[East Timor is finally on the road to independence but there is still a long way to go. Following its first election, a constituent assembly is drafting the constitution that will decide this young nation's political future. For 25 years, the East Timorese associated politics with violence and killing. Adjusting to the idea that politics can be peaceful has been a struggle.

A former pro-Indonesian militia member has received a 16-year sentence from the Special Panel for Serious Crimes in Dili.

Richard Galpin, Jakarta – In Indonesia, a nation of almost 200 million Muslims, the radical fringe is getting increasingly angry with the US and its allies. Anti-US demonstrations have been getting steadily bigger as the US prepares for possible military action over the 11 September attacks on Washington and New York.

Jennifer Chen, Singapore – The Indonesian rupiah fell past 10,000 to the dollar for the first time since July 31 on Tuesday, trampled in a corporate rush to buy dollars.

Jakarta – Vice President Hamzah Haz on Tuesday urged Indonesians to respect a supreme court decision quashing a graft conviction and jail sentence on Tommy Suharto, fugitive son of the former dictator. But critics said Monday's ruling showed that law enforcement had become meaningless. About 150 students held a protest rally near the home of former president Suharto.

Timothy Mapes and Puspa Madani, Jakarta – Indonesia's Supreme Court overturned a graft conviction against Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the fugitive son of former President Suharto, in a surprise decision that underlined the problems this nation faces in grappling with years of rampant corruption.

Jakarta – In a sign of the changing times, the country commemorated on Monday what used to be called Pancasila Sanctity Day but has been renamed Commemoration of the National Tragedy due to the Betrayal of Pancasila".

Hundreds of protesters staged an anti-communism rally at the National Monument (Monas) Park in Central Jakarta on Sunday in commemoration of the bloody 1965 abortive coup, which is blamed on the now defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

Jakarta – Governor Sutiyoso pledged on Friday to continue operations aimed at maintaining order in the city despite the fact that they have not yet proved to be successful. Sutiyoso argued that the city administration would continue the operations because there had been a "significant improvement" in public order.

Jakarta – Hundreds of separatist rebels are still holding an airfield after attacking the town of Ilaga in the rugged central highlands of Irian Jaya and torching several buildings, Indonesia's military and police said Monday.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – United Nations officials are challenging Indonesia's stand on East Timor war crimes. They are demanding the handover of 10 men accused of a September 1999 massacre in which 65 unarmed civilians were killed. Classified as crimes against humanity, the killings occurred in East Timor's western Oecusse enclave on September 8-10, 1999.

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.