Washington DC – The United States government has pledged to assist President Megawati Soekarnoputri's government in building a stable, united and democratic Indonesia, according to a joint statement between the two countries' leaders here Wednesday night.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – The election victory on August 30 of Fretilin, the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor, sent UN and World Bank officials in Dili into an instant policy huddle which lasted three weeks.

East Timor's Constituent Assembly has been sworn in this week following a peaceful election at the end of August. All but two of the country's 16 political parties won seats in the new assembly which now has just 90 days to write a constitution for the country's future governance.

Dili – The UN peacekeeping force (PKF) in East Timor and Indonesia's military have signed an agreement on sharing information and coordinating military activity along the border between the UN-administered territory and Indonesian-ruled West Timor, a PKF spokesman said Friday.

John Aglionby, Jakarta – The United Nations' transitional administrator in East Timor, Sergio Vieirade Mello, appointed the territory's first entirely East Timorese government yesterday to lead the fledgling country to full independence next year.

Jakarta – Bribery is so rife in Indonesia's parliament that legislators consider the system to be normal, a report said Friday.

Jakarta – Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network has supplied money and weapons for Indonesians and other Islamic fighters waging a "holy war" against Christians in the Malukus, an expert said Friday.

Jakarta – Sales of T-shirts bearing the picture of Muslim militant Osama bin Laden have surged in Indonesia, home of the world's largest Islamic population, since Washington named him as its chief suspect in last week's attacks.

Jakarta – Some 30 Muslim students set fire to two US flags outside the US consulate in Indonesia's second largest city of Surabaya Thursday during a protest against any plans to attack Afghanistan, police said.

Christine T. Tjandraningsih, Dili – UN-administered East Timor's transitional government Thursday swore a new cabinet comprised mostly of figures from a long-established political party that won last month's election.

Dili – The following is the lineup of the new cabinet of East Timor's transitional government.

Jakarta – Vigilante justice rules the streets of an Indonesian city near here, with at least 42 suspected petty criminals burnt alive or beaten to death by mobs so far this year. Criminologists say the attacks reflect a widespread loss of faith in the police and the justice system. Police say they do not condone the lynchings but can do little to prevent them.

Agencies in Jakarta and Baradan Kuppusamy in Kuala Lumpur – A radical Indonesian Muslim group said yesterday it would attack the US Embassy and seek the expulsion of Americans in Jakarta if Washington carried out revenge strikes against any Islamic nation.

Jakarta – An elite Indonesian army unit has sacked two top officers as well as 20 soldiers from the battalion following a deadly street battle with police in an East Java town. Lieutenant-General Ryamizard Ryacudu, chief of the Kostrad strategic reserve, ordered the sackings.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Indonesia's commitment to prosecuting human-rights cases in East Timor has come under fire following revelations that it has apparently stopped its probe into the 1999 murder of a Dutch journalist, possibly by Indonesian troops.

Jakarta – Indonesia expects to have repatriated 190,000 East Timorese refugees, currently still living in East Nusa Tenggara province, by the end of 2002, a minister said on Wednesday.

"So far, an average of 10,000 refugees are being sent back to their homeland every month," Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla said as quoted by Antara.

Jakarta – At least 500 East Timorese members of Indonesia's armed forces have resigned to return to their homeland, a report said Wednesday.

Tangerang – Vigilantes here are increasingly regarded as more effective in curbing crime than the police.

Violent mobs have killed at least 42 criminals in the last nine months, while police turn a blind eye and even seem to applaud the bravery of residents who kill criminals.

Jakarta – Muslim communities in Indonesia are playing down a call for a jihad by Taliban rulers in Afghanistan against the United States should the US attack Middle East countries.

East Timor's new parliament convened Tuesday for its second session to choose deputy speakers, following Monday's election of Fretilin party leader Francisco Guterres (Lu-Olo) as speaker.

Proceedings were interrupted for several minutes due to an earth tremor, which was felt throughout East Timor. When the session continued, the two deputy speakers were elected.

Seth Mydans, Dili – They are the new missionaries. Steeped in the values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, they travel from one emerging nation to another to share their gospel.

Jakarta – Two civilians were shot dead yesterday when police battled soldiers in the streets of an East Java town after a dispute at a petrol station.

Jakarta – Preliminary questioning of alleged bombers revealed that they planted bombs to incite terror and sow hatred between people of different religions in the country, an officer said on Saturday. "So far we've had a confession that the arrested bombers wanted to see people of different religions blaming and fighting each other," Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr.

Jakarta – A senior UN refugee official rapped Indonesian authorities Monday for failing to properly punish the "cold-blooded" killers of three of its staff.

Christine T. Tjandraningsih, Dili – Francisco Guterres, a veteran of East Timor's long struggle for independence, was elected the territory's first speaker of the Constituent Assembly on Monday.

Jakarta – Indonesia's vice president, a leading Muslim politician, urged the United States not to make Muslims a scapegoat for last week's terror attacks, which he said could help atone for Washington's past sins.

Jakarta – Labor unions have called on the government to ratify the international convention on the protection and rights of all migrant workers and their families to help safeguard Indonesian migrants working overseas.

Lindsay Murdoch, Bali – Eight children and their parents, who were separated at the height of violence in East Timor two years ago, have been reunited after a year-long tug-of-war with pro-Jakarta Timorese activists. The children, part of a group of 130 aged between seven and 16, have been living in Indonesian orphanages.

Jakarta – Labour activists are sceptical about the government's resolve to weed out corrupt airport officials, and believe that any plan to prevent them from extorting money from returning Indonesian migrant workers will be futile.

Jakarta – Indonesian police are under fire again, this time for using cars and motorcycles impounded as criminal evidence. During an internal raid at the Jakarta Police headquarters last month, 32 cars and 52 motorcycles were recovered as the vehicles – meant for crime evidence – were being used by policemen.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Simmering differences are emerging between President Megawati Sukarnoputri and her generals on how to resolve the bloody conflict in Aceh. Both sides share the aim of keeping the restive province within the Indonesian fold.

Banda Aceh – At least 11 people were killed in an armed clash in strife-torn Aceh on Wednesday night, local police said.

Medan – More than 500 families of Acehnese who fled clashes between separatist rebels and the military have encroached on Gunung Leuser National Park, a non-governmental organization reported on Friday.

Mark Dodd, Tumin – On a barren ridge just outside the village of Tumin, hundreds gathered last weekend to commemorate one of the most shocking mass murders that occurred in the violence following East Timor's 1999 referendum.

Vaudine England in Jakarta – Children snatched from refugee camps in East Timor and taken to central Java two years ago were reunited with their parents yesterday.

Independence hero Xanana Gusmao also welcomed home the families of former pro-Indonesian militiamen. His move came as mass refugee returns resumed across the border with Indonesian West Timor.

Dili – The UN administration in East Timor on Saturday inaugurated the newly elected assembly that will draft the territory's first constitution, bringing it one step closer to full independence.

The 88-member assembly, which was voted in last month, will have three months to draft the charter and adopt East Timor's new political system.

Pontianak – A teenager has been sentenced to seven years in jail for inciting clashes between Madurese refugees and local Dayaks in Pontianak.

The ethnic clashes claimed four lives, injured many others, and resulted in a badminton hall sheltering 120 refugees being razed to the ground.

Jakarta – The agency tasked to audit the wealth of civil servants is apprehensive about looking into the wealth of top officials.

Kupang – The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has decided to reopen its base in West Timor to help channel humanitarian aid to some 290,000 East Timorese refugees currently settling in West Timor, East Nusa Tenggara.

Jakarta – In a gesture of reconciliation, East Timor's independence hero Xanana Gusmao welcomed home the families of former pro-Jakarta militiamen Friday as mass refugee returns resumed across the border with Indonesian West Timor.

Jakarta – Most of the soft drinks and snacks sold in Indonesia's elementary school canteens use textile dyes and are contaminated with the E. coli bacteria, which causes worm-related diseases, a report said.

Jakarta – City police have apprehended 10 people, including a Malaysian, for their alleged involvement in the blast at Plaza Atrium, a shopping mall in Senen, Central Jakarta, an officer said on Thursday.

Ian Timberlake, Dili – Police officers in smart blue uniforms confidently direct traffic. Newly refurbished government buildings sparkle with white paint, and a constituent assembly will be sworn in tomorrow following East Timor's first democratic elections.

Tomi Soetjipto, Jakarta – Muslim leaders in Indonesia, the world's largest Islamic nation, have joined the international outrage over the terror attacks against the United States, but warned the world to avoid an anti-Muslim backlash.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The hard-fought battle over the proposed sale of Indonesia's largest retail bank appears indicative of the concessions the Megawati Sukarnoputri government will have to continually make to win over supposedly friendly legislators.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – A battle is brewing in Parliament over a move to amend the constitution to enable Indonesians to directly vote for their President and Vice-President by the 2004 elections.

Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday described Parliament's approval of the sale of a 51 per cent government stake in Indonesia's largest private retail bank as an important milestone in economic reforms of the country.

Dili – Opposition leaders in East Timor criticized the United Nations on Thursday for favoring one political party and not creating the framework for democracy in their fledgeling nation.

[The following is the officially certified list of East Timorese who were elected to the Constituent Assembly on the August 30 ballot. Some of these people will probably be selected to serve in the cabinet, in which case they must resign from the Assembly. The next-ranking person on the slate of the party they were elected under will fill the vacancy. The assembly has 88 seats.

Jakarta – A senior East Timor official said on Wednesday that the country would not prosecute the alleged human rights violations by Indonesian Military (TNI) troops in the international court of justice.