Yemris Fointuna, Dili – East Timorese residents want their compatriots – including former anti-independence militiamen – currently sheltering at refugee camps in East Nusa Tenggara to return home, signifying their full acceptance in their homeland.

Joanne Collins, Jakarta – Whether he wants to lead the world's newest nation or not, East Timor's independence hero Xanana Gusmao looks bound to get the job.

A legend among the people and one of the best political talents the territory has to offer, Gusmao is the hot favourite to win the two-man presidential race just over two weeks away.

Bogor – Around 200 workers from PT. SGI, a motorcycle painting business, staged a protest in front of Bogor's social and labor agency office on Monday.

The workers rejected the company's plan to lay off some workers who had joined the labor union at the company.

Oyos Saroso, Bandar Lampung - Incensed by continued power blackouts in the Lampung capital of Bandarlampung, a mob of at least 50 people ransacked the city's Tanjungkarang branch office of state-owned electricity firm Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN).

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – The landmark human rights trial for atrocities in East Timor more than two years ago has commenced, but disappointment persists as the Attorney General's Office fails to prosecute the top leaders implicated by the commission of inquiry into the crimes against humanity.

Fears of a crackdown on Indonesia's domestic media were expressed at a seminar in Jakarta, with senior media figure Goenawan Mohamad saying that if this was so, many people were ready to fight such a move.

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Amid allegations of the city administration bribing councillors, observers proposed on Monday the implementation of direct gubernatorial elections for the city's next governor to prevent "money politics".

Jakarta – Indonesia's rubber production could fall by eight percent this year because of the El Nino weather phenomenon, a report said here Tuesday.

"The El Nino can reduce the Indonesian production by some eight percent," Chairman of the Indonesian Rubber Association (Gapkindo), Asril Sutan Amir said according to the Bisnis Indonesia daily.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri wants army chief General Endriartono Sutarto to head the armed forces, replacing Admiral Widodo Adisucipto.

A legislator from her political party said yesterday that Ms Megawati will nominate Gen Sutarto for parliament's approval when it resumes its session in May after a two-month break.

Jennifer Chen, Singapore – Ratings agency Standard & Poor's said on Tuesday Indonesia's long-term sovereign ratings are still at risk of a downgrade to "selective default" despite recent positive economic and political developments.

Jakarta – Telecoms workers on Tuesday threatened to go on strike if the government went ahead with plans to sell its 65 percent stake in international call operator PT. Indonesia Satellite Corp (Indosat).

Jakarta – Hundreds of workers of Bank International Indonesia (BII) staged protest at the bank's headquarters on Jl. M.H. Thamrin in Central Jakarta on Tuesday, demanding a better salary and welfare, report said.

Bandung – Around 1,500 truck drivers and container workers went on strike in the West Java capital of Bandung on Monday to protest against new regulations limiting the traffic of trucks carrying containers on the city's highway.

Thousands of Indonesian children in one district alone have been forced to drop out of school because of poverty.

The new leader of separatist rebels in Aceh called for foreign human rights activists to visit the province and investigate what he called past and present brutality by Indonesian troops.

Muzakir Manaf, military leader of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), said Monday foreign investigators must come to Aceh to witness "forced confiscation, molestation and arson" by soldiers.

Beijing – China and Indonesia pledged to boost trade and cooperation in wide-ranging fields yesterday, as the two countries' largest oil companies agreed to form a partnership on the first day of Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri's visit.

China was her first stop on an Asian tour that will also take her to North and South Korea, and to India.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – The city council is planning to spend US$1.4 million to install red and white lights and new pipes in the city's most famous fountain.

The Legislative Assembly, formerly known as the Constituent Assembly, called a two-week recess today after extending its powers over the weekend to cover the remaining two months before East Timor's independence.

Jakarta – Defence lawyers Monday slammed Indonesia's new human rights court as a tool of foreign powers as the trial resumed of five army and police officers accused of gross human rights violations in East Timor in 1999.

Banda Aceh – Separatist rebels in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province claimed Sunday to have shot dead 18 soldiers over the past three days, a claim denied by the security forces who said they had killed at least five rebels.

A sister of one of the three Indonesians detained in the Philippines on suspicion of terrorism has described their arrest as a "weird drama."

Washington – Indonesia is about to find itself under mounting US scrutiny as the Bush administration presses home its campaign to rout out terror havens, and analysts say the attention could prompt hard choices in Jakarta.

Jakarta – Indonesia's newest political party, the United Development Party for Reforms (PPP-R), Sunday announced its new leadership line-up.

Thousands of supporters and party activists gathered at the Senayan sport stadium as Chairman Zainuddin MZ swore in the new line-up.

Barani Krishnan, Kuala Lumpur – Jani Rahman shrugged when asked where his family, including his one-year-old daughter, had been spending its nights since a bulldozer flattened their home in the Malaysian capital's oldest Indonesian settlement.

Thick haze shrouded the capital of Indonesia's South Kalimantan province on Borneo island, reducing visibility to only 10 meters (yards), the Antara news agency said.

Prangtip Daorueng, Jakarta – Two months after the Indonesian government put an end to humanitarian assistance to East Timorese refugees living in West Timor, these displaced people are on the brink of starvation, their lives mired in uncertainty.

Jakarta – Indonesia continues to fall further behind China and Thailand in the competition for Japanese investment, and it could be overtaken by Vietnam and India if it does not take immediate steps to improve its investment climate, a new survey of Japanese companies found.

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.