Jakarta – Some 300 members of a radical Muslim group on Tuesday staged a protest outside the US embassy, accusing the United States and the IMF of aggravating the Indonesian economic crisis.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Fuel subsidies cost the Indonesian government 16 percent of its overalll expenditures in 2001. A total of US$5.3 billion (53.774 trillion rupiah) went down the drain.

Jakarta – The latest biographer of former Indonesian dictator Suharto said Tuesday he believed the ex-president had no part in plotting the 1965 coup that indirectly paved his way to power.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – The fate of one of Indonesia's most powerful political figures, Akbar Tandjung, is being weighed today as a plenary session of the House of Representatives focuses on whether to set up a committee to probe his alleged corruption.

Jakarta – An Indonesian parliamentary commission wants the national logistics agency Bulog to resume its control over the price of rice, a legislator said Monday.

Banda Aceh – At least five people including a marine and two suspected separatist rebels have been killed in the latest violence in the restive Indonesian province of Aceh, the military and residents said Monday.

Dili – East Timor's Constituent Assembly today set 9 March as the date for completion and final approval of the nation's first Constitution.

Jakarta – Prosecutors at a court in Jayapura, the capital of Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua, on Monday sought 30-month jail sentences for each of three pro-independence leaders accused of subversion, one of the defendants said.

A'an Suryana and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Political observers lashed out on Saturday at what they saw as a conspiracy to save House Speaker Akbar Tandjung, a suspect in a Rp 40 billion scandal involving the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), from facing the music, saying the move would severely erode public confidence and support in any future anticorruption initiatives.

Jakarta – A faction from Indonesia's Muslim United Development Party (PPP) announced it was breaking away Sunday to form a new political group.

The PPP-Reform was declared in brief ceremony at an upmarket hotel in South Jakarta with the party's declaration read out by one of the founders, Zainal Maarif.

Catharine Munro, Jakarta – When Guntur Alfie's friends and colleagues told him to buy a bullet proof vest to sit in judgment on Indonesian military officers charged with human rights abuses in East Timor, they were only half joking.

Jakarta – An angry mob in Indonesia's West Java town of Tasikmalaya took justice in their own hands and burned to death three street thugs who had been allegedly extorting money from local transport operators, a report said Sunday.

Jakarta – Widespread protest against the fuel price hike hit the capital on Friday, creating heavy traffic congestion in many parts of the city, reports said.

Two separate protest marches, organized by members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and several universities in Jakarta respectively, converged on the House of Representatives (DPR) in the Senayan area, Central Jakarta, on Friday, causing traffic congestion along Jl. Gatot Subroto.

Jakarta – Foreign investment in Indonesia dropped by nearly 42 per cent last year due to political instability and increasing lawlessness that the government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri was unable to control.

According to data from the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), investments last year amounted to US$9.02 billion.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Almost every day it seems, the media report that at least one suspected robber has been shot dead by police.

This perception is supported by data held at the forensic department of the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM), which shows that the number of firearm victims increased by 140 percent, from 108 in 2000 to 255 last year.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – The jailing of an Acehnese activist for holding a peaceful rally and the resurrection of a "blacklist" of people banned from entering the country have heightened concerns about freedom of expression under President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – The government's fuel price rises have dealt a blow to public transportation drivers who are complaining that the hike has slashed profit margins.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Former president Suharto's youngest son, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, may escape prosecution again after two suspects in the murder of a top judge allegedly ordered by him said they were forced by police to confess.

Robert Go, Jakarta – One in 100 Indonesians, or roughly two million people, are hooked on narcotics, according to information provided by the police and several non-government organisations (NGOs) dealing with the drugs problem.

Jill Jolliffe, Maliana – A special court to judge suspects accused of crimes in East Timor in 1999 should be given a chance, the chairman of the United Nation's Human Rights Commission said on the eve of his visit to Jakarta.

But ambassador Leandro Despouy warned that if national trials failed, the UN could set up an international court.

Jakarta – A three-member Amnesty International team is headed for the remote Indonesian province of Papua to carry out human rights work and investigate alleged rights violations, a rights group in the province said Saturday.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Indonesia's second-largest political party Golkar is going after President Megawati Sukarnoputri's husband for alleged corrupt business dealings and abuse of power in an apparent attempt to protect party chairman Akbar Tandjung, who is under graft investigation.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – The sharp increases in fuel prices on Thursday boosted the prices of several staples, causing an outcry among the people here.

Banda Aceh – Indonesian Vice-President Hamzah Haz yesterday warned the Acehnese against harbouring futile dreams of independence, as a general strike called by separatist rebels hit the province for a second day.

Jakarta – Street protests hit the Indonesian capital of Jakarta for the second day in a row Friday over the government's decision to raise fuel prices by an average 22 percent.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Yesterday's 22-per-cent hike in fuel prices dealt a second blow within a month to Indonesia's already hard pressed businesses, particularly those operating in the export sectors.

Makassar – Student protests against the fuel price hike turned violent here on Thursday, with crowds hijacking and vandalizing a truck belonging to state oil company Pertamina.

The oil truck was passing the Indonesian Muslim University (UMI) on Jl. Urip Soemohardjo, where a group of students were staging a protest.

Banda Aceh – Eight more deaths were reported Friday as a general strike called by separatist rebels gripped Indonesia's restive province of Aceh for a third day. Most public minibuses stayed off the streets, schools remained shut and most shops were closed, especially in the main towns of Banda Aceh and Lhokseumawe.

Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta – Indonesia's rebellious province of Aceh began returning to normal on Friday, the last day of a strike called by separatist rebels to draw attention to the decades-long conflict, residents said.

Jakarta – Some 150 casual workers of state-owned fertilizer company PT Pupuk Sriwijaya (PT Pusri) went on strike on Thursday, demanding a 100 percent wage increase.

Reme Ahmad, Kuala Lumpur – SOME 500 Indonesian textile workers in Negri Sembilan overturned vehicles and shouted profanities at policemen in a violent protest against a midnight anti-drug raid at their hostel.

A'an Suryana and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – An internal rift has cast a shadow over the planned Golkar Party executive board meeting early next month, which may be marked by talks on holding an extraordinary congress to demand that Akbar Tandjung account for his troubled leadership.

Jakarta – About 200 students grouped in the loose student alliance City Forum (Forkot) protested on Thursday the government's decision to increase fuel prices.

The group blockaded Jl. Diponegoro in Central Jakarta near the Megaria area during afternoon peak hours, creating heavy traffic congestion in the area.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Imam Utomo, Governor of densely populated East Java, is concerned about the increasingly crushing burdens of poverty, hunger and unemployment suffered by his people, as local prices of food, fuel and electricity soar.

East Timor's Constituent Assembly passed a motion today to extend its deliberations on the draft Constitution beyond the current 25 January deadline.

A proposal was made to extend the deadline to 28 February, but the motion passed did not specify a date. Instead, the new deadline will be debated by a working commission.

John Aglionby, Jakarta – The last Indonesian soldier of occupation left East Timor well over two years ago, but while many of the physical scars have healed, the mental and psychological trauma sustained during the previous quarter of a century of turbulence, invasion and brutal occupation is still raging.

Thalif Deen, United Nations – A senior United Nations official reacted strongly Thursday to charges the UN's peacekeeping mission in East Timor is dominated by white people and Westerners.

New York – The Indonesian government failed to address human rights violations last year and the situation in the separatist province of Aceh worsened sharply, Human Rights Watch said.

Jakarta – Indonesia's Supreme Court has handed down tougher sentences to three men for the brutal killing of three foreign UN aid workers in West Timor, according to court documents obtained by Reuters on Thursday.

A general strike called by separatist rebels shut down businesses and public transport for a second day in Indonesia's restive province of Aceh, residents said.

Jakarta – The total value of Indonesia's 2002 imports is expected to drop by 10 percent year-on-year, an official said Wednesday.

"I forecast for 2002 imports will decrease as a whole from 2001 by about 10 percent," said the import division chief of the state Central Bureau of Statistics, Irlan Indrocahyo.

Max Lane – The Indonesian economy is in a truly parlous state. The combined public and private foreign debt is US$150 billion, standing at 110% of GDP, and more than 40% of the government's revenues are devoted to interest payments on foreign debt. In addition, the government owes another staggering US$64 billion to several Indonesian banks.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – Human rights activists expressed skepticism Tuesday on the fairness of trials in cases of human rights atrocities scheduled to start in February, citing the government's secrecy in recruiting ad hoc judges who were unveiled on Monday.

East Timorese judges responsible trying crimes against humanity have launched a boycott of court proceedings over a contractual dispute with the UN transition administration, judicial sources told Lusa Wednesday.

Dili – In a final step toward nationhood, East Timor will hold its first presidential election on April 14, the territory's UN administrator announced Thursday.

Violence has left at least ten people dead as explosions and volleys of gunfire marked the start of a two-day strike called by rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province.

Jakarta – A court in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday sentenced an activist fighting for a referendum on self-determination in troubled Aceh province to one year in prison.

Faisal bin Saifuddin is guilty of spreading enmity and hatred against the state, chief judge Iskandar Tjake said in the verdict.

Jakarta – A top politician has urged US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz to provide proof that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network was present in Indonesia, reports said Wednesday.

Jakarta – An Indonesian body charged with monitoring business practices on Wednesday began investigating reports of alleged collusion in the government's bid to sell it shares in the country's largest private bank, Bank Central Asia "We will summons the parties concerned including the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency," said Muhammad Iqbal, the chairman of the government-sanction