M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – In this ethnically diverse country, the ideal of national unity is an important way to peace.

Laurel Teo – Decked out in the party colour of blood red, tens of thousands of PDI-P supporters surged into the main arteries of Jakarta yesterday.

Surabaya – The Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) cannot be placed under the authority of the civilian government.

Charlotte Denny – Mohammed Soeharto, Ferdinand Marcos and Mobutu Sese Seko ripped off up to $US50 billion from the people of Indonesia, the Philippines and Zaire, equivalent to the West

Robert Go, Jakarta – A former government prosecutor has accused presidential candidate Akbar Tandjung of reneging on promises to make under-the-table payments in exchange for inside inf

Haidir Anwar Tanjung, Pekanbaru – Work at the Kampar district administration in Riau returned to normal on Friday after three days of paralysis caused by protests against its much-derid

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Most voters know how to properly perforate their ballot papers, but they remain so indifferent to the candidates that many of them are likely to vote

Sian Powell, Jakarta – Two Supreme Court judges have risked high-level political opprobrium by criticising Indonesian armed forces' crimes in East Timor in 1999.

Suherdjoko and Rusman, Semarang/Samarinda – The number of tuberculosis sufferers increased to 36,820, with 12,000 fatalities, in Central Java province this year and that number is expec

The Straits Times Indonesia bureau chief Derwin Pereira spoke to Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday on her administration's successes and her plans, if re-elected.

Jakarta – Indonesian Muslims reacted angrily to the assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin by Israel, with rallies held in several major cities on Java island on Friday in a

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Though now defunct, the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) remains prominent in the current two-month changeover period to a new way of managing debt res

Jakarta, Kompas – The Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) is of the view that law enforcement in Aceh since a state of martial law was declared is not working.

Astrid Felicia Lim, Jakarta – The elections in Aceh will not be delayed, but its implementation will be dependent on the security situation.

East Aceh – Seven members of the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and two Indonesian soldiers were killed on Friday after an armed clash on Tateh mountain in East Aceh regency.

Jakarta – Indonesia's government said yesterday it would pay its civil servants a special bonus in June but the finance minister has denied the move is linked to the presidential electi

Devi Asmarani, Makassar – Indonesia's most consummate politician, Mr Akbar Tandjung, was clearly in his element.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – The National Police have sent another team to further investigate the recent shooting incident in Manggarai regency on the eastern island of Flores, which kill

Steven Gutkin, Jakarta – Indonesian police have obtained a letter that allegedly identifies jailed militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir as the leader of the al Qaida-linked terror network J

Laurel Teo – In a country where two in three watch television almost every day, the goggle box has turned into a fierce battle- ground for Indonesian politicians.

As Indonesians prepare for general elections next month, there are allegations that as election fever heats up, political parties have resorted to taking over the media to control it.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – For many young people in Jakarta's kampongs, the 22-day official campaign period this month is manna from heaven – free T-shirts and money.

Jakarta – Indonesian will no longer pay attention to East Timor's Serious Crime Unit (SCU) which has accused several Indonesian officials of human rights violations, a spokesman of the

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung is facing a fresh court case after a self-confessed middleman filed a lawsuit against the speaker of the House of Representatives

Jakarta – Most of the 24 political parties contesting the upcoming elections are not concerned with public demands, the Forum of People's Concern for the House says.

Dili – Tiny East Timor accused its giant neighbour Australia on Friday of breaching international law by issuing exploration licences in a disputed section of a giant gasfield in the se

Haidir Anwar Tanjung and Tiarma Siboro, Pekanbaru/Jakarta – Joyful celebrations erupted in Kampar regency, Riau province, on Thursday, shortly after Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarn

Jakarta – Indonesian police have enough evidence to bring new charges against jailed militant cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who is scheduled to be released from prison next month, a senior

Nurul Hidayati, Jakarta – Arbi Sanit, a political observer from the University of Indonesia, is of the view that the a report by Transparency International (TI) which says that former P

Reporter: Anne Barker

Hamish Robertson: A children's schoolbook which portrays the President and Prime Minister of East Timor as monkeys has caused a diplomatic outcry.

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – The situation in Aceh Nanggroe Darussalam at present is calmer than it has been in recent months, but it is not really very different from other days aside fro

Suwarjono, Jakarta – The results of a survey by the Institute of Research, Education and Information of Social and Economic Affairs (LP3ES), show that the Golkar Party has the largest a

The Constitutional Court, established on the basis of the decision of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), is currently engaged in reviewing the legal contradictions that are affec

Jakarta – Indonesia has increased restrictions on foreign journalists trying to visit war torn Aceh province ahead of April parliamentary elections, the foreign ministry said Thursday.

A leading Indonesia analyst says Jakarta has grossly mishandled the troubled province of Papua, and now seems to be stepping back to watch it disintegrate.

Jakarta – The leaders of Indonesia's Islamic parties have reluctantly accepted the defeat of political Islam by Malaysia's dominant secular political grouping in the recent elections, b

The smiling daughter of Indonesia's former dictator Suharto is waging a high-profile electoral campaign – less than six years after her father was forced to resign amid massive civil un

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Former Indonesian military chief and prominent presidential candidate General Wiranto has challenged United Nations prosecutors in East Timor to come to Indones

Suwarjono, Jakarta – On Thursday March 25, scores of activists from the People's Lawyers Union (Serikat Pengacara Rakyat, SPR) and the Popular Youth Movement (Gerakan Pemuda Kerakyatan,

Jakarta – Indonesia's bird flu outbreak, which has killed up to 6.2 million chickens across the archipelago, is showing signs of abating, a top agriculture ministry official said on Thu

Jakarta – A lawyer for former Indonesian military chief Wiranto accused East Timor prosecutors on Wednesday of trying to sabotage the general's bid for the Indonesian presidency by seek

Max Lane – Since the East Timorese independence referendum in 1999, the Australian government has received approximately $1 billion dollars in taxes on oil taken from the Laminaria Cora

Bob Burton, Canberra – East Timor's government, Australian political leaders and community groups are condemning the Australian government for what has been described as an attempt to '

Jill Jolliffe, Pante Macassar – The 45,000 inhabitants of East Timor's tiny enclave of Oecusse have suffered isolation and economic disadvantage as a result of independence in 2002, but

Tony Sitathan, Jakarta – A new Islamic fad is sweeping across Indonesia.

Ahmad Fikri, Bandung – A former senior economics lecturer from the University of Indonesia, Professor Sarbini, has warned that the forces of the New Order regime [of former President Su

Devi Asmarani, Makassar – For them to graduate, primary school students in Bulukumba regency, about a three-hour drive from here, must take proficiency tests in Quran reading.

Brendan Nicholson – A lobby group supporting East Timor wants Australia to put the billions flowing from some of the Timor Gap oil and gas fields into a trust fund until the boundary di

Jakarta's governor has urged residents to be on guard against terror attacks as Indonesia heads towards next month's elections.