Rebellion is seriously brewing in Aceh province. With an overseas arms supply, substantial funding and popular support, the Aceh Merdeka movement could pose a threat much worse than East Timor's separatist struggle.
By John McBeth in Jakarta, Syamsul Indrapatra in Banda Aceh, Nate Thayer in Bangkok and Bertil Lintner in Stockholm
Singapore – Singapore was enveloped Thursday by haze from raging plantation fires largely in the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the meteorological service department said. It said the hazy conditions were expected to prevail over the next two days.
Andreas Harsono, Jakarta – Indonesian presidential front-runner Megawati Sukarnoputri broke her long silence after winning the parliamentary elections here and spoke for 80 minutes Thursday in a speech that answered critics on issues ranging from Islamic law to separatist movements in East Timor, Irian Jaya, Maluku and Aceh.
Vaudine England, Jakarta - Efforts by the Muslim-based political parties to offer a new presidential candidate are gathering steam, partly to avoid having a woman in the top job and partly to avoid what Muslim leaders label a "polarisation" of society.
Ambon – Clashes between Christians and Muslims in Indonesia's troubled Ambon island killed 24 people, hospital sources said Wednesday.
They died in fighting between late Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon, the hospital sources said, adding that most died of gunshot wounds. It brings the number killed in fighting there this week to at least 34.
Jacinto Alves spent seven years in prison for organising a peaceful demonstration at the funeral of a separatist sympathiser in Dili in 1991. Indonesian troops opened fire on the crowd of East Timorese, killing between 100 and 180 people in the bloodbath that became known as the Dili massacre.
Craig Skehan, Singapore – Australia is urging Indonesia and the United Nations to consider upgrading security in East Timor in case violence worsens after next month's planned self-determination ballot.
More than 100 military personnel from (TNI-AD; Indonesian Armed Forces) commanded by BKO (Operational Unit) of Korem 011/Liliwangsa, composed of Yonif 131 and 133 and backed by one platoon from Battalion 328 Kostrad, commanded by Intel Korem 011/Liliwangsa, LetKol Inf Sudjono, in initial report have massacred more than 39 civilian in the valley of Singgah Mata, Blang Merandeh villag
Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – Indonesia is strongly resisting United Nations pressure to further delay a ballot to decide the future of East Timor after boosting the number of police in the territory to 8,000.
Paris – Jakarta secured a pledge of $5.9 billion in foreign aid on Wednesday, despite demands from human rights groups that cash be held off pending a vote on self rule for the East Timor territory which Indonesia invaded in 1975.
Jeremy Wagstaff and Puspa Madani, Jakarta – More than half of Indonesia's political parties – all but one of them without a seat – have refused to ratify last month's election, citing allegations of fraud. While delaying by at least a week official release of the results, the setback, analysts and politicians say, isn't likely to do any lasting damage to the political process.
Sigit Widodo and Andrea, Jakarta – Around two thousand people demonstrated at the National Election Commission (KPU) offices bringing the traffic on Jalan Imam Bonjol to a complete stop.
Mark Dodd, Dili – An attack against the United Nations office in the East Timorese town of Maliana last month was organised by a shadowy network of militia and army officers, according to information received by the Herald.
Michael Shari, Jakarta – Eko S. Budianto, deputy chairman of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), thought there was something fishy about the small group of Western and Indonesian visitors from a foreign hedge fund who walked into his Jakarta office recently. He had never heard of the fund, which had an acronym for a name and was registered in a Caribbean tax haven.
Army chief Wiranto has brokered a deal to end the impasse. It means Megawati's in, Habibie's out – and Wiranto is in charge
Yindee Lertcharoenchok – After the first ever face-to-face talks, representatives of the Free Aceh movement and a government-sanctioned Acehnese delegation yesterday expressed hope that both sides could strike an agreement, as early as next week, to end the violence in one of Indonesia's worst strife-torn provinces.
Ati Nurbaiti and Santi W.E. Soekanto, Jakarta – Fifteen-year-old Ranti wept with pain when an elderly man deflowered her at a brothel in Jakarta, but she managed to stop crying upon being told he would pay her Rp 700,000 (US$106).
Marianne Kearney, Dili – Armed militiamen in Maubisse, 70 km south of here, are patrolling the streets and threatening villagers with death if they vote for independence.
Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri has launched a scathing attack on President B.J. Habibie, accusing him of being blinded by greed and trying to cling to power without listening to the Indonesian people.
Semarang – The long standing economic crisis in Indonesia since July 1997 has affected the lives of children nation wide, evidenced by the fact that around 10 million of them are suffering from malnutrition.
Jakarta – Experts are concerned by the increasing number of child prostitutes to be found on almost all major streets of Surabaya, the country's second largest city.
Jakarta – An Indonesian stringer for the US magazine Time on Friday answered a police summons in connection with a Time article which alleged the family of former Indonesian president Suharto was sitting on a 15-billion dollar fortune.
Jakarta – Minister of Justice/State Secretary Muladi ruled out on Thursday the possibility of holding a dialog with the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), saying it was not a legal organization.
Jakarta – The Independent Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) joined other observers on Thursday in denouncing the newly submitted bill on state security, which it said would kill democracy in the country.
Mike Head – The United States and the World Bank have both threatened Indonesia with diplomatic and financial retaliation if the Jakarta regime continues to support militia attacks on people in East Timor, in the lead-up to next month's scheduled UN-supervised ballot on autonomy or secession.
Jakarta – Abdurrahman Wahid came up on Wednesday with yet another surprising move when he praised President B.J. Habibie – whom he had often criticized for his links to Golkar and the past regime – as amenable to change and as less conservative than many people thought.
Jakarta – The Indonesian military, hit by rising losses in Aceh province, has dispatched a battalion of marines to reinforce units battling separatist rebels, the official Antara news agency said yesterday.
Jakarta – The World Bank said on Wednesday international donors to Indonesia would be closely watching the situation in disputed East Timor and could change their stance if a UN-supervised independence ballot was disrupted.
Jakarta – Speculation was rife on Tuesday over the health of former president Soeharto after he was rushed to the Pertamina Hospital in South Jakarta.
Hospital officials and his family were quick to play down the significance of the visit, stating that the 78-year-old was merely undergoing a routine medical check up.
Jakarta – Around 2,000 workers staged a demonstration at the Manpower Ministry, demanding the government revoke its labor regulations deemed detrimental to them.
Jakarta – An aunt of a man injured in the Semanggi incident, a relative of a missing person and a friend of a Trisakti University student who was shot dead have established a group for victims of state violence.
State Violence Victims Solidarity (SKKN), announced on Tuesday, groups relatives and friends from several cases.
Dili – The intimidation of voters is rampant in East Timor and there has been no significant improvement in security, the independent Carter Center poll monitoring organization said Tuesday.
"An atmosphere of violence, intimidation and insecurity continues to pervade most areas of East Timor," the center said in its first report on the East Timor situation.
Susan Sim, Jakarta – Indonesia's top generals are laughing off a report in an international magazine which alleged that they had cut a deal to support opposition leader Megawati Soekarnoputri for the presidency.
Sydney – Indonesia is preparing for a massive post-ballot slaughter in East Timor – exacting retribution in blood on East Timorese for refusing to bow to the reign of terror and vote for the integration of their country into Indonesia.
Jakarta – A group of separatist rebels shot five anti-riot troop personnel dead and injured a score of others on Monday in a dawn ambush in Reng Krueng village in Pidie regency, 170 kilometers east of the provincial capital Banda Aceh.
Jakarta – Separatist movements which have simmered in Aceh and Irian Jaya for years could force the government to declare martial law in the two provinces, a minister said on Monday. Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Feisal Tanjung, speaking for Minister of Defense and Security Gen.
Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – A reshuffle of top officers in Indonesia's armed forces has prompted speculation that General Wiranto, the Defence Minister and armed forces chief, sees himself as the country's new vice-president.
Dili – A confidential Indonesian government report predicts social chaos in East Timor as Indonesians flee following an expected vote in favour of independence in August.
Chris McCall, Tual – Nearly 40 people displaced by communal violence in Indonesia's remote Kai islands have died of malnutrition or disease in crude refugee camps that dot the once idyllic archipelago, local aid workers say.
Jakarta – Malnutrition? Intellectual confinement? None of these remotely describe the experiences of seven young political activists from the Democratic People's Party (PRD) who are incarcerated at Cipinang Prison, East Jakarta.
Yudha Kartohadiprodjo, Jakarta – At a quick glance, Budiman Soedjatmiko, 29 years old, could be mistaken for a compliant yuppie waiting for the next business deal or a young university lecturer waiting to teach.
Bespectacled and usually dressed in a light colored, short-sleeved shirt, he displays a calm composure while warmly greeting friends. But compliant he is not.
Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Human rights and community groups are accusing the Indonesian military of provoking violence in Indonesia's northern Aceh province, where more than 80,000 people have fled their homes.
Sugianto Tandra, Balibo – A leader of a pro-Indonesia East Timor militia unit said Saturday he has been ordered to make guns in case East Timorese reject autonomy within Indonesia in a late-August UN-sponsored referendum.
Sugianto Tandra, Balibo – The UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) is facing its first protest over voter registration for an August ballot on the territory's future as pro-Indonesia figures criticized Saturday registration requirements as being "unreasonably strict."
Jakarta – Some 2,250 East Timorese living elsewhere in Indonesia are expected to register for August's vote on the territory's future, an independent East Timorese youth group said here Friday.
Liquisa – Hundreds of people braved pro-Indonesia militia intimidation in this traumatized district to register Friday for a vote on East Timor's future.
A skull-and-crossbones had been painted on the window of one registration centre when 500 local residents showed up hoping to get on the voters' list at 9am, a source with the UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) said.
Geoff Spencer, Suai – Bloodshed marred the start of voter registration in East Timor for a UN-supervised ballot on independence for the Indonesian province, UN officials said today.
Witnesses said anti-independence militiamen attacked independence supporters Thursday night in the village of Salasa, about 60 miles southwest of the provincial capital of Dili.
Dili – UN blue berets and volunteers on Friday opened voter registration for the landmark poll on the future of East Timor, but the start was marred by the after effects of a violent militia attack.
Mark Dodd, Dili – Despite nagging security concerns, the United Nations gave its qualified approval yesterday to start voter registration in East Timor, less than six weeks before its planned vote on self-determination.
Keith B. Richburg, Jakarta – Some 38 days after Indonesians voted in the country's first free election in a generation, the final tabulation of the results was announced Thursday, and they confirmed what political analysts and others here long suspected – the party of opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri finished first in the crowded field.