Emmy Fitri, Jakarta – Although he is facing imminent retirement, cabinet suspension and censure for alleged human rights abuse, no one doubts that Gen. Wiranto will fight back. The question is what kind of counterattack the four-star general will launch.

Mark Riley, New York – East Timor risks regressing into social turmoil unless the World Bank releases funds for reconstruction projects, the United Nation's administrator in East Timor has warned.

Geoff Spencer, Jakarta – They have been terrorized, their houses and businesses wrecked and burned in wave after wave of riots and political upheaval.

But as the Year of the Golden Dragon begins, Indonesia's Chinese minority is feeling uncharacteristically optimistic.

London – Secret military documents implicate Indonesia's top generals in a campaign of coercion and repression in East Timor intended to prevent the territory gaining independence, The Independent daily reported here Saturday.

Ted Bardacke – The umbrella group representing the leadership of East Timor is planning to hold a national congress in August to decide on "major strategic options" for the country, including whether to join the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) or the South Pacific Forum.

Ambon – The Indonesian military's support of Muslim extremists in Maluku province appears to be growing, partly because of the failure of authorities to identify and prosecute rogue officers, a senior United States diplomat said yesterday.

Jakarta – The discourse on whether Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Gen. Wiranto should resign over the East Timor debacle snowballed on Thursday, amid fears about a further plunge of the rupiah resulting from the political tension.

Jakarta – Criticism against President Abdurrahman 'Gus Dur' Wahid has been relentless since he took office three months ago, but for the first time a political party unabashedly called on him to resign due to his "ailing health."

Nayan Chanda, John McBeth and Dan Murphy, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid likes a good pun. So when General Electric's vice-president and senior counsel, Michael Gadbaw, led a US business delegation to Jakarta's colonial-era presidential palace the other day, he found Indonesia's leader ready with a corny crack.

Joanna Jolly, Dili – The United Nations is searching 29 grave sites in an area of the East Timorese enclave of Oecussi where witnesses say 75 people were massacred. Searchers so far have found 10 bodies in an operation that began on Monday and is expected to last a week.

Jakarta – The prospects for peace in troubled Aceh province were unclear Thursday, with a separatist leader denying a report that he had reached a cease-fire agreement with the Indonesian goverment.

Max Lane – Jakarta's long war against East Timor may be (officially) over and may now be less of a "foreign policy issue" in formal Australian-Indonesian relations. But justice is still a long way away for the East Timorese; not only for those living in the devastated country itself, but also for those who sought shelter in Australia.

Mark Riley, New York – The head of the United Nations' human rights probe into East Timor has called for a South African-style truth and reconciliation commission to investigate claims of Indonesian-backed atrocities in the territory.

Jakarta – Twelve Muslim-based parties which collected only 3 percent of votes among them in last year's general election announced on Tuesday their plan to merge for the next polls in 2004.

Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Gen. Wiranto dismissed on Tuesday calls for his resignation over the East Timor mayhem, saying he was determined to defend himself against charges of wrongdoing.

Banda Aceh – At least five people were killed in Indonesia's unruly province of Aceh as a police spokesman said Wednesday security forces had launched a new offensive against separatist rebels there.

Scott Burchill – The Indonesian Government doesn't have an impressive record of investigating its own crimes in East Timor. And the Australian Government has been equally suspect in its reactions to Jakarta's inquiries.

On January 31, the investigation by the Indonesian National Commission for Human Rights into atrocities and human rights abuses in East Timor will release its report.

Jakarta – The second Riau People's Congress in the provincial capital Pekanbaru concluded on Tuesday with a poll that resulted in a majority vote for independence.

Of 623 ballots cast, 270 were in favor of independence, 199 for autonomy, 146 for the federal option and the remaining eight were abstentions.

Jakarta – Indonesia's main aid donors on Wednesday pledged up to 4.7 billion dollars in loans to support the country's 2000 budget but deferred a decision on rescheduling 2.2 billion dollars in debt.

Jakarta – An Indonesian MP who had campaigned for the prosecution of military officers guilty of rights abuses in troubled Aceh province has been found dead, the official Antara news agency said yesterday.

Kupang – Five months after their flight from violence in East Timor, more than 150,000 people are still languishing in West Timorese camps where security is described as "fragile."

Richard Lloyd Parry, Dili – The truth is that it had been brewing for weeks, but the trouble really began at the former school building in the ruined city of Dili. People had been arriving since the early hours, and soon thousands of men were patiently queuing in front of the old gymnasium.

Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has implicated former Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Wiranto and four other military and police generals in the violence that swept through East Timor last year, and recommended a formal investigation be held.

Sydney – Indonesia should be left by the international community to pursue allegations of human rights abuses against its military in East Timor, Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Tuesday.

Indonesia lurched further toward democracy during the year, but serious regional conflicts, a weak legal system, and delicate civil-military relations posed ongoing obstacles to the protection of human rights.

[The following is the full text a secret report for the Indonesian Government which makes it clear that the TNI directed the militia violence against East Timor's independence vote and that top generals approved of some of the worst atrocities. The report was obtained by the Sydney Morning Herald and published on its web site on April 30, 2001.

Budi Sugiharto/Hendra & GB, Surabaya – Around 2,000 thousand demonstrators calling themselves "The Association of Sampang People" from the island of Madura, East Java province, rallied at the military court/military attorney's office located in the provincial capital, Surabaya. They demanded the elected Sampang governor immediately face trial and be sentenced to death.

Lo Pui-Kwan – Indonesian domestic helpers yesterday formed their own union – the first in Asia – to fight abuse they say they suffer during their work.

Organisers of the union said Indonesians were the second-largest group of foreign domestic helpers in the territory, after Filipinos.

Ambon – Indonesian's top general in the embattled Muluku islands said today that four soldiers were involved in the massacre of 24 Christian civilians on the island of Haruku last week.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Food shortages are cutting into daily life in the Maluku Islands, as fighting between communities and religious groups continues in the north.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said shortages were growing serious for displaced people in North Maluku.

Reuters in Tokyo – Indonesia's parliament may revise the nation's constitution to abolish a clause under which the vice-president automatically becomes president if the nation's leader is incapacitated, Speaker Amien Rais was quoted as saying.

Marian Wilkinson – Indonesian security forces drew up extensive plans weeks before the United Nations ballot to move 200,000 people from East Timor using thousands of trucks and escort vehicles and marking out road, air and sea routes, Indonesian documents show.

Xanana Gusmao travelled through six Asian nations last week with his colleague in the East Timorese leadership, Jose Ramos Horta, seeking investment and projecting a desire for new diplomatic relationships.

Jakarta – The violence and political uncertainty enveloping Indonesia pose serious risks for the economy and investment, but those willing to take their chances could reap huge rewards.

Analysts say there is still plenty of room for stocks prices to move up, even after the index gained 70 percent through 1999, making it Asia's third strongest performer.

Transport Minister Agum Gumelar, an active three-star general, is one of the Indonesian military's leading intellectuals and a strong candidate for the post of armed forces chief.

He spoke with Time correspondent David Liebhold and reporter Zamira Loebis in his Jakarta office January 19. The following is an expanded excerpt from the interview:

Linawati Sidarto, Amsterdam – Another New Order taboo crumbled last week: Indonesian political exiles could now opt to regain their lost citizenship.

At the Indonesian Embassy in The Hague on January 17, Minister of Law and Legislation Yusril Ihza Mahendra met with over 100 Indonesians who have lived in exile since the country's political turmoil in September 1965.

Jakarta – Indonesian police Sunday fired warning shots to disperse groups of Muslims who pelted churches in the central Java city of Yogyakarta after attending a mass rally to protest violence against Muslims in the Malukus, police and the military said.

United Nations – UN investigators have recommended that the United Nations establish an international human rights tribunal to prosecute those responsible for atrocities in East Timor, the BBC and people familiar with the investigators' report said on Saturday.

Jakarta – The World Bank today gave its seal of approval to the new government of Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid for its handling of economic affairs during its first 100 days in power.

Jakarta – State-run Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) went off the air in the Irian Jaya town of Fakfak on Saturday after its office was ransacked in rioting the previous day, a staff member said.

"For the time being, RRI in Fakfak will not broadcast, in line with a directive issued by the director," an RRI employee said by telephone.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – Indonesia's tropical forests are responsible for one of the country's largest export sectors – wood, pulp and paper products worth $7.5 billion in 1998.

But the abundant forests which produce this money-spinner are fast disappearing under pressure from illegal clearing and short-sighted resource management.

The findings of both UN and Indonesian human rights investigations into the atrocities in East Timor are soon to be made public. Marian Wilkinson reports on the evidence so far.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – A leading activist says the plethora of human rights inquiries under way across Indonesia constitute a form of "human rights tourism" and they can still fall prey to clever military propaganda.

Darwin – A Dutch journalist shot dead in East Timor was probably killed by Indonesian troops, an Australian coroner said yesterday.

Northern Territory coroner Mr Greg Cavanagh was handing down his findings from an investigation into the killing of Mr Sander Robert Thoenes, 30, whose mutilated body was found in the East Timorese capital Dili on September 22.

Sangwon Suh and Dewi Loveard, Jakarta – Would the person who is really in charge of Indonesia please stand up? With rumors of a military coup swirling around in Jakarta, Muslim-Christian violence exploding in the outer regions and Islamists calling for a holy war, a casual observer might be forgiven for thinking that the situation in Indonesia is spinning out of control.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government faces an uphill task to stay on the road to recovery this year and will need loans of between 4.2 billion dollars and 4.7 billion dollars from its main donors to finance the 2000 budget, the World Bank said Friday.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid and Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri on Thursday called on supporters of her party to work to assure that Indonesia remains united.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid has found a way to secure the retirement from the military of generals he appointed to his cabinet.

But critics say General Wiranto, now Co-ordinating Minister for Politics and Security, may yet evade prosecution over allegations of human rights abuses while he was armed forces chief.