Padang – Influential Indonesian Moslem leader Amien Rais on Friday backed a referendum on the future of East Timor. Rais, leader of the 28-million-strong Islamic group Muhammadiyah, said a referendum could be held under the supervision of international agencies.

Jakarta – Since Monday June 29, thousands of traders in the village of Kerang Tengah, in the sub-district of Ciledung, Tangerang, have occupied nine hectors of land owned by PT Bogasari. The same thing was done by thousands of traders from North Jakarta on land owned by PT Subentra in the village of Harjamukti Cimanggis in Bogor, West Java.

Jakarta – Indonesia's leading independent trade union has called off all planned demonstrations following appeals from the public and businessmen, its leader said on Thursday.

Irwan Firdaus, Dili – A military court sentenced an Indonesian soldier to 10 years in prison Thursday for killing an East Timorese civilian. Prosecutors accused 2nd Sgt. Slamet, 23, of shooting Herman dos Dores Soares on June 16 in the town of Manatuto, 37 miles east of Dili. They said the victim had been collecting wood by a roadside.

Jakarta – The Ministry of Manpower announced yesterday it will increase minimum wages by an average of 15 percent from August 1. The move is intended to arrest the decline in real wages caused by soaring inflation, Director General of Industrial Relations and Labor Standards Mohammad Syaufii Samsuddin said.

Andrew Marshall, Jakarta – Indonesia is on the edge of an abyss. The country is lurching towards economic disintegration, analysts say, and the only thing that can halt its catastrophic decline is a return of the investor confidence which collapsed last year to set the crisis in motion.

Margot Cohen, Pekanbaru, Riau – A tribal leader reaches over to grasp the gnarled, arthritic hand of a local elder. He straightens one finger and holds it upright. "This is good politics," he announces to the illiterate men, women and children crouched around him on the bare wooden floor. They nod their heads and smile shyly.

[In July we interviewed Muhammad Ma'ruf, chief-editor of Pembebasan-Liberation, paper of the Indonesian PRD.]

What is the meaning of the May unrest in Indonesia which led to the downfall of Suharto?

[Belgian trade union activist Mark Slane visited Indonesia in July. These are his impressions on the development of the working class movement after the May events.]

Jakarta – Troops yesterday opened fire with rubber bullets on more than 1,000 workers who were demonstrating for better pay and conditions at a steel factory in Jakarta's Bekasi district, slightly injuring 23 people, residents and police said.

Jakarta – President BJ Habibie has recalled 41 People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) members, part of whom were former high-ranking government officials in former president Soeharto's administration.

Jenny Grant, Jakarta – Activists and parliamentarians yesterday welcomed a compromise offer from East Timorese independence leader Jose Ramos-Horta on the future of the disputed territory.

Jakarta – Hundreds rioted against a local leader on an eastern Indonesian island on Monday, as sporadic violence hit the country for the second day, news reports said yesterday.

In July we interviewed Muhammad Ma'ruf, chief-editor of Pembebasan-Liberation, paper of the Indonesian PRD.

What is the meaning of the May unrest in Indonesia which led to the downfall of Suharto?

Jakarta – Minister of Defense and Security Affairs/Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto admitted yesterday he is still personally close to former president Soeharto but insisted the relationship did not influence Armed Forces decision-making.

Jakarta – Police and soldiers fired rubber bullets on thousands of steel workers staging a violent protest in a West Java town Tuesday, injuring dozens of people.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – Indonesian intelligence officers opened fire on East Timorese demonstrators during a visit by three European Union ambassadors to the coastal town of Baucau yesterday, as anti-Indonesian street rallies escalated across the contested territory.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – Indonesian soldiers were involved in the disappearances of pro-democracy activists earlier this year, the Commander of the Armed Forces, General Wiranto, has conceded after months of official denials that the military was linked to the abductions, torture and illegal detentions.

Jakarta – Government officials and entrepreneurs involved in corruption, collusion and nepotism are parking their money overseas, a newspaper here has reported.

Christopher Torchia, Jakarta – When traffic lights blink red at big intersections, beggars, vendors and street musicians swarm around cars, insistently tapping on rolled-up windows. Cadgers abound now in Jakarta, the jobless victims of a yearlong economic crisis in Asia that refuses to let up. Most evenings, two dozen hustlers jostle on a curb near a cluster of luxury hotels.

Indonesian military along with the Governor Abilio Jose Osorio, forced civilian population, civil-servants and young boys to hold a counter demonstration during the time of Europe Union Ambassadors Delegation visit. All companies and businessman have to provide their cars, without exception for the transportation of demonstrators.

Jakarta – Indonesia's parliament Monday approved a proposal to hold a special session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to change electoral laws and set the date for general elections. The proposal was made by President B.J. Habibie.

Sander Thoenes, Jakarta – Indonesia will need to use taxpayers' money to bail out some of its banks, further depleting a budget already saddled with an 8.5 per cent deficit, according to a senior International Monetary Fund official.

Dili – Security concerns forced three European Union (EU) ambassadors to abandon plans Sunday to attend a mass and visit a university in East Timor, protocol officials said. The change in plans followed clashes in the capital Dili on Saturday between pro-and anti-Indonesian East Timorese around the arrival of the visitors in the troubled former Portuguese colony.

Dili - With the delegation of European Union Ambassadors having set foot on Dili, East Timor's capital, less than an hour on Saturday, riots started in this city of some 170,000 inhabitants. Stone-throwing bouts broke out in the heart of the city between pro-integration plus pro-autonomy groups and those demanding a referendum.

London – During the past week, the Habibie regime has announced two measures which it hopes will persuade the international community that it is dedicated to upholding human rights and to a switch in policy towards East Timor. On Friday 24 July, the Justice Minister Muladi announced the release of fifty political prisoners.

North Sumatra – Members of the parliamentary (DPR) fact-finding team in Aceh held a meeting at the office of the NGO, WALHI, in Bandar Aceh to receive testimony from victims of violations in Aceh. They were moved to tears from some of the testimony they heard.

Dili – Thousands of people shouting "independence or death" on Sunday mobbed a three-man European Uniondelegation in troubled East Timor, witnesses said. The chanting crowd, estimated at some 6,000 and made up mostly of students and youths, ran alongside and behind the car carrying the three ambassadors.

[This is the detailed chronology of events from June 27-June 29, from the EU Ambassadors' visit to Dili to the tragic shootings in Baucau. The following information was supplied to East Timor International Support Centre by Yayasan Hak (Rights Foundation). The original report was in Bahasa Indonesia - ETISC.]

Dili – Indonesian troops shot dead one man and seriously wounded two others when rival groups of protesters clashed in a town in East Timor Saturday, witnesses said.

Jakarta – Indonesia's government has confiscated millions of dollars of reforestation funds from firms associated with former President Suharto, a senior minister said yesterday. Forestry and Plantations Minister Muslimin Nasution said the funds were retrieved after an investigation into the way the previous administration had re-routed money into Suharto-linked firms.

Jakarta – Megawati Soekarnoputri tops the list by a big margin in a nationwide survey asking people about who they would like to be president. The survey, organized by the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI)'s camp loyal to Megawati, was advertised in various local newspapers last week.

By John McBeth and Michael Vatikiotis in Jakarta – With the army's newfound support, President B.J. Habibie has a stronger chance of guiding his country along the tortuous course of political and economic reform. The following stories look at the challenges he faces, introduce the aides who have refurbished his image, and point to some powerful friends in Malaysia and Germany.

Jakarta – Political forces loyal to former president Soeharto have enormous financial resources at their disposal to engineer a legitimate comeback during the coming elections, politician Soegeng Sarjadi warned here yesterday.

Jakarta – Some 50 people attacked and looted a shopping centre in Indonesia's East Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo on Thursday after a protest rally turned violent, the official Antara news agency reported.

Jakarta – What would be the right present for Habibie on his 62nd birthday? A demonstration. That is what around 200 pro-democracy activists under the banner of the Committee for Total Reform (Komite Reformasi Total, KRT), gave him on Thursday morning (25/6), in front of his residence at Jl. Patra 14, Kuningan Jakarta.

Jakarta – About 500 students staged a protest at the headquarters of Golkar yesterday, calling for the expulsion of two children of former president Soeharto from the dominant political organization.

Muchtar Pakpahan, chair of the SBSI, the Indonesian Prosperity Labour Union has plans to set up a National Workers Party to take on board the political aspirations of workers throughout Indonesia. He has asked Megawati Sukarnoputri to head this party.

Surabaya – The Indonesian army more than doubled its presence at a strike-hit Surabaya factory complex on Thursday as a separate union protest gathered around the local parliament.

Grainne Mccarthy, Jakarta – Indonesia's fourth agreement with the International Monetary Fund was greeted with resounding silence in financial markets Thursday, with many analysts dismissing its budgetary targets as still far too unrealistic.

[Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) released the following statement on June 25.]

Martin McLaughlin – Tens of thousands of Indonesian workers have joined in strikes and protests against the military-backed regime and the policies of crippling economic austerity imposed at the dictates of the International Monetary Fund and the US government.

Dili – An estimated 50,000 people paraded through the streets of the East Timor capital yesterday in a motorcade protest calling for reform and dialogue on the future of the troubled territory, witnesses said.

Lewa Pardomuan, Dili – East Timorese reacted coolly on Wednesday to a meeting between the territory's Bishop Carlos Belo and Indonesian President B.J. Habibie and said fresh protests demanding a referendum on independence would be held on Thursday.

Jakarta – Minister of Justice Muladi reminds that the political detainees and prisoners who have been released should refrain from political actions which can disturb public security and order. In a state based on law, freed political detainees/prisoners are not immune to law and can be caught again if they violate the law.

Palu – Indigenous people from eight villages in Central Sulawesi and local student and NGO activists went to the Administrative Assembly in the provincial capital on Monday 22nd June. The representation of 75 people, led by Ruslan Sangadji, carried posters and banners in the name of the 'Action Committee of the People of Central Sulawesi for Land Law Reform'.

The recent success of Pauline Hanson's racist One Nation party in the Queensland elections presents new challenges for the progressive movement. Her repeated lie that the "white Anglo-Saxon male" is the most oppressed sector of Australian society is a statement which is inherently racist and anti-woman.

Jakarta – Jakarta Military Commander Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said yesterday that his forces would clamp down hard on any workers staging street demonstrations.

Jose Manuel Tesoro, Jakarta – The wealthy Chinese residential neighborhood of Pluit Timur emerged mostly unscathed from the May 13-15 Jakarta riots. Its residents want to keep it that way. On June 16, workers were binding long sticks of wood with barbed wire to form barricades.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – Armed soldiers fanned out across Jakarta today as a key labor leader threatened to launch a new wave of protests from Wednesday. Dr Muchtar Pakpahan called for a "reconciliation dialogue" between the Habibie Government and reform groups and the release of all remaining political prisoners.