Chaidir Anwar Tanjung/GB, Jakarta – Caltex operations in Bengkalis, Riau, on Sumatra island, have been halted once again by disgruntled locals demanding employment at the oilfields. The situation seems to be deteriorating further as Caltex workers told the Riau Legislative Council that the company has discriminated against them in wage and contractual matters.

In August 1975, as the Suharto dictatorship was preparing to invade East Timor, Australia's ambassador to Indonesia, Richard Woolcott, sent a cable to Canberra urging compliance with Indonesia's plans to annex East Timor.

Jon Land – While little has been revealed about the discussions during the first formal round of negotiations between the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) and Australia on the future of the Timor Gap Treaty, the Australian government has made its position clear: it does not think that the terms of the treaty should change significantly (if at all) an

Jakarta – Indonesian forces shot dead three alleged rebels during armed clashes in the troubled province of Aceh in north Sumatra, as separatist representatives seek a team to probe the escalating violence there, reports said Wednesday.

[Who is a Free Aceh rebel, how does he operate, and what fuels Aceh's separatist war? Lee Kim Chew visited the guerilla bases in the strife-torn north Sumatran province to find out. This is the first of three articles.]

Chris McCall, Wamena – Police in Irian Jaya's remote Baliem Valley say they have removed all separatist Morning Star flags from the troubled region. Police chief Superintendent Daniel Suripatty vowed the flags would stay down permanently.

Tony Parkinson – Australia's role in the emancipation of East Timor was an ill-considered "frolic" that could easily have led to military humiliation, former governor-general Bill Hayden said last night.

Jakarta – Indonesia signalled its intention to crack down on bosses of failed banks yesterday, naming timber tycoon Mohamad "Bob" Hasan and two other businessmen as suspects in probes over the collapse of their financial institutions.

Jakarta – Hundreds of Islamic students protested Wednesday in front of the US Embassy in Jakarta, which suspended some services after receiving what was described as "a credible threat." Waving banners reading "Kill Jews" and "Israel, you are a devil," nearly 300 protesters chanted and denounced what they consider US support for the Jewish state.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Dangerous radioactive materials have been stolen from a factory warehouse in Java, the Indonesian Nuclear Energy Control Board (Bapeten) said yesterday.

Jakarta – Human Rights Watch called Tuesday on Indonesia to stop registering East Timorese refugees for repatriation or resettlement, saying there were no safeguards for them to chose freely whether they wanted to go home or not.

Vaudine England, Surabaya – A court yesterday ordered the release of East Timorese militia leader Eurico Guterres, who was originally arrested without a warrant and was seeking police protection because of actions issued against him overseas.

Taufik Subarkah/PT & Fitri, Jakarta – Around 300 prawn farmers from Dipasena Lampung in South Sumatra have staged a demonstration in front of the Presidential Palace, on Jl Medan Merdeka Utara, Tuesday. They are furious over President Abdurrahman Wahd's announcement to postpone the prosecution of Sjamsul Nursalim, the boss of PT Dipasenan.

Budi Sugiharto/Hendra & GB, Sidoarjo – Sidoarjo, Surabaya, East Java, was a hot-bed of destructive demonstrations after around 3,000 striking workers from Indonesian electrical goods producer PT Maspion were provoked by hired thugs at the factory and rioted.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Indonesia yesterday deported a United States citizen, accused of spying in Irian Jaya, as the US accused the Defence Minister of whipping up anti-American feelings.

Djoko Tjiptono/Hendra & GB, Jakarta – Chairman of the People's Democratic Party (PRD) Budiman Sudjatmiko met the National Ombudsman Commission and then went to the Supreme Court to protest the handling of the party's case against 13 high ranking military and civil officials who blamed the PRD for the 27 July 1996 incident.

Bandung – Before the law on regional autonomy is implemented in January next year, more than 2.6 of the 4.2 million central government employees will be transferred to provincial administrations, a minister said on Monday.

Jakarta – Some 800 people from seven Islamic organizations staged a rally in front of the National Police Headquarters on Monday, urging the police to immediately solve various high-profile crimes, particularly those allegedly related to President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Jakarta – Some 65 migrants were trapped in a hinterland town in Indonesia's separatist province of Irian Jaya after thousands of local tribesmen prevented them from leaving, a report said Monday.

Jakarta – Indonesia's top security minister on Monday defended the actions of police who shot dead separatist supporters during a protest in remote Irian Jaya province 17 days ago, sparking riots that killed 31 people.

Jakarta – Abortion is on the rise in Indonesia, especially among unmarried women, and has now reached an alarming level, a family planning group said yesterday.

Vaudine England – Excitement pervaded the airport at Sentani, near Irian Jaya's capital Jayapura. As tourists and missionaries tried to collect their luggage, suspense rippled through the crowd of indigenous Papuans.

Michael Perry, Sydney – Pro-Jakarta militia in Indonesian West Timor have abandoned hit and run attacks on East Timor and begun infiltrating deeper into the territory, the United Nation's senior official in East Timor said on Monday.

Melbourne – Church leaders from Australia and Irian Jaya called here Friday for an East Timor-style independence ballot to stop escalating violence in the troubled Indonesian province.

Banda Aceh – At least four civilians, including a five-year-old child, were killed and three others seriously injured in the latest violence in the restive Indonesian province of Aceh, police and residents said Sunday.

Jakarta – Noted rights activist Munir refused on Friday to help the government draft a revision of the Emergency Law and argued that such a lawis completely unnecessary.

Jakarta – The man spearheading the independence movement in Indonesia's Irian Jaya province on Saturday played down fears of further bloodshed in the remote area over flying the separatist Morning Star flag. "There will be no more bloodshed," Theys Eluay, chief of the Papua Praesidium Council, told AFP.

Robert Go, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid has announced temporary immunity from legal prosecution for three of Indonesia's biggest debtors in yet another controversial disclosure that is sure to draw fire from the country's angry legislators.

Susan Sim, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid has been telling insiders this new joke for some weeks now: "There are three bodies beginning with the initials A.S. which do not like me.

Jakarta – Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Mr Alwi Shihab, has said President Abdurrahman Wahid will probably postpone a working trip to Australia next month, ministry officials and reports said yesterday.

Michael Millett, Tokyo – The Australian official shrugged his shoulders: "Do you penalise a whole country for the activities of a bunch of thugs?"

Jakarta – Dozens of East Timorese militia members rallied at The Habibie Center on Jl. Kemang Selatan, South Jakarta, on Friday, demanding that its founder B.J. Habibie, who is also a former president, take responsibility for last year's ballot in the former province which led to its independence.

Joanna Jolly, Kupang and Vaudine England, Jakarta – Militia leaders fear betrayal in the ranks and suspect the Indonesian military will use other senior militiamen against them.

Yogyakarta – The Yogyakarta branch of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) sent a letter to the National Police Chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro on Friday, protesting the decision to promote Brig. Gen. Mulyono Sulaiman as Jakarta Police chief.

Anastasia Vrachnos, Jakarta – "Vasectomies! Vasectomies!" screams a bright-red poster in the white, shiny waiting room of the Family Clinic. But the words miss their mark. The men at whom they are aimed are outside, waiting for their wives in the parking lot of this small community clinic in the Jakarta neighborhood of Tebet.

Joanna Jolly, Kupang – East Timorese militia leaders in West Timor say they will meet all conditions set down by the United Nations, including facing justice, in order to return home.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Parliamentary Speaker Akbar Tandjung sought to downplay suggestions yesterday that he would team up as a running mate to Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri in the case of a leadership change. He said if President Abdurrahman Wahid were to fall, Ms Megawati, who is now Vice-President, would be his constitutional successor.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Indonesia's Parliamentary Speaker Akbar Tandjung said yesterday that it was very hard for the beleaguered President Abdurrahman Wahid to last out his term until 2004 given growing pressures in the legislature to oust him.

Jakarta – Jakartans saw at least three rallies, each of which had a different theme, in the capital on Thursday. But, they had one thing in common: they were all protesting President Abdurrahman Wahid's erratic personal behavior and political stances.

Elected on October 20, 1999 amid a growing division among people – especially between supporters of B.J. Habibie and those of Megawati Soekarnoputri – Abdurrahman, or Gus Dur, was the escape hatch. He was, for many, "the lesser" of several evils. Does this view still hold now? The Jakarta Post recently asked a number of people to "grade" Gus Dur's performance over thepast year.

Jakarta – An East Timorese militia leader claimed yesterday his life was in danger because he had threatened to expose details of the Indonesian army's involvement in last year's destruction of the territory.

Joanna Jolly, Kupang – Former Indonesian president Bacharuddin Habibie vowed to cleanse East Timor of "everything but ants" if it voted for independence, militia leaders claim.

The East Timorese militia holed up in West Timor say they are ready to release evidence implicating Mr Habibie and his generals in the destruction of East Timor in return for political asylum.

Budi Sugiharto/BI & GB, Surabaya – Around 15,000 workers from PT Maspion, an Indonesian electrical manufacturing company in Sidoarjo, Surabaya, East Java, have continued their strike action from Wednesday into Thursday demanding an increase in their meal and transport allowances.

Jakarta – Scepticism ran high in the Indonesian capital on Thursday at a reported claim by East Timorese ex-militiamen that former president BJ Habibie had personally ordered the violence in East Timor last year.

Michael Millett, Tokyo – International donors will provide another $US4.8 billion in aid for Indonesia, despite expressing serious misgivings about its political, economic and environmental performance over the past year.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Police have backed away from today's deadline for the lowering of separatist flags in West Papua, saying that any attempt to enforce it would have provoked more bloody clashes in the troubled Indonesian province.

John McBeth, Jakarta – Lenders are likely to have harsh words for Indonesia when they meet in Tokyo on October 17-18, if a promise to disarm and dismantle pro-Indonesian militias in West Timor isn't kept. The signs are not good. It has been five weeks since militia members hacked to death three United Nations workers in the border town of Atambua.

Titis Widyatmoko/Hendra & PT, Jakarta – Chairman of the People's Democratic Party (PRD) Budiman Sudjatmiko has met the National Ombudsman Commission, complaining about the continuing blundering process involving the civil case of 13 officials who have been charged for their involvement in the July 27 incident.

Jakarta – The government is revamping the State Intelligence Coordinating Board (Bakin) in order to gain accurate information and intelligence data, Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Wednesday. Susilo said Bakin would be given a new name, National Intelligence Agency (BIN).

Jakarta – Indonesia's underfunded military should be allowed to hold on to its vast business interests, as long it ensures they are more accountable and transparent, experts and military officials said Thursday.