander Friday admitted excesses in the Indonesian military in its handling of separatist movements, and publicly embraced East Timor's independence leader Xanana Gusmao.

The head of TNI's Information Center, Air Marshall Graito Usodo said yesterday there was an elite group that was trying to revive nationalistic sentiments in order to "seize back" Timor Lorosae and "annex" it as part of Indonesia.

Air Marshall Graito said this elite group was trying to seek popularity for their cause. But he warned they would not succeed.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia and the International Monetary Fund broke an impasse over the country's swelling budget deficit problem yesterday, but the obvious solution proposed by the international lender and other aid agencies – lifting generous fuel subsidies – could amount to political suicide for President Abdurrahman Wahid's government.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Chief security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono yesterday advised foreign businesses to start dealing directly with local administrations, in the clearest admission yet that Jakarta's economic sphere of influence would decline as decentralisation kicks in.

Palu, Central Sulawesi – The coordinator for the Poso refugees, Yus Mangun, said on Wednesday 3,000 packages of food aid from the Kuwaiti government had gone to waste.

Yus, who is an official in the local administration, said the packages passed their expiration date before they could be distributed.

Jakarta – Efforts to settle problems in the strife-torn province of Aceh took a new turn when the government revealed on Wednesday a plan to invite the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to the meeting table for talks.

Jakarta – East Timor's economy has rebounded strongly after violence destroyed the tiny half-island territory nearly two years ago, with 15 percent growth forecast for 2001 and 2002, the Asian Development Bank said on Thursday.

But the Bank cautioned the growth was from an extremely low base and the fledgling economy was still dependent on external financial support.

Jakarta – Indonesian Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri and her husband have a net worth of around US$6 million, the country's Examination Commission for Government Officials' Wealth (KPKPN) said yesterday.

This is almost 20 times more than the net worth of President Abdurrahman Wahid, based on his submission to the commission.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The detention order issued against tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim of the Gadjah Tunggal Group over longstanding money-swindling charges has raised concerns in the business community that the move is yet another attempt by the administration to prevent their defection to the political opposition.

Marianne Kearney, Banyuwangi – Leaders of Indonesia's largest Muslim group are distancing themselves from a suicide squad heading for Jakarta – but it has become apparent that their own militia outfit has been training the 50,000-strong outfit.

Jakarta – Formal support for Megawati Soekarnoputri to replace President Abdurrahman Wahid grew on Wednesday as two house factions stated their political backing for a change of leadership.

Support came from the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the United Development Party (PPP) who separately expressed their desire to see the Vice President succeed Abdurrahman.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The scene spoke for itself. In February, Indonesian generals lined up behind legislators to charge President Abdurrahman Wahid with involvement in two damning financial scandals.

Soe, Indonesia – Around 70 per cent of the tens of thousands of East Timorese refugees languishing in squalid camps in Indonesia want to return home, an Indonesian military official said on Wednesday.

Craig Skehan – East Timor is set to receive a much larger slice of income from the rich oil reserves it shares with Australia.

Federal Government sources said yesterday Australia was willing to give the incoming independent Government in Dili 80 per cent or more of the income from a joint production zone where the split was previously 50/50.