Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The government's plan to increase the take-home pay of the President, Vice President, ministers, and high-ranking state officials met with mixed reactions on Wed

Primastuti Handayani, Beijing – Since opening a special PO Box and call center over a month ago, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has received 2,500 letters and 140,000 text messages

Bandung – No Indonesian province is now free from HIV infection, with the recorded number of people living with the virus in the country standing at 7,098.

Theresia Sufa, Bogor – "If they call for war, I will step in to protect the area we live in," proclaimed Saidah, a homemaker of Kampong Rawajeler in Bojong, Bogor.

Jakarta – Regional offices of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) are calling for strong measures to prevent Muslims from converting to other religions.

Karima Anjani, Jakarta – The world's largest gold miner goes on trial in Indonesia next week in a dispute over pollution that has left the government torn between environmentalists and

Agus Supriyanto, Jakarta – Hundreds of youths from the Commandos for the Defense of the Fatherland (Komando Bela Tanah Air, Kombat) demonstrated in front of the offices of Vice Presiden

Jakarta – Megawati Sukarnoputri, the former president of Indonesia, says she does not agree with the existence of local parties in Aceh.

M.

Jakarta – Supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government to restart investigations into the bloody July 27, 1996

Washington – The International Monetary Fund said Wednesday it welcomed the continuing improvement in Indonesia's economy in recent years.

Ali Imran, Meulaboh – People in Meulaboh, West Aceh, are again starting to feel concerned after the appearance of a sticker which they are obliged to buy and display on their motorbikes

James Balowski, Jakarta – A historic peace agreement has been reached between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) following a fifth round of negotiations in Helsi

The government's decision to allow the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and other groups in Aceh to set up their own local political parties has been called quite controversial.

Sian Powell, Jakarta – Separatist rebels in Aceh claim their hard-won draft peace agreement with Jakarta has been endangered by an accelerating military campaign of intimidation and vio

Jakarta – The Acehnese people are looking forward to the signing of the peace deal scheduled for Aug.

Dili – Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri unveiled an enlarged government Wednesday in East Timor as part of his drive to improve the performance of the Dili executive and decentralize power

Roger Maynard, Sydney – A report on the future of East Timor by the World Bank has painted a bleak picture of a nation in danger of imploding as it copes with the twin pressures of pove

Mark Dodd, John Kerin – A sobering World Bank report warning East Timor's Government to tackle corruption or face civil conflict has been rejected by a "furious" Prime Minister Mari Alk

Jakarta – The US ambassador to Indonesia on Tuesday called on Jakarta to improve its judicial system, saying many foreign investors still questioned the fairness of the courts.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Indonesia may not be able to immediately benefit from the opening of the labor market in the Southeast Asian region next year due to poor preparation and t

Mark Dodd – East Timor is in danger of imploding into civil conflict, with corruption likely to erode the benefits of the billions of dollars that will flow to the fledgling nation from

Jakarta – Muhammadiyah lent support on Monday to mounting calls for the government to revoke the new presidential regulation that allows authorities to acquire private land without a de

Jakarta – Some 10,000 people went on a rampage on Monday in Kaur regency, Bengkulu province, setting fire to government offices and houses in the area to express their disappointment wi

East Timor's foreign minister countered claims that his tiny country was riddled with graft and burdened by poverty that could one day lead to civil conflict.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Several leaders of the House of Representatives have expressed support for the government's plan to allow members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to set up local

Jakarta – A former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) official was sentenced to four years in prison on Monday for his involvement in printing counterfeit bank notes.

Chris Brummitt, Jakarta – An international watchdog group claimed Monday that the local unit of an American gold-mining company appeared to have paid an Indonesian general accused of ri

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Sharia police said on Sunday they had rounded up at least 36 unmarried women and men for dating in secluded, poorly-lit areas in Bireuen regency, Aceh province

Jakarta – While other teenagers of her age are either strolling around the city's malls or sitting quietly at home, 15-year-old Kartika (not her real name) spends her nights with guests

Jakarta – After earlier inviting a number of figures from the political parties to discuss the Helsinki negotiations, on Monday July 24, Vice President Jusuf Kalla held follow up discus

Thousands of residents living in the vicinity of Bojong dump in Bogor and students from Bogor universities gathered on Sunday in a mass prayer to object to the trial operation of the du

Jakarta – Freedom from any form of exploitation topped children's demands conveyed to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during the National Children's Day celebration on Sunday.

Tom Allard – A vital intelligence database shut down during the East Timor conflict was restored only on the condition army intelligence officers ceased reporting on Indonesian-backed m

Jakarta – Indonesian Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono has acknowledged that the budget to maintain major equipment of the weapons system of the Indonesian Military (TNI) was still limi

Theresia Sufa, Bogor – A member of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) said on Friday that looking at the preliminary evidence, last week's attack on the Ahmadiyah comp

Jakarta – Dozens of street vendors from Kalideres, West Jakarta, demonstrated in front of the City Council on Jl.

The government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) are scheduled to sign a peace deal on Aug. 15 in Helsinki, Finland.

Jakarta – Shortly after its petition was rejected by the Constitutional Court, the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) said on Thursday it planned to file a new one with additional e

Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to make public the report of a fact-finding team assigned to help

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The government said on Thursday that not all members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) would receive amnesty, with those being jailed for criminal offenses remain

Natasha Robinson – Businessman Ian Melrose will sue television stations that refused to run his advertisements criticising the Government's negotiations with East Timor over oil and gas

Nigel Wilson – East Timor President Xanana Gusmao has broken ranks with Prime Mininster Mari Alkatiri, threatening to veto the proposed deal struck with Australia to share the energy ri

East Timor Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta has criticised an Australia-based campaign calling for a better oil and gas revenue deal for his country.

Washington – East Timor's future development depends on "effective administration of its new petroleum wealth" and the attraction of investment into the non-oil sector of the new nation

Carmel Budiardjo, London – It has been asserted in your columns this week (Local Elections and Papuan Politics, July 11, 2005) that because the majority of West Papuans participated in

Haris Azhar, Jakarta – The peace deal between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) deserves a positive response because its main agenda is to restore the lost peac

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered the Indonesian Military (TNI) to stop its offensive against Aceh rebels in a bid to facilitate the signing of peace deal scheduled for Aug

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Political analysts are throwing their weight behind calls to create regional political parties in the country, arguing that such parties do not have to be synony

Robin McDowell, Jakarta – The Indonesian government said Wednesday it would start withdrawing troops from Aceh in September as part of a pact with rebels to end three decades of fightin