Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Jakarta – Shortly after taking office in the autumn, President Abdurrahman Wahid, who is nearly blind, quipped to group of visitors in the presidential palace that he and his taciturn vice president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, made "the best team". "I can't see," Mr. Wahid chortled, "and she can't speak."

Jakarta – Indonesian soldiers shot dead at least five people who defied warnings and attacked soldiers attempting to disperse Christian and Muslim mobs from a street in conflict-torn Ambon on Friday, Indonesia's state-run news agency Antara reported Saturday.

Indonesia is in a mess, but President Wahid's latest attempts to ease the turmoil have backfired. Lindsay Murdoch reports.

Indonesia is rumbling. And the political tremors are more alarming to the country's 210 million people than the infrequent earthquakes that shake Jakarta's high-rise buildings.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) became the latest organization on Friday to criticize the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) for its reluctance to end military and police representation in the legislative body.

Jakarta – The number of student rallies has increased since the Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly opened on Monday with at least 300 students staging rallies in front of the Assembly complex here on Friday.

Bandung – Two groups of Bandung students greeted Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Friday with a demonstration, criticizing the government for failing to uphold law enforcement.

Santa Fe, New Mexico – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid will harm his country's stature if he follows through on plans to visit Iraq this year, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Saturday.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid's "rainbow" Cabinet is losing its lustre. Other than yesterday's resignation of top Economics Minister Kwik Kian Gie, five other ministers have resigned or been dismissed from the Cabinet.

Jay Solomon, Jakarta – Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri's appointment to manage the Indonesian government's daily business has calmed legislators who feared political gridlock if President Abdurrahman Wahid didn't overhaul his beleaguered administration.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – A proposed article in the Constitution that stipulates the implementation of the Islamic Law for Indonesian Muslims has received little support from legislators in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

Tom McCawley – A patter of applause from the floor of the 700- member People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) greeted the appointment this week by Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesian president, of Megawati Sukarnoputri to manage the day-to-day affairs of the cabinet.

Facing a hostile parliament and a deteriorating national economy, Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid handed over a portion of his duties to Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri on August 9.

Nuruddin Lazuardi/Fitri & Lyndal Meehan, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, or Kontras, has demanded the Attorney General's office investigate the disappearance of Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, the head of the International Forum for Aceh (IFA).

Dublin – UN Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, will start a three day visit to East Timor tomorrow to monitor developments there since last year's unrest. Although it's gone from the headlines there is continuing violence if obviously not at the same levels as after last year's independence vote.

Jakarta – The first trial of a lawsuit filed by the Democratic People's Party (PRD) against Soeharto regime was postponed on Thursday after only four lawyers showed up.

On the fourth day of the annual session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) demonstrations were held by a number of organisations and students.

Jakarta – Hundreds of youths who call themselves Jakarta Student Consortium (KMJ) were demonstrating in front of legislature complex on Thursday, at about 1pm. They demanded the People's Consultative Assembly to reject the progress report of President Abdurrahman Wahid, popularly called Gus Dur.

Kuala Lumpur – Some 120 Indonesian maids fleeing physical abuse or attempted rape by employers or agents have taken refuge at their country's consulate in an east Malaysian state, a report said Thursday.

Jakarta – Once powerful Indonesian business tycoon Mohammad "Bob" Hasan, who was former President Suharto's confidante and cabinet minister, was formally charged with corruption Thursday, Jakarta's Provincial Prosecution Office said.

Jakarta – Two Muslims accused of spying for Christian militias were lynched on Wednesday by Muslim mobs in the war-ravaged Ambon town.

Jackie Woods, Sydney – A change in how the Indonesian government is managed, which will see Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri handle the bulk of domestic affairs, will exacerbate the already tense situation in Papua, a leading independence activist said Thursday.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid is a politician who thrives on chaos. Remember how he disposed of General Wiranto early this year.

Jakarta – Former president Suharto has been charged before the South Jakarta district court of allocating 419.593 million US dollars to cover losses of Bank Duta in the early 1990s, with the funds taken from one of his social foundation funds, court documents said.

Jakarta – Some 150 Indonesian students rallied on Wednesday near the home of former president Suharto to demand that he be immediately put on trial for massive corruption and abuse of power.

On July 27, peaceful student protesters in the central Java city of Yogyakarta were attacked by baton-wielding thugs. At least 21 people were badly hurt. The students were commemorating the military-backed attack on Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) four years ago in Jakarta. The thugs are believed to be members of the Indonesian military.

Jakarta – The United States on Wednesday expressed "deep concern" over the sudden disappearance of a US-based human rights activist in the Indonesian city of Medan last Saturday.

Banda Aceh – A separatist leader in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province has vowed to minimize the group's armed struggle and adopt more diplomatic means to achieve independence.

Abdullah Syafiie, charismatic army chief of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), said a truce signed in May by the separatists and the Indonesian government constituted a partial victory for the rebels.

Jon Land – Despite the announcement on July 31 by Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid that refugee camps in West Timor controlled by the pro-Jakarta militia will be closed, the fate of tens of thousands of East Timorese refugees remains perilous. The terror campaign, which has intensified in recent months, will continue until the militias are disarmed and disbanded.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid has agreed to extend the cease-fire with separatist rebels in Aceh province for three more months, a Cabinet minister said Wednesday.

Representatives of the government and the Free Aceh Movement have been holding talks in Switzerland about extending the June 2 truce that was due to expire in September.

Jakarta – The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) may reject President Abdurrahman Wahid's call to revoke the 1965 decree prohibiting communism, but books on communism and leftist figures were the most popular sellers at a book kiosk on the Assembly compound.

Jakarta – The following is a brief chronology of the main events in Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid's nine months in power.

Wahid announced Wednesday that he would hand day-to-day running of the government to vice president Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The majority of Indonesia's legislators indicated yesterday that they would give President Abdurrahman Wahid more time to prove his ability to govern the trouble-ridden country. But they remained critical of the President's progress report in his long-awaited "state of the union address" at the national assembly.

Jakarta – The key turning point yesterday for seasoned observers was not so much the applause President Abdurrahman Wahid received from legislators for his two apologies, but the interjections from the floor even before he spoke.

Jakarta – Representatives of about 20 non-government organizations yesterday visited parliament to convey their disgust with legislators for failing to terminate the militarys hallowed role in politics.

Geoff Spencer, Jakarta – In an apologetic speech, President Abdurrahman Wahid on Monday promised lawmakers he would prevent fierce sectarian and separatist conflicts from tearing Indonesia apart.

Admitting his shortcomings, the embattled Wahid pledged in a state of the nation address "to find out what we want for our country and what our country should be."

Bandung – Indonesia called on Monday for a review of the World Trade Organization's (WTO) antidumping regulations, saying that these regulations have been manipulated by industrialized countries to become protectionist measures.

Vaudine England – The celebration was traditional, but Abdurrahman Wahid's 60th birthday party at the Cipanas presidential palace was not, perhaps, as reflective as it should have been.

Well-known Toko Buku Wali Songo, a bookstore on Jalan Kwitang in central Jakarta, is piled to the ceiling with religious books. From the Quran and its translations to works on the Syariah (Islamic laws) and so forth, apart from the Islamic peripherals such as the sejadah (praying mat) and framed Quranic verses.

Simon Mann, London – A British political consultant, hired to help lift the deteriorating public image of President Abdurrahman Wahid of Indonesia, has quit after his methods came under scrutiny.

Washington – The United States has reaffirmed its position that rooting out graft is key to economic growth following Jakarta's move to charge former president Suharto with corruption.

Jakarta – Indonesia's national assembly will Monday open its first annual session as analysts dismiss the meeting as unnecessary and its agenda as too ambitious.

Jakarta – More than 2,000 Christians fleeing attacks by Muslim fighters in their village have been evacuated from mountainous jungle in eastern Indonesia's Maluku islands.

Geneva – Representatives of the Indonesian government and separatist rebels in the Aceh province met yesterday to assess the success of the ongoing three-month truce.

President Abdurrahman Wahid has proposed prolonging the unprecedented truce, which came into effect on June 2 after negotiations between the two sides in Geneva.

Jakarta – Embattled Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid's long-awaited accountability speech will be the main order of business on Monday at the country's top legislature, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). Following are details of the 700- seat MPR, which will convene from August 7-18 at a cost of 25 billion rupiah ($2.9 million):

Jay Solomon, Jakarta – The Indonesian state is facing $16 billion in potential losses due to the misuse of emergency loans extended to a number of prominent business groups during this nation's financial crisis, a report by the government's Supreme Audit Agency said.

For 30 years, West Papua has been terrorised and plundered by its conquerors. Now the hill tribes are fighting back, reports Ian Williams

Erson Wenda stands on a ridge above the remote Baliem Valley, gesturing wildly with his arms, tears in his eyes. "The soldiers came from over there. They took people from my village, tying their hands, and brought them to these holes."

Jakarta – The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) announced here on Friday a higher than expected growth rate in the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter but business analysts warned that the fragile condition in the political field could drag down the upward trend in the economy.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Prosecutors say they will be ready to deliver a detailed indictment of former president Suharto on corruption charges in a Jakarta courtroom on Monday. But independent corruption investigators say the legal process is a sham.

Jakarta – Forced to flee their homes by rampaging Muslim militants, hundreds of Christian refugees sheltering in remote mountains in the Maluku islands are facing starvation, international aid workers said Saturday.

Jakarta – More than 95 percent of the 144.5 trillion rupiah (16.8 billion dollars) of central bank liquidity credits extended to Indonesian institutions between 1997-1999 were misused, press reports said Saturday.