Jakarta – The United States on Wednesday expressed "deep concern" over the sudden disappearance of a US-based human rights activist in the Indonesian city of Medan last Saturday.

Banda Aceh – A separatist leader in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province has vowed to minimize the group's armed struggle and adopt more diplomatic means to achieve independence.

Abdullah Syafiie, charismatic army chief of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), said a truce signed in May by the separatists and the Indonesian government constituted a partial victory for the rebels.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid has agreed to extend the cease-fire with separatist rebels in Aceh province for three more months, a Cabinet minister said Wednesday.

Representatives of the government and the Free Aceh Movement have been holding talks in Switzerland about extending the June 2 truce that was due to expire in September.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid is a politician who thrives on chaos. Remember how he disposed of General Wiranto early this year.

Jakarta – The following is a brief chronology of the main events in Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid's nine months in power.

Wahid announced Wednesday that he would hand day-to-day running of the government to vice president Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The majority of Indonesia's legislators indicated yesterday that they would give President Abdurrahman Wahid more time to prove his ability to govern the trouble-ridden country. But they remained critical of the President's progress report in his long-awaited "state of the union address" at the national assembly.

Jakarta – The key turning point yesterday for seasoned observers was not so much the applause President Abdurrahman Wahid received from legislators for his two apologies, but the interjections from the floor even before he spoke.

Bandung – Indonesia called on Monday for a review of the World Trade Organization's (WTO) antidumping regulations, saying that these regulations have been manipulated by industrialized countries to become protectionist measures.

Jakarta – Representatives of about 20 non-government organizations yesterday visited parliament to convey their disgust with legislators for failing to terminate the militarys hallowed role in politics.

Geoff Spencer, Jakarta – In an apologetic speech, President Abdurrahman Wahid on Monday promised lawmakers he would prevent fierce sectarian and separatist conflicts from tearing Indonesia apart.

Admitting his shortcomings, the embattled Wahid pledged in a state of the nation address "to find out what we want for our country and what our country should be."

Vaudine England – The celebration was traditional, but Abdurrahman Wahid's 60th birthday party at the Cipanas presidential palace was not, perhaps, as reflective as it should have been.

Well-known Toko Buku Wali Songo, a bookstore on Jalan Kwitang in central Jakarta, is piled to the ceiling with religious books. From the Quran and its translations to works on the Syariah (Islamic laws) and so forth, apart from the Islamic peripherals such as the sejadah (praying mat) and framed Quranic verses.

Simon Mann, London – A British political consultant, hired to help lift the deteriorating public image of President Abdurrahman Wahid of Indonesia, has quit after his methods came under scrutiny.

Washington – The United States has reaffirmed its position that rooting out graft is key to economic growth following Jakarta's move to charge former president Suharto with corruption.

Geneva – Representatives of the Indonesian government and separatist rebels in the Aceh province met yesterday to assess the success of the ongoing three-month truce.

President Abdurrahman Wahid has proposed prolonging the unprecedented truce, which came into effect on June 2 after negotiations between the two sides in Geneva.

Jakarta – More than 2,000 Christians fleeing attacks by Muslim fighters in their village have been evacuated from mountainous jungle in eastern Indonesia's Maluku islands.

Jakarta – Indonesia's national assembly will Monday open its first annual session as analysts dismiss the meeting as unnecessary and its agenda as too ambitious.

Jakarta – Embattled Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid's long-awaited accountability speech will be the main order of business on Monday at the country's top legislature, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). Following are details of the 700- seat MPR, which will convene from August 7-18 at a cost of 25 billion rupiah ($2.9 million):

Jay Solomon, Jakarta – The Indonesian state is facing $16 billion in potential losses due to the misuse of emergency loans extended to a number of prominent business groups during this nation's financial crisis, a report by the government's Supreme Audit Agency said.

For 30 years, West Papua has been terrorised and plundered by its conquerors. Now the hill tribes are fighting back, reports Ian Williams

Erson Wenda stands on a ridge above the remote Baliem Valley, gesturing wildly with his arms, tears in his eyes. "The soldiers came from over there. They took people from my village, tying their hands, and brought them to these holes."

Jakarta – The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) announced here on Friday a higher than expected growth rate in the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter but business analysts warned that the fragile condition in the political field could drag down the upward trend in the economy.

Joanna Jolly, Dili – Ethnic-Chinese businessmen trying to re-establish East Timor's economy have become a target for hostility and extortion by the local community.

The Chinese are re-starting the profitable wholesale, retail and supply operations they ran before last year's independence vote, but face strong opposition from indigenous East Timorese.

Don Greenlees, Jakarta – Jaya Suprana is the rotund and very jolly host of a talk show on an Indonesian television channel owned by ex-president Suharto's eldest daughter, Siti Hardiyanti "Tutut" Rukmana.

Jakarta – Forced to flee their homes by rampaging Muslim militants, hundreds of Christian refugees sheltering in remote mountains in the Maluku islands are facing starvation, international aid workers said Saturday.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Prosecutors say they will be ready to deliver a detailed indictment of former president Suharto on corruption charges in a Jakarta courtroom on Monday. But independent corruption investigators say the legal process is a sham.

Jakarta – More than 95 percent of the 144.5 trillion rupiah (16.8 billion dollars) of central bank liquidity credits extended to Indonesian institutions between 1997-1999 were misused, press reports said Saturday.

Dili – UN peacekeepers in East Timor are now facing a well trained and disciplined anti-independence militia force that continues to use Indonesian-West Timor as a safe haven, Australia's visiting defense minister said Friday.

Jose Manuel Tesoro, Jakarta – There can often be more than one Abdurrahman Wahid. There is Wahid the brave idealist, whose belief in political reconciliation rivals his convictions on religious freedom. There is Wahid the cunning strategist, for whom there is no difference between allies and rivals.

Dewi Loveard, Jakarta – Shortly before Gus Dur (as President Abdurrahman Wahid is popularly known) was to face parliament in the interpellation session, he made an unexpected announcement to his cabinet: His partner, Megawati Sukarnoputri, would read his response to the parliamentarians' questions about the sacking of former ministers Laksamana Sukardi and Jusuf Kalla.

Tom Wright, Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid will likely survive a grilling by the nation's highest legislative body next week, but he will need to make major changes to his leadership style to avoid impeachment later this year, analysts say.

Jakarta – A combination of incompetence and legacies from past regimes are inhibiting the government from upholding the law and protecting human rights, a watchdog chairman said on Thursday.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Significant though the corruption charges filed yesterday against former president Suharto are, his forthcoming trial barely scratches the surface of the bundle of crimes most Indonesians believe he committed.

The need for military support by the government and internal rivalry led to the latest military reshuffle, says military analyst Kusnanto Anggoro of the Jakarta-based Centre of Strategic and International Studies.

Dikhy Sasra/SWA, Jakarta – Approaching the Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly on 7-18 August 2000, demonstrations are becoming more frequent. The Presidential Office, located on Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara, Central Jakarta, was today the target of demonstrators from the National League of Democratic Students (LMND).

John McBeth, Jakarta – The sight of an elected president defying members of parliament who helped put him in office is hardly an advertisement for democracy.

L Hakim, I Shalihin/SWA & AH, Jakarta – Although former president Suharto's case file has been handed over to the Public Prosecutor, demonstrators from infamous City Forum (Forkot) , LMND, City Network (Jarkot) and Karat groups are not satisfied. Today they marched to Suharto's residence on the famous Cendana Street, demanding Suharto be put on trial right away.

The decision announced today by the Indonesian government that Suharto, the former dictator, will go on trial later this month on charges of corruption is a totally inadequate response to the horrendous crimes for which he was responsible.

Roderick Bowen, Palembang – The vegetation fires along the Riau – North Sumatra border that started on July 7 and sent smoke across the Straits of Malacca until July 20 should have been no surprise to anybody.

Jakarta – So who benefited from Tuesday's Yogyakarta meeting of the Big Four? Birthday boy Sultan Hamengkubuwono certainly did, catapulting himself onto centre stage as a unifier heads above the squabbling politicians, the man who might just have saved a presidency and so be a suitable alternative.

Bandung – After 13 years, the struggle of 800 farmers in Cimacan village, Cianjur regency, brings result. The 34-hectare land that so far had been captured by PT Bandung Asri Mulya (BAM) and converted into a golf field was recaptured.

The Timor Gap Treaty signed between Australia and Indonesia during the rule of former president Suharto is illegal, and is not recognised by either the United Nations or the East Timorese people.

Ambon – Explosions erupted and gunshots rang out again in ravaged Ambon city on Wednesday, leaving at least 11 people injured. Heavily armed rioters raided the areas of Trikora, Pohon Pule, Diponegoro and Paradise Tengah in downtown Ambon at about 11am, causing panic among passersby, motorists and local residents.

Mark Dodd, Dili – The United States Ambassador to Indonesia has condemned Jakarta's "lamentable and inexcusable" failure to disarm militias operating from West Timor.

Vaudine England, Yogyakarta – Indonesia's top leaders chose statesmanship over party politics yesterday when they answered the Sultan of Yogyakarta's call to meet and settle their differences.

Jakarta – Indonesia's National Logistics Agency (Bulog) has said that, as rice stocks were still plentiful, there was no need to sign any more contracts to import rice this year.

Paul Dillon, Ambon – The detention of five members of Indonesia's notorious Kopassus (Special Forces) in the Maluku islands has raised fears the Australian-trained commandos are engaging in an East Timor-style dirty tricks campaign.

Jon Land – The confrontation on July 24 between pro-Jakarta militia forces from West Timor and a detachment of New Zealand soldiers from the United Nations peace-keeping force – the third such incident along the western border since the end of May – highlights again the serious threat that the militia gangs pose.

Jakarta – Motorists in and around the capital are probably familiar with the sight of teenage boys and young men chasing after passing fuel trucks, opening the valves on the back of the vehicles, collecting drops of fuel in small buckets and scattering.

Jakarta – Indonesian authorities plan to register all East Timorese refugees still on Indonesian soil and make a last offer, to either stay or return home, a report said Tuesday.

Jakarta – Indonesia plans to develop two million hectares of new paddy fields outside Java to secure rice supplies for the growing population.