Vaudine England – It is well-known that the armed forces of Indonesia have played a murky and repressive role at each vital moment in the country's modern history.
And it is also well-known that Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri is a reformist and popular leader, who grew into politics through her opposition to the military-backed regime of former president Suharto.
Kuala Lumpur – One-thousand-two-hundred illegal Indonesian workers boarded an Indonesian warship for deportation back to their country, Malaysia's national news agency Bernama and news reports said Monday.
Andreas Harsono, Jakarta – Hendra Putra said a final prayer at a Christmas vigil Mass on Sunday evening and offered a friend a ride home. Talking quietly, the two men headed to Putra's small Honda motorbike in a little parking area fenced with chicken wire, part of a Catholic school compound next to Jakarta's Church of St. Joseph.
Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid has left independence leaders in Indonesia's Irian Jaya province off the schedule of a two-day visit there which started Monday, a member of the pro-independence Papua Presidium said.
Jakarta – The Indonesian government has officially announced an average hike of 33.5 per cent in the monthly minimum wage in 24 provinces which is expected to become effective on January 1. The 24 provinces mentioned include the eight provinces where minimum wage increases were already announced last month.
Jakarta – The Indonesian government has postponed the registration of some 100,000 East Timorese refugees still langishing in squalid camps in Indonesian West Timor, the state Antara news agency said Saturday.
Haidir Anwar Tanjung/BI & GB, Pekan Baru – When the 'Laskar Jihad', or Jihad Warriors, of Riau on Sumatra island burned down 100 properties belonging to people they claimed were involved in prostitution during the holy fasting month, little did they know it would unleash a wave of violence in the broader community.
Hestiana Dharmastuti/Fitri & BI, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid's end year report card is apparently full of bad marks. The Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation has slammed Gus Dur – as the president is known – for unsuccessful leadership throughout the year 2000 and for manipulating the law to protect the powerful under former regimes.
Vaudine England, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid has failed to fulfil his promise to protect human rights and re mains hobbled by a reactionary old guard left over from the disgraced Suharto regime. The criticism comes in a year-end report by the Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy (Elsham), which awarded Mr Wahid low marks for his efforts.
Jakarta – The Catholic church in Indonesia's embattled Maluku islands has appealed to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for foreign troops to help contain the bloody two-year conflict between Muslims and Christians there.
Jakarta – Authorities have canceled the passport of the fugitive son of former President Suharto to prevent him from fleeing Indonesia, officials said Friday.
Louise Williams and agencies – The forced conversion of Christians to Islam in the violence-racked province of Maluku is part of a wider effort by the Indonesian military to discredit President Abdurrahman Wahid, the Uniting Church in Australia says.
Jakarta – Hundreds of Muslims burned Israeli and US flags in a spate of pro-Palestinian protests in six Indonesian cities including the capital yesterday, witnesses and the state Antara news agency said.
Marianne Kearney, Wamena – Mr Yesaya Oagai, sitting cross-legged before a group of men from nearby villages in the lush Baliem valley, wins a chorus of agreement when he holds forth on Indonesia's motivation for developing its most backward province – Irian Jaya, also known as West Papua.
Jakarta – Managers and owners of major cafes and entertainment venues in the Indonesian capital have hired guards to safeguard their businesses on New Year's Eve in anticipation of possible attacks by Muslim groups.
Warren Caragata, Jakarta – Syahril Sabirin is back at work after six months away, and there's something of a celebration on. Jacket tossed over his shoulder, Indonesia's mild-mannered banking chief wades through a crowd of central bank employees welcoming him back like some dear uncle. The odd thing is, he's just spent half a year under house arrest, on charges of corruption.
Mark Dodd, Dili – Christmas brings out the best in the East Timorese. Last year, despite the misery and destruction inflicted by the militia and their Indonesian army backers, even the poorest shanty town dwellers could scrounge enough material to build a nativity scene.
Jakarta – Indonesian shares, which dropped 1.7 percent in value in the last trading week of the year and around 35 percent for the year, will need a strong breakthrough and sound government economic policies to attract players next year, analysts said Friday.
Jakarta – Indonesia's first democratically-elected president, under flak for failing to lead the nation out of its crippling problems, faces a decisive year ahead as pressure grows for his ouster.
Vaudine England, Jakarta – Indonesian police are investigating a bomb found in a hospital bathroom in Yogyakarta, central Java, which the royal capital's reigning sultan blamed on provocateurs.
Tomi Soetjipto, Banda Aceh – Fear and despair have returned to haunt Indonesia's rebellious province of Aceh.
With a military crackdown looming, the chilling prospect is more bloodshed, a hardening of hatred towards Jakarta and growing calls for independence that will severly undermine President Abdurrahman Wahid's efforts to bring peace to his giant country.
Jakarta – Independence leaders jailed on subversion charges in Indonesia's remote Irian Jaya province have vowed to reject any attempt by President Abdurrahman Wahid or police to release them from prison early, a lawyer for the detainees said Thursday.
Jakarta – A soldier was mobbed to death in the remote town of Tiom, Irian Jaya, some 80 kilometers south of Wamena, following a dispute between officers and locals over the pulling down of the Morning Star separatist flag, an official said on Wednesday.
Chris McCall, Jakarta – Detained independence activist Muhammad Nazar has a simple message for Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid: turn up the heat on Aceh and you may stir up a war you cannot win.
Jakarta – Muslim youth leaders on Friday joined a plea by lawyers and rights advocates for police to stop allowing violent vigilante raids on Indonesian nightspots in the name of Islam go unpunished.
"Violence, in any name, is nothing but intentional destruction," Imam Addaruqudni, head of the 30-million strong Muhammadiyah youth wing, told a joint media conference here.
Sadanand Dhume, Jakarta – Whoever thinks central banks are dull and stodgy probably hasn't been to Indonesia recently. Take, for instance, the latest drama to be enacted in Jakarta's corridors of power. On December 6, Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin strode back into his office after nearly six months of house arrest on unproven corruption charges.
Devi Asmarani, Banda Aceh – Were there a rating system for a presidential mission to a conflict-torn area, President Abdurrahman Wahid's visit to Aceh on Tuesday would probably have got a borderline pass. It was not a complete failure, but was far from a great success.
Vaudine England, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid's comments in Aceh belie how wide the gulf is between him and much of his Government and how little room he has to manoeuvre.
Susan Sim, Jakarta – The first Cabinet of President Abdurrahman Wahid had been in place barely one week before he began telling aides he wanted to sack some of them.
His second, hand-picked Cabinet is enjoying, it would appear, a longer lifespan: Talk of its reshuffle only began in earnest last week, some 15 weeks after it was sworn in.
Jakarta – Former pro-Indonesia militia leaders from East Timor's Baucau district are preparing for a one-day visit to their homeland to see whether it's safe enough to bring 6,000 refugees home, their leader said Wednesday.
Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will disburse its next loan tranche to Indonesia only after the House of Representatives completes a crucial amendment of the central bank law, Minister of Finance Prijadi Praptosuhardjo said on Tuesday.
Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Australia has with held from United Nations prosecutors hundreds of hours of secret communication intercepts, which implicate dozens of people, including former armed forces chief General Wiranto, in last year's violence in East Timor.
Jakarta – Despite facing threats of violent protest, the government will continue with its plan to dissolve the civilian guards of the People's Security (Kamra) on Wednesday. "Due to the National Police's tight agenda for its year-end activities, Kamra will officially be dissolved tomorrow (Wednesday)," spokesman for the Ministry of Defense for foreign cooperation Commodore A.F.M.
Jakarta – East Timor militia leader Eurico Guterres will open the new year unlike any other as he faces court proceedings against him on January 2. He is charged with involvement in the seizure of weapons from an Atambua police station in East Nusa Tenggara in September.
Hamish McDonald – The Indonesian Government is hoping the new administration of George W. Bush will quickly end the American arms embargo that threatens to cripple its armed forces.
It also hopes for an end to the public criticism of its approach to militia violence in Timor and other human rights questions by the United States ambassador in Jakarta, Mr Robert Gelbard.
Jakarta – The youngest daughter of former Indonesian leader Suharto was sentenced yesterday to a 10-day suspended jail term for failing to report the loss of a pistol.
Christine T. Tjandraningsih, Jakarta – Despite offers of reconciliation from Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, novelist Pramoedya Ananta Toer, who spent 14 years in prison under the repressive Suharto regime for "communist activities," said Tuesday reconciliation is impossible.
Hestiana Dharmastuti/BI & GB, Jakarta – Around 50 female activists under the auspices of Indonesian Women's Solidarity (SPI) staged a rally at the famous Hotel Indonesia roundabout in the heart of Jakarta to commemorate International Migrant Workers' Day.
John Martinkus, Banda Aceh – Handing out gruesome photographs of Acehnese shot point-blank in the head in recent violence, Free Aceh Movement (GAM) representative Zulfani saw nothing positive in the visit today of Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid to Aceh.
Tomi Soetjipto, Banda Aceh – Wearing a bullet-proof vest, Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid visited the bloodied province of Aceh on Tuesday and urged separatists to join in developing the country.
Banda Aceh – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid visited the troubled province of Aceh on Tuesday and pledged to continue talks with separatist rebels after a truce expires next month.
Mark Dodd – East Timor independence leader Jose "Xanana" Gusmao has called for international support for a South African-style truth and reconciliation commission as the best means of achieving peace for his country.
MMI Ahyani/BI & GB, Bandung – Rather than receive the end of the year bonus enjoyed by millions of others, workers from the PT Warna Indah Samajaya (WIS) textile factory have been threatened with dismissal, apparently for forming a union. In protest, the workers arrived at the West Java Provincial Legislative Council Monday.
Jakarta – Indonesian police have returned cash and valuables taken from students during raids in the wake of a separatist attack in the eastern province of Irian Jaya, a rights advocate said Monday.
Jakarta – The Financial Sector Policy Committee (FSPC) has issued a new ruling that will provide a legal basis for creditors to accelerate debt restructuring procedures for their debtors.
Auckland – Australia does not want Indonesia to break up and is strongly opposed to its various separatist movements, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said here Saturday.
Downer and his New Zealand counterpart Phil Goff completed a day of talks here which included discussions on the worsening situation in the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya.
Jakarta – Indonesian police have warned hard-line Muslim gangs raiding and smashing bars, discos and red-light areas in and around the capital, that they had gone too far.
Kereng Pangi – Unrest broke out in Kereng Pangi, Katingan Hilir district, Kotawaringin Timur regency, Central Kalimantan on Saturday, leaving two migrants in critical condition.
Antara reported that some 100 Dayak ethnics attacked the houses of migrants at Kereng Pangi, some 100 kilometers from the Central Kalimantan capital of Palangkaraya, early Saturday morning.
Agence France Presse in Jakarta – A human rights worker in the troubled Irian Jaya province was arrested yesterday for discrediting police by publicising the killing of three students by police, a fellow activist said.
Jakarta – The Army Chief General Endriartono Sutarto yesterday said police have not been able to fight a separatist movement in Aceh. Speaking in the Central Java capital of Semarang, he said an immediate military operation could be the only way to end the bloodshed in the troubled province.