Robert Go – Kebumen and Semarang in Central Java are two places which have used their increased powers wisely.

Robert Go, Kutai Kartanegara – Children go to school for free, college students get scholarships, and child labour will be abolished by 2005 in this small town on the edge of the vast r

Three people including a soldier have been killed in clashes between troops and separatists in the Indonesian province of Aceh, the military said.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The 2004 general elections should not be used as an excuse by the government to maintain the presence of thousands of troops in the war-torn Aceh province, says

Bengkuliu, Bengkulu – Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) Aburizal Bakrie reminded everyone that Bank Indonesia was the country's monetary authority.

And they are the passions of Kiam Lay and Toto Djumanto, developed over a decade of growing up in Melbourne.

Indonesian troops have arrested 27 suspected separatist rebels in a day of raids in the restive province of Aceh, a report said.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's military (TNI) showed signs this week of tightening its hold on Aceh and Papua, two resource-rich regions at either ends of the sprawling archipelago th

Jakarta – A pro-independence activist Saturday denounced a government plan to quell separatist sentiment in Indonesia's easternmost province by setting up a local legislature, saying th

Bandung-More than 400 people from Sumedang regency, West Java, protested at the provincial governor's office in Bandung on Thursday against the government's revived plan to build the Ja

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Indonesia's Vice-President, Hamzah Haz, has accused the US of being the "king of terrorists" in a scathing attack that echoed the language of many of the Bali b

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta-The Jakarta Composite Index surged on Thursday to its highest level in more than three years as foreign funds continued flowing into the bourse.

Dili – A high-level delegation led by Indonesian Foreign Minister Hasan Wirayuda arrived Friday in East Timor, its former possession, to discuss issues including border security, trade

Jakarta - The Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has explained that the government would not be reducing TNI [Indonesian military] and national p

Nani Farida and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – At least 108 people have gone missing in Aceh since the government launched its integrated operation in the troubled province on May 19,

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers has voiced concern to Malaysia over its plans to expel some 250 asylum seekers, including women and children, who fled the war-torn Indone

Banda Aceh – At least 319 civilians have been killed, 108 disappeared and 117 others have been wounded since the military emergency in Aceh came into force on May 19.

Jakarta – Indonesia will deploy 2,000 more troops in its easternmost province of Papua after recent anti-government protests left five people dead.

Moch. N.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The House of Representatives' inquiry into the highly publicized and controversial Russian jet fighter purchase reached an anticlimax on Thursday with just a c

David Isenberg – Despite the four-year sentence handed on Tuesday to radical Islamist cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir and the August 11 capture of top Jemaah Islamiya leader Riduan Isamuddin,

Jakarta – Indonesian armed forces (TNI) chief General Endriartono Sutarto has stated that the TNI is considering extending the integrated operation in Aceh until the 2004 general electi

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky said "there is no subject so old that something new cannot be said about it".

Jakarta – Indonesia will seek compensation for its nationals who lost property in East Timor when ministers from both countries meet in Dili for two days of talks beginning Friday, an I

Kupang – Former deputy commander of pro-Indonesian fighters in East Timor Eurico Guterres on Thursday denied that he would attack East Timor.

Supporters of radical Indonesian cleric, Abu Bakar Bashir, say the four year jail term handed down by a court in Jakarta is only a token sentence to spare the Indonesian Government the

Vannessa Hearman, Melbourne – Zito da Costa, president of the East Timor Confederation of Trade Unions (Konfederasaun Sindikatu Timor Leste – KSTL), one of several trade union groupings

Matthew More, Jakarta – Indonesia has failed in its attempts to prove Abu Bakar Bashir is the head of the terrorist organisation Jemaah Islamiah that was responsible for carrying out th

Robert Go, Jakarta – Abu Bakar Bashir ended his day in court yesterday in the same way that he had begun it.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir did not have to shed any tears in court when his verdict was read out yesterday.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – The four-year jail sentence on Abu Bakar Bashir proved a disappointment for both supporters and detractors of the militant cleric.

Jakarta – The water table in Jakarta has dropped by two meters due to the severe drought in Java this year, threatening water supplies to nearly half of Jakarta's 8.6 million population

James Balowski, Jakarta – Taking a leaf out of US President George Bush's cynical manipulation of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, the Indonesian military (TNI) is

Nugroho and Ainur R.

Lhokseumawe – The chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara, has said that that the Komnas HAM Ad Hoc Team for Aceh will investigate

Jakarta – The Indonesian government will soon send Swedish prosecutors more evidence on Acehnese separatist leader-turned-Swedish citizen, Hassan Tiro's alleged involvement in criminal

Four suspected separatist rebels and a civilian have been killed in Indonesia's Aceh province where troops are in the fourth month of an assault on the guerrillas, the military said.

Pro-independence groups in Papua have issued an urgent call for immediate assistance from Australia to help stop escalating violence in the Indonesian province.

Jakarta – Hundreds of squatters staged a rally in front of West Jakarta Mayoralty on Monday, protesting Mayor Sarimun Hadisaputra for issuing an eviction order against them.

Moch. N.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura/Jakarta – Ahead of a planned tribal celebration for peace, the situation in Timika, the capital of Mimika regency, abruptly turned tense on Monday following

Jakarta – The reform movement which has the principle aim of eliminating corruption, collusion and nepotism can no longer be left to the large political parties who obtained significant

Leo Wahyudi S – Governor Sutiyoso's idea to plate the Arjuna Wijaya statue in bronze, along with his plans to beautify the city – by placing statues of heroes on streets named after the

The Australian government's support for closer military ties with the Indonesian armed forces (TNI), including the Kopassus special forces, is a discredited form of interference in Indo

Indra Harsaputra, Surabaya – As many as 150 out of 250 timber and sawmill companies in East Java have closed down due to the increasing number of levies being imposed by some government

Jakarta – Inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), rose in August by 0.84 percent, bringing the rate for the first eight months of the year to 2.11 percent, the Central

Aderito Soares – A car bomb exploded at the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta on August 5, killing 12 people.

Kupang – The Indonesian government has reiterated the five options offered to former residents of East Timor who have continued to stay in Indonesia's West Timor area despite East Timor

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Behind every man is a powerful woman, or so runs an old cliche. In the corridors of Indonesia's presidential palace, the roles have been reversed.

A'an Suryana and Mochammad N.