Gay Alcorn, Washington – The United States believes that dozens, possibly hundreds, of al-Qaeda fighters have slipped out of Afghanistan into Indonesia, increasingly seen as a crucial country in the war on terrorism.

Jakarta – The Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) troops are being groomed for peacekeeping duties in the event they are needed in Afghanistan, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said on Thursday.

Jakarta – Hundreds of activists, skeptical about the government's effort to protect the people's rights, held a rally in Jakarta on Wednesday, expressing disappointment that the reform era failed to curb state violence against civilians.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The Central Jakarta District Court ruled in favor of dozens of becak (pedicab) drivers and street vendors on Thursday in their suit against the City Administration, Jakarta Police and the Jakarta Military Command for arbitrary evictions.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Many people tell lies. They may lie to their boss, spouse, neighbors, and even to the police, or judges.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The failure of the House of Representatives (DPR) to pass 24 bills into law during the current session deprives the public of legislation badly needed to overhaul the country's economic and political scenes.

Jakarta – At least 175,000 people die from tuberculosis (TB) in Indonesia each year, primarily due to ignorance and a reluctance to seek medical treatment, an official said on Thursday.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – The East Timorese are distinguished from their Islamic neighbours by their love of pigs, which normally amble at will around city streets.

Don Greenlees, Jakarta – Indonesia's attempts to convince foreign critics that it is serious about justice in East Timor suffered two significant setbacks this week: a public show of solidarity by senior generals for officers accused over a 1999 massacre and a verdict of "not guilty" in the trial of three militiamen charged with the murder of a New Zealand peacekeeper.

Jakarta – Defence lawyers Thursday challenged Indonesia's new human rights court as illegal as East Timor's former governor and police chief appeared again over militia atrocities in the territory in 1999.

Mustafa Ali (Inter Press Service), Jakarta – For many, the presence of Indonesian top brass at the resumption of the East Timor trial on Tuesday brought a heavy air of intimidation into court.

Jakarta – Indonesia had better stop sending its citizens to work as housemaids abroad because they are often treated like slaves, said a minister who claimed that the fate of these workers gave him a headache.

Nana Rukmana, Cirebon – Hundreds of students and young people from a number of universities and non-governmental organizations rallied on Tuesday to demand that all officials implicated in a prominent smuggling case in Cirebon resign.

The incident involved 19 shipping containers, which contained luxury cars and electronic equipment.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – A leading environmental watchdog based in North Sumatra blamed on Tuesday at least six plantation companies for the destruction of around 300,000 hectares of forest in Mandailing Natal regency.

[Department of Defense News Briefing Torie Clarke, ASD (PA) Wednesday, March 20, 2002 - 12:00 p.m. EST. Also participating was Air Force Brig. Gen. John W. Rosa, Jr., deputy director for current operations, Operations Directorate, the Joint Staff.]

Jakarta – Noted lawyer and founder of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) Adnan Buyung Nasution resigned on Tuesday from the Indonesian Military (TNI) defense lawyer team for East Timor human rights case, saying that he wouldconcentrate more on the consolidation of LBH.

Carol Pineau, Dili – East Timor's reluctant president-in-waiting Xanana Gusmao said on Wednesday he would do his best if voters, as expected, choose him to lead the world's newest nation next month.

[The following statement was issued on March 8 by Dita Sari, chairperson of the Indonesian National Front for Labour Struggles (FNPBI).]

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – More than 500 workers of PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) marched to the state railway company's headquarters in the West Java capital of Bandung in yet another move to pressure the newly installed president director to resign.

Tangerang – Some 250 workers of PT Sandang Indo Pratama staged a protest rally at the Municipal Manpower Agency's offices on Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan I on Tuesday, demanding the dismissal of the company's production supervisor.

Jakarta – An Indonesian court on Wednesday found three East Timorese militiamen not guilty of murdering a New Zealand peacekeeping soldier in East Timor in July 2000.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand Islands), which became a new regency in November 2001, has been unable to stop illegal trawling and dynamite fishing that is severely damaging its coral reefs.

Jakarta – Two international press freedom groups have strongly criticised the Indonesian government's decision to ban an Australian correspondent from working in the country.

Catharine Munro, Jakarta – Indonesia's top military brass descended on a courthouse in Jakarta yesterday to give moral support to a group of low-level commanders accused of human rights abuses in East Timor.

Indonesia finally has begun prosecuting the military soldiers, police officers and government officials in charge of East Timor in 1999, the year the territory overwhelmingly voted to become an independent nation.

Jakarta – A member of Indonesia's once omnipotent Suharto clan goes on trial for his life Wednesday amid heavy security in a case certain to cause a storm of interest.

Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, youngest son of the former dictator Suharto, is accused of murdering of a judge, possessing weapons and fleeing from justice. The first two offences are punishable by death.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Detained Parliamentary Speaker Akbar Tandjung looks set to be ditched by his Golkar party in a move to avoid a damning probe into a financial scandal that could implicate several other party leaders.

Banda Aceh – Fifteen killings have been reported over the past two days in Indonesia's rebellious Aceh province, the army and witnesses said Tuesday.

Debbie A.

Jakarta – The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported a rise in the number of refugees returning to East Timor from camps in West Timor, Indonesia, a report said Tuesday.

Rendi A. Witular and A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Some 3,000 students from various universities staged a protest rally demanding the formation of a special House of Representatives inquiry into the alleged misuse of State Logistics Agency (Bulog) funds, in which House Speaker Akbar Tandjung is implicated.

Jakarta – It hurts to see Indonesia being tagged as the most corrupt nation in Asia, said President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday while calling on Indonesians to work hard to shed the image.

Manila – Two of the three Indonesians arrested in the Philippines last week have claimed links with leading political parties, police sources said yesterday.

Ignatius Stephen in Bandar Seri Begawan – Some 76,000 Indonesian workers, including those deported from Malaysia, have turned to Brunei to look for jobs as tailors, construction workers, drivers and cleaners, among others.

Carol Pineau, Dili – Independence leader and presidential candidate Xanana Gusmao is no longer a national leader, East Timor Chief Minister Mari Alkatiri said ahead of April 14 elections.

Chris Brummitt, Jakarta – The government on Monday stood by its decision to ban an Australian journalist whose reports on rights abuses included an article alleging that Indonesian soldiers poured boiling water over a baby.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Indonesia's longest-running television station, the state-owned Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI), may go off air if it fails to pay the millions of dollars it owes to a satellite operator.

Jakarta – A leading Australian media group said Sunday its correspondent had been barred from working in Indonesia because of his reporting on human rights issues.

The "Sydney Morning Herald" (SMH) and its affiliated newspaper "The Age" said they were "gravely troubled and deeply regret" the decision to refuse Lindsay Murdoch an extension of his working visa.

Banda Aceh – At least 12 people have been killed in the latest outbreak of violence in Indonesia's Aceh province on the weekend, police and residents said Sunday.

Vaudine England, Yogyakarta – Revelations from Australian spy transcripts on the degree to which senior generals directed the violence surrounding East Timor's 1999 independence vote have failed to stir public debate.

Don Greenlees, Jakarta – Police chief Timbul Silaen is only hours away from a crowded courtroom in Jakarta, where prosecutors will accuse him of condoning mass murder.

It is a moment that has haunted him since the day Indonesia's attorney-general added his name to a list of 22 people accused of taking party in the destruction of East Timor in 1999.

The disclosure in the Herald this week of highly classified Defence Signals Directorate intercepts gathered during the 1999 East Timor crisis has, understandably, raised concerns within the Government that vital "sources and methods" of intelligence may be compromised.

A witness to any crime has responsibilities that are essential to maintaining a civilised society. The first responsibility is to the victim, to offer whatever help is possible. The second is to help bring the offender to justice. Australia, as a result of its intelligence gathering, has emerged as a key witness to crimes against humanity.

Jakarta – FBI director Robert Mueller has praised Indonesia's efforts against terrorism and says he is looking forward to more cooperation with law enforcers from the world's most populous Muslim country.

Craig Skehan – Australian Federal Police are investigating the leaking of classified material showing that high-level Indonesian officials were involved in orchestrating the wave of violence linked to East Timor's independence ballot in 1999.

The Defence Minister, Robert Hill, confirmed the police investigation in Parliament yesterday.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Indonesian civil servants will be asked to get their urine tested for drugs, and the results could affect their performance appraisal.

Catharine Munro, Jakarta – Indonesia began landmark trials focused on human rights abuses in East Timor yesterday, with two high-ranking officials answering charges of crimes against humanity.

East Timor4s presidential election campaign kicked off Friday with a rally in Dili and UN administrator Sergio Vieira de Mello predicting a peaceful race.

Hamish McDonald – Canberra's predictable reaction to the disclosure of signals intelligence material on the Indonesian Army's covert East Timor campaign has been to try to find and plug the leak.

Jakarta – Almost all witnesses to a massacre of civilians in Indonesia's Aceh province last year said the army was to blame, an international rights group reported Friday.