Jakarta – The mother of an Indonesian suspected of links to international terrorism said Thursday she was "shocked" to hear he had been jailed for up to 12 years in the Philippines.

Stockholm – East Timor's new president, former guerrilla leader Xanana Gusmao, on Monday urged Aceh separatists fighting for independence from Indonesia to follow East Timor's example and pursue a peaceful solution.

Following the adoption of a statement on East Timor by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (the Commission) in Geneva last Friday, Amnesty International expressed its disappointment that once again the Commission has succumbed to pressure from the Indonesian Government not to address either the grave human rights situation in Indonesia or its poor record on holding perpetr

Hamish McDonald – Dressed in dun-brown overalls and boots, Fitar dos Reis, Gil Nelson Belo and Gulio Freitas line up under the baking afternoon sun to take their place on a mat and practise loading an M-9 machine-gun.

Jakarta – Indonesia's president will attend next month's independence celebration in the country's former territory East Timor, a palace spokesman said Saturday.

Tim Dodd, Dili – With independence only a month off, how bad is the economic problem facing East Timor?

Tim Dodd, Dili – In Dili's old commercial heart is an Javanese bakso (meatball soup) restaurant that does a thriving trade at $US1 a bowl, proving the East Timorese have not lost their taste for the food of the oppressors.

Timothy Mapes, Jakarta – The Indonesian military's controversial behavior in resource-rich Papua province could threaten the country's political unity and one of its biggest planned foreign investments.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – Defendants in alleged crimes against humanity in East Timor blamed on Thursday the policy of then president B.J. Habibie as the origin of all the troubles that occurred during East Timor's struggle for independence from Indonesia in 1999.

Jakarta – US ambassador Ralph Boyce has urged reform of Indonesia's "ineffective and corrupt" legal system to help attract badly needed foreign investment.

Dan Murphy, Dili – Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao is a figure of such legendary stature here that no viable challenger ran against him for the presidency of the world's newest nation.

Lee Kim Chew – East Timor's newly-elected President Xanana Gusmao, a poet and freedom fighter, loves the Portuguese language. It gives him a sense of identity.

Like many East Timorese who fought the Indonesians for independence, he draws inspiration from the historical past to face the future.

Banda Aceh – At least four more people including a soldier and a rebel have been killed in Indonesia's rebellious Aceh province, the military said Friday.

A soldier died Thursday in a 30-minute skirmish with Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels in Bireuen district, said Aceh military spokesman Major Zaenal Muttaqin.

Jakarta – Religious leaders in Indonesia's Papua province have met regional authorities to discuss the entry of a militant Islamic militia into the mainly Christian province, an official said Thursday.

Geneva – The World Council of Churches (WCC) has called for an independent inquiry to look into the killing of an independence leader in the Indonesian region of Irian Jaya.

Martin Doolard, of the Geneva-based WCC, told the UN Human Rights Commission that most people in Irian Jaya viewed the death of Eluay as a deliberate act of the state authorities to silence him.

Jakarta – Indonesia is planning new incentives to raise foreign direct investment after a slump last year, an official said Thursday.

Actual foreign investment last year totalled 50 million dollars compared to approvals of nine billion dollars, said Investment Coordinating Board chairman Theo Tumion.

Hamish McDonald – On a roadside in rural Balibo, among knots of people lingering to chat after casting their vote in their country's first presidential election last Sunday, different traditions mingle in the friendly greetings between two old Timorese women.

Michael Kessler – Next month East Timor will become the world's newest nation when the former Portuguese colony, which voted for independence from Indonesia in 1999, formally adopts its first constitution.

Jakarta – Indonesia's parliament speaker on Thursday urged President Megawati Sukarnoputri to snub next month's celebrations marking the formal independence of East Timor, which Jakarta once ruled with an iron fist.

Rod Myer – The impasse between joint venture partners in the Sunrise gas deposit in the Timor Sea highlights doubts over plans to pipe gas from beyond Australia's north coast to SouthEast Asia, and illustrates how unstable joint ventures can be.

Barry FitzGerald – Woodside Petroleum yesterday turned on United States oil and gas giant Phillips Petroleum, accusing it of delaying a $5 billion development of the Sunrise gas fields in the Timor Sea so it could protect its gas position in the Californian market.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Seven defendants went on trial on Tuesday for attacking the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) office building on Jl. Mendut, Menteng, Central Jakarta, last month.

Bandar Lampung – Hundreds of villagers in Lampung province ended a protest against the detention of their representatives with violence as they clashed with police and attacked Bandarlampung Prosecutor's Office.

R.K. Nugroho, Jayapura – The students of state-run Cenderawasih University in Jayapura, Irian Jaya, lodged a petition on Tuesday that the United States of America be held responsible for the prevalent human rights abuses in province since the territory's integration into Indonesia in 1963.

Joanne Collins, Dili – Less than three years ago East Timor's seaside capital was a charred ruin, but now Britney Spears CDs, Singapore noodles and beauty salons are easily found in what is once more a thriving centre.

Jakarta – A witness in the trial of Tommy Suharto, a son of the former Indonesian dictator, on Wednesday admitted that he had lied in court and received 210 dollars from a defense lawyer, the official Antara news agency said.

An Indonesian judge murdered 10 months after sentencing Tommy Suharto to jail, had told his wife of a threat from Tommy and a bribery attempt by his lawyer, a court heard.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – The Army Special Force (Kopassus), a much feared unit within the Indonesian Military (TNI), has a long history of ups and downs.

Kopassus was born when the Indonesian Army was struggling to put an end to a separatist campaign waged by the South Maluku Republic (RMS) in 1950.

Jakarta – The former chief of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command, Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto, has urged all elements of the nation not to keep pointing their fingers at the Indonesian Military for all that is happening in the country because the TNI is the "glue that binds the country's unity".

Jakarta – Hundreds of workers from some 15 labor unions representing workers in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) staged an anti-privatization protest in Jakarta on Tuesday as part of a campaign to pressure the government to abandon the program, which is seen as being crucial to the country's economic recovery hopes.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Resistance from workers, leading politicians and labour leaders threatens to derail the Indonesian government's ambitious privatisation programme and slow down the recent positive turnaround for the economy.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government may allow foreign investors to control 100 percent shares in universities and hospitals, a report said Tuesday.

Jakarta – The origins of religious extremism in Indonesia are rooted in domestic issues, such as low education levels and poverty, and not international factors, a prominent Indonesian Muslim figure told US government officials on a recent trip to America.

Yulie Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Bandung Police detained on Monday seven student protesters for allegedly violating measures taken by police to secure President Megawati Soekarnoputri's official visit to Bandung on Monday.

Jakarta – Hundreds of Bank International Indonesia (BII) employees demonstrated in front of the bank's headquarters on Jl. M.H. Thamrin in Central Jakarta on Monday, demanding the management provide better welfare.

Monday's protest was part of a series of protests staged by the BII worker's union in demand for a better salary and welfare support, El Shinta radio reported.

Bogor – Thousands of laborers of PT Truba Raya Trading, the producer of FILA shoes, staged a rally in Ciawi, Bogor, demanding the company raise their wages in accordance with the new provincial minimum wage. They also demanded that PT Truba not impose income tax on the workers.

Jakarta – Indonesian police may arrest defense lawyers for allegedly bribing witnesses to lie during the trial of Tommy Suharto on murder and illegal weapons charges, a report said Tuesday.

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – The University of Indonesia's Institute for the Study of Social Institutions said on Monday there were 13 large illegal gambling dens currently operating in the city, with a daily turnover of between Rp 2 billion (US$200,000) and Rp 10 billion each.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) rejects an UNTAET (United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor) proposal that East Timorese public buses be allowed to pass through Indonesian territory to ply return routes between Dili and Oecusse, the East Timorese shelter in the Indonesian provinceof East Nusa Tenggara, an officer said on Monday.

The trial of five Indonesian officers accused of failing to prevent a 1999 massacre in East Timor hit a snag when six witnesses failed to turn up.

The human rights court adjourned on Tuesday for a week after chief prosecutor Darmono said the three policemen, two soldiers and one civilian witness could not appear due to "technical problems."

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – The more than 140,000 East Timorese refugees living in West Timor can not return home till March 20 at the earliest due to transportation problems.

Two soldiers and three separatist rebels have been killed in Indonesia's Aceh province, the military and police said.

Jakarta – Three Indonesian army officers have been detained as suspects in the murder of Papuan separatist leader Theys Hiyo Eluay, the military police chief said Tuesday.

"Three officers of the Indonesian armed forces, all of whom are members of the Tribuana Task Force, have been detained in connection with the death of Theys Eluay," Major General A.B. Sulaiman told AFP.

R.K. Nugroho, Jayapura – Despite Washington's official stance on Papua, visiting US Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce met with officials of the pro-independence Papua Presidium Council (PDP) and visited the grave of former PDP chairman Theys Hiyo Eluway in the Irian Jaya provincial capital of Jayapura on Monday.

Hamish McDonald, Maliana – For Isobelle de Araujo it was a bittersweet day. In the early morning she had walked in her best dress to Mass, then joined thousands of other Maliana townsfolk at the public gymnasium to vote in her new country's first presidential elections.

Sydney – Foreign Minister Alexander Downer dismissed a claim Monday that Australia had been less than friendly towards East Timor, arguing it had been generous over sharing oil revenues from the Timor Gap.

Dili – The government buildings around it are gutted, but surviving intact as a minor miracle in the center of Dili is a billboard urging the locals to speak good Indonesian, the language of East Timors most recent colonial master.

Dili – Almost anywhere else there would be unalloyed delight in an 86-per cent turn-out for a presidential election.

But this is East Timor, the world's soon-to-be newest nation, and Sunday's poll has pundits reflecting deeply on why 14 voters in every 100 either stayed at home or spoiled their ballot papers.

Prangtip Daorueng, Jakarta – The arrival of an Islamic militia group in Indonesia's restive province of West Papua is sowing fear among residents about sectarian conflict like that seen in other provinces before – and community leaders want its members out sooner than later.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Over 120 labor activists from around the country warned on Sunday against pursuing trade liberalization and the privatization of state-owned enterprises, arguing that such moves would only inflict more suffering on Indonesian workers.