Indonesian and East Timorese authorities have begun discussions on the removal of remains of Indonesian soldiers from various cemeteries across East Timor, according to an Indonesian government source cited by Monday's Jakarta Post newspaper.

[The recent (inadvertent) release of more cables between the US embassy in Jakarta and Washington in late 1965 has supplied more pieces of the jigsaw puzzle mapping Washington's enthusiastic support for the Indonesian army's bloodthirsty crackdown against the Indonesian Communist Party when up to a million people were slaughtered.

Tom Fawthrop and Paul Harris – Formally recognising the continued security threats to East Timor, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on 26 July: "There is concern that some militia elements have adopted a strategy of lying low until independence in the belief that the international military peacekeeping force will be removed from East Timor.

[Slavery was abolished years ago, but the plight of some housemaids today shows that inhumane attitudes never die. The recent self-immolation by a housemaid who endured ill-treatment from her employers in Jakarta has brought attention once again to the problem of domestic helpers denied their basic rights.

Ian Timberlake, Dili – Sister Erminia somehow survived the volley of rifle fire that tore into her van at a militia roadblock two years ago.

The Catholic nun, almost 70 years old, got out and knelt down to pray while the militia made sure none of the seven people with her survived.

Jakarta – Indonesia's plans to win back foreign investment for its troubled economy could falter as the United States and other governments fear for the safety of their diplomats and citizens in the world's most populous Muslim country, analysts said Friday.

Kupang – Six people, including Adj. Brig. Imanuel, a member of the East Nusa Tenggara police Mobile Brigade, were shot on Wednesday evening in a clash between security officers and East Timorese refugees in front of the local police headquarters.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The US, "deeply disappointed" by the failure of the Indonesian authorities to act against intimidation by hardline Muslim militants, has told Americans to consider leaving the country.

Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri said on Thursday that the government was committed to continuing its deregulatory measures in the economic sector.

Jakarta – After weeks of restive calm, at least seven people were killed on Thursday in a series of incidents in the Aceh province, police and reports said.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – The Indonesian Police force has been branded as cowardly for its reluctance to rein-in radical Muslim groups.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Unemployed, impressionable, and reckless, 26-year-old Taufiq Abdul Halim is the face of the next wave of foot soldiers being deployed to fight the cause of religious extremism in the region.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Small groups of Indonesians are signing up to join a holy war against the United States. A minority is even claiming links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organisation.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Military chief's proposal to establish a new antiterrorist agency has sparked fear among human rights activists of a resurrection of the New Order regime's dreaded internal security agency (Kopkamtib).

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Frustrated residents in outer Jakarta have seized two water trucks and refused to pay increased water rates after their erratic water supply slowed to a trickle.

Jakarta – Trafficking in women is rampant here due to inadequate legal instruments and weak law enforcement, a researcher said on Thursday.

Jakarta – The Jakarta city council has postponed plans to buy garbage trucks and other essential vehicles because the budget must be used to buy cars for councillors.

Jakarta – Tension was high in the Glodok area in Kota, Central Jakarta, on Thursday, after Taman Sari Public Order Officers demolished VCD vendors' stands along the road during a raid on the vendors on Wednesday night.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Indonesia's longest-running television station is struggling to stay on the air with depleting financial resources, and there are calls to commercialise the station.

Daniel Cooney, Jakarta – Opposition to potential US strikes against suspected terrorists in Afghanistan is growing in Indonesia, and President Megawati Sukarnoputri could face a test of resolve after pledging support for Washington's fight against terrorism.

Jakarta – A hardline Muslim youth group warned on Thursday anyone backing Washington's self-declared war on terrorism should leave Indonesia, or risk being forced out.

Jalil Hamid, Jakarta – Indonesia's struggling stocks are bracing for rougher times because of a growing anti-US mood in the country, the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Jakarta – Some 10.3 trillion rupiah (S$2.06 billion) in state funds was misused in the 18 months up to the end of June this year, local media reported yesterday.

Up to 1,663 illegal immigrants are known to have entered Indonesia in the past two years, Justice and Human Rights Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said yesterday.

Gde Anugrah Arka, Jakarta – Indonesia is set to introduce a new excise tax scheme which could significantly alter the make up of the lucrative cigarette industry and affect two of the biggest and most widely held locally-listed firms.

Jakarta – Indonesians do not read books because they are expensive; publishers do not produce books because demand is low.

Camden Smith – Closer ties can be forged between East Timor and the Territory because a Labor government is in power, East Timor's Chief Minister-elect Mari Alkatiri said yesterday.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Police snipers guard buildings housing United States government agencies and businesses. Sales of T-shirts bearing the face Osama bin Laden are brisk. Mobs of Islamic radicals search hotels for Americans, threatening to expel them. And security is high at the Australian Embassy after newspapers played up Saturday's attack on a mosque in Brisbane.

Jakarta – Indonesia's top Islamic authority called Tuesday on all Muslims to wage a jihad (holy war) if the US launches an attack on Afghanistan and warned President Megawati Sukarnoputri not to support any such retaliation.

Jakarta – Indonesia Tuesday promised to take firm action against Muslim militants who have threatened retaliation against Americans here for any US attack on Afghanistan.

Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta – Elok Sulistianingsih, covered with a traditional Muslim headscarf, tells her young charges to love all religions as she teaches them to recite the holy Koran at a mosque in the Indonesian capital.

Jakarta – A hardline Muslim youth group in Indonesia said on Tuesday more than 200 of its members had signed up to participate in a possible holy war against the United States in Afghanistan.

Jakarta – At least one island near Jakarta still boasts of dazzling corals and plenty of fish, and the people owe the Suharto family for its conservation. For years, Pulau Pemagaran in the Thousand Islands area north of Jakarta Bay was one of the former ruling family's quick getaway spots.

Jakarta – A man accused of murdering a New Zealand peacekeeping soldier in East Timor last year is to face trial in Jakarta, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Indonesian police yesterday linked the blast at the Atrium Senen Plaza on Sunday to members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebel group who have been arrested for involvement in the Jakarta bourse blast last year.

Jakarta – Troops shot and killed two separatist rebels in separate clashes in Aceh province, officials said on Tuesday.

Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Agus Dwiyanto said an insurgent was killed during a clash in East Aceh on Sunday. On Saturday, a rebel was killed in western Aceh when guerillas ambushed a government patrol.

Banda Aceh – Separatist rebels in Indonesia's restive province of Aceh claimed yesterday to have killed 31 soldiers over the weekend, but this was denied by the military.

Jakarta – Former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid, also known as Gus Dur, was found guilty of defaming a former state official and was ordered to pay US$52,000 in compensation, court officials said yesterday.

Jakarta – Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto's proposal to disarm the nation's police has received a big thumbs down. Observers say that, if unarmed, the police would be dysfunctional and their lives placed in danger because of the number of hardcore criminals brandishing guns nowadays.

Jakarta – Leaders of oil-producing districts predicted potential trouble over a new oil and gas law as President Megawati Sukarnoputri courted oil barons in the United States, reports said Tuesday.

Edith M. Lederer, New York – Indonesia's president offered Tuesday to cooperate with the United States in fighting terrorism and warned that terrorists are making a "big mistake" if they think they can destroy America.

Jakarta – The police were again made a promise by fugitive Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, who has been on the run for more than 10 months, that the latter planned to surrender himself to them provided they could guarantee him both security and justice.

Jakarta – The National Police Headquarters announced on Friday a reshuffle involving 50 high-ranking police officers.

Jakarta – Groups of militant Indonesian Muslims on Sunday showed up at five international hotels in the Central Java city of Solo, demanding to know if any American citizens were staying there.

Six groups of Muslims, each of about 25 to 30 men, separately checked the five hotels and the city's airport, Detikcom online said. No US citizens were found.

Jakarta – A series of explosions rocked the parking lot of a busy shopping centre in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on Sunday morning, police said.

The blasts caused moderate damage but there were no immediate reports of injuries and the cause of the blasts was not known. A bomb exploded in the same shopping centre on August 1.

Jakarta – Hardline Muslim groups stepped up their anti-American campaign on Saturday, with several hundred Muslim students rallying in Surabaya, East Java, and Palu, Central Sulawesi, protesting US plans to wage war against Afghanistan.

Jakarta – Are there any strings attached to the promised military and financial aid from the United States? A number of analysts believe there are not.

Kupang – Of their own free will, hundreds of thousands of East Timorese who have been living in refugee camps in Indonesia's West Timor for the past two years, have now decided to return to their homeland following the successful general election in East Timor, held in a free, orderly and safe manner on August 30, 2001.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Militant human-rights activists selected as candidates for the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) are finding opposition within the splintered commission, as some members are not happy with their "pro-Western, anti-military, NGO-approach".