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.

Banda Aceh – Armed men on Saturday attacked army troops securing the capital of Indonesia's troubled Aceh province ahead of next week's presidential visit, police said. A skirmish broke out between a team of military and police and rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Susan Sim, Jakarta – As an article of faith, the logic is sound: Once the economy picks up, the government will be strong again and happy hours will be over for the opposition parties.

Jakarta – More than 2,000 troops have been deployed to the troubled Aceh province amid rising violence and assassination threats against President Abdurrahman Wahid, who is to visit there next week.

Jakarta – A businessman offered a bribe to a special parliamentary committee to stop investigating a financial scandal that allegedly involves Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, a committee member has said.

Bangkok – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid said Friday that individual wrongdoers, not institution, must be punished in the crackdown against human rights violations by his country's military.

Jakarta – Eurico Guterres, a former pro-Jakarta East Timorese militia leader, has been charged in connection with the death of three foreign workers of the UN High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) in Indonesia-ruled West Timor in September, a leading Indonesian newspaper said Friday.

Banda Aceh – The situation in Aceh during the year of 2000 has not significantly improved, said Coordinator Deputy of Aceh Commission for Missing Persons & Victims of Violence (Kontras), Fouad Ismail. The government still commits violence, which adds the long list of human rights violation in Aceh.

Jakarta – Three bodies were found and some 40 people were missing and feared dead after an attack on a boat carrying Muslims from Indonesia's Ternate island to a port in northern Halmahera, a port official said Thursday.

Jakarta – Anger over an international probe into last year's atrocities in East Timor on Thursday prompted Indonesia's parliament to review its agreement with the United Nations. The move follows repeated threats by the army and MPs to reject the accord with the UN administration in East Timor (UNTAET).

Jakarta – A 22-year-old migrant student Achmad, who was allegedly kidnapped by the Free Papua Movement (OPM) last Saturday, was found dead and mutilated on Tuesday evening, Antara news agency reported.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Over the past week, Irian Jaya has witnessed two lightning attacks by unknown rebels. One last Thursday on a police station and a regional government office and another on Indonesian logging camps.

Sydney – Independence leaders from the Indonesian province of Papua issued a plea in Melbourne on Thursday for the United Nations to intervene in the escalating conflict between separatists and the Indonesian authorities.

Jakarta – Police in Indonesia's troubled Irian Jaya province have arrested five more separatist leaders on suspicion of subversion, their lawyer said yesterday.

The activists, all members of the pro-independence Papuan Presidium Council, are being questioned over a bloody riot in the remote town of Wamena in October, attorney Seth Waramori said.

Agencies in Jakarta – A human rights worker has given a chilling account of narrowly escaping a group execution in Aceh province in which four people were shot dead.

Jakarta – The British government is planning to provide scholarships and training for Indonesian Air Force personnel, including fighter pilots, as part of its aid to improve the quality of the Air force's human resources, Antara reported.

Dan Murphy – A United Nations prosecutor in East Timor indicted 11 men Monday for crimes against humanity in what promises to be a first step on a long and contentious road to justice.

Chris Brummitt, Jakarta – Posters plastered around Jakarta by the Islamic Defenders Front are clear enough: "Burn the nightspots that refuse to close for Ramadan," reads one. Another promises to destroy whoever "soils the holiness" of Islam's fasting month.

Richard C. Paddock, Jakarta – For Suharto, once the all-powerful ruler of Indonesia, life today is a tangle of medical tubes, criminal charges and political intrigue.

Now 79, the former military dictator who ruled for 32 years lives quietly in seclusion in his Jakarta home as family members struggle to save his reputation and their own vast fortunes.

Jakarta – At least eight people were killed when gunmen opened fire on a boat carrying Muslim refugees in Indonesia's troubled Maluku islands, witnesses were quoted as saying Wednesday.

An Australian soldier was injured in a suspected militia attack in East Timor overnight, the East Timor Australian National Command said today.

Jakarta – Indonesia's armed forces chief on Tuesday threw his support behind lawyers who have rejected UN attempts to quiz officers accused of masterminding last year's wave of terror in East Timor.

Jakarta – The UN administration in East Timor said on Tuesday it has called on the Indonesian government to punish the perpetrators of an "unpleasant and shocking" attack on two of its officials in Jakarta.

Chris McCall, Jakarta – Grassroots leaders of Indonesia's devastated Maluku Islands left a conference yesterday with a provisional plan to end two years of civil war.

Christians and Muslims greeted the plan with cautious optimism, anxious to end the tit-for-tat violence that has killed thousands on both sides across the archipelago.

Jakarta – Irianese rebels attacked an elite police (Brimob) post in Sentani, Jayapura regency, Monday at around 9pm, leaving one wounded.

Jakarta – Responding to criticism against their sluggishness in enforcing the law to groups which continuously raid entertainment centers in the capital, policemen shot at a truck loaded with members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) who had just vandalized entertainment centers early Monday.

Jakarta – The police chief of the restive Indonesian province of Irian Jaya on Tuesday banned the National Liberation Force (TPN), an armed civilian separatist group operating in the remote jungles of the province as subversive.

Jakarta – Dialogue between the government and separatists in Indonesia's Irian Jaya province is giving way to brutality with moderates on both sides gagged, rights advocates fear.

Since the December 1 anniversary of an unrecognised declaration of independence, the last day the separatist Morning Star flag was allowed to fly in Irian Jaya, 18 people have been killed.

Banda Aceh – Eight policemen and soldiers were injured in separatist rebel attacks on security posts and a natural gas facility in Indonesia's Aceh province, police and residents said Tuesday.

Kornelius Purba, Tokyo – There is strong corporate culture in Indonesia of refusing to honor commitments. This is shown by the reluctance of the Indonesian debtors to repay their domestic and offshore debts, according a veteran International Monetary Fund (IMF) official said over the weekend.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – A year under President Abdurrahman Wahid has led to a continuation of human-rights violations.

The total number of deaths, summary arrests, disappearances and tortures in some regions had reportedly far outweighed the violations during President B.J. Habibie's presidency.

Jakarta – The prolonged monetary crisis has resulted in six million children dropping out of school in Indonesia, according to the National Education Ministry.

Demta – The separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM) in Indonesias remote Irian Jaya province was responsible for a market attack near the capital Jayapura last week in which they killed two policemen and a security guard, their reclusive top commander told AFP.

Reuters in Jakarta – Three Indonesian humanitarian volunteers attached to a Danish-sponsored rights group have been tortured and shot dead in Aceh, underscoring the growing threat to aid workers and civilians in the rebellious province.

Sydney – Relations between Indonesia and Australia are greatly improved following last week's two-day meeting between ministers of the two countries in Canberra, Prime Minister John Howard said Sunday.

Jakarta – Two men were wounded in an attack Saturday evening on the residence of Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh located on Jl. SA Mahmudsyah in Banda Aceh. The two victims are Hilal Hasballah, head of the West Aceh Public Works Office, and his driver, Ismail, Antara reported Sunday.

Robert Go, Jakarta – In a development that might send Indonesia's economy into yet another tailspin, International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials warned yesterday of possible delays to the agency's next US$400 million instalment to Jakarta due to serious questions over the government's reform progress and policies.

Jacqueline Koch, Banda Aceh – Demur and modestly veiled in scarves, young women circulate through Aceh's coffee shops, food stalls and open markets.

Youth and gender shield them from suspicion as they listen to snatches of conversation and note who meets whom. Most are in their early 20s and not yet married, but they are known as the inong bale, or widows.

Jakarta – The Army has vowed not to let the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) question its soldiers over human rights abuses in the former Indonesian province last year.

Dili – Four East Timor advisory Cabinet members who threatened to resign backed down Saturday after a meeting with the UN administration of the former Indonesian province, saying they were satisfied they will receive more power in the future.

Jakarta – Dozens of local residents at the Pertamina housing complex inTugu Selatan area, North Jakarta, engaged in a brawl with some 50 members of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) on Thursday night after the latter, armed with daggers and swords, marched into the complex, a police report said. Two FPI members were injured during the clash.

Jayapura – Two lumberjacks were killed and two critically injured in an attack on a timber company base camp Saturday in the troubled Indonesian province of Irian Jaya, rights groups said here.

Slobodan Lekic, Jakarta – More than three decades after Gen. Suharto seized power from President Sukarno, Sukarno's former bodyguard faced a court Friday for challenging the military's official version of the overthrow.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid called on the police on Thursday to release Irian Jaya pro-independence leaders currently in detention so that dialog between Jakarta and locals in the troubled province could resume.

Muchus Budi Rahayu/Hendra & BI, Solo – Around 350 laborers from a textile company PT Sariwarna Asli, Solo, Central Java have staged a strike action their employer. They are demanding a 200% increase for their Christmas and Ramadhan allowance (THR) on top of their basic salary. This bonus is compulsory bonus given in the lead up to the religious celebrations.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta and agencies – Many expected the attack, but not the savagery of it. Wielding axes, they split open the head of the first policeman they saw in a police station on the outskirts of Jayapura, the capital of West Papua.