The premature declaration of Central Irian Jaya province by six regents together with the speaker of the regional parliament on Saturday has given rise to suspicion that the division of

Atambua – A cultural festival to be held in Timor Tengah Utara district in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province on September 22, would serve as the barometer for security in the bord

As Indonesia celebrates 58 years of independence, Four Corners looks at south-east Asia's most brutal and unrelenting conflict ... the Aceh civil war.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The deadly clashes between opponents and supporters of the creation of Central Irian Jaya province has come to an uneasy truce, after it turned into a tri

Kurniawan Hari and Syaiful Amin, Jakarta/Yogyakarta – The controversial division of Papua, which sparked deadly violence in Mimika regency last week, has been blamed on the political el

John Kerin – Indonesia's notorious Kopassus special forces soldiers are eager to resume counter-terrorism training with the Australian military and do not understand lingering concern a

Dili – East Timor's leaders met Monday to discuss "urgent" measures to control the activities of a militant nationalist group that has been accused of fomenting instability in the new n

Jakarta – The Defense Department through the Directorate General of Defense Strategy has admitted that one of the intentions in revising Law Number 15/2003 on Anti-Terrorism is to incre

Muridan S. Widjojo, Jakarta – The public has again apparently been taken by surprise by the popular uprising in Papua, this time in Timika.

Papua/Jakarta – Police in Timika, Papua have detained as a suspect, a man identified only as LS and questioned seven others for alleged roles in bloody clashes over the controversial cr

Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – In the aftermath of the violent clashes between Papua citizens as a result of the creation of the new province of Central Irian Jaya, Papua students in Yog

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – State-owned insurance company PT Jamsostek and labor unions have strongly urged the House of Representatives to maintain the government's monopoly in runni

Indonesia's pesantren schools have been accused of breeding JI terrorists. Matthew Moore and Karuni Rompies talk to teachers and pupils and find deep suspicion of the West.

Matthew Moore, Solo – A man accused by two members of Jemaah Islamiah of being a member of the outlawed terrorist group's central command is living openly in central Java, where he says

Leo Wahyudi S.

Kafil Yamin, Jakarta – Indonesia's former armed forces chief and would-be president, General Wiranto, is all for reforms to make the country truly democratic and have a more professiona

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The government appears to be undeterred by a recent massive demonstration in Bali against the new visa policy and vows to start charging incoming tour

Former Udayana military chief Maj. Gen. Williem T.

The Jakarta Transportation Office's plan to have all private vehicles undergo periodic road worthiness tests starting next year has evoked strong reactions from the public, and has beco

Eugene Bingham – Indonesia's military, from the top brass down to regular soldiers and members of the militia, have gone unpunished for the massacres, assassinations and executions carr

Neles Tebay, Pontifical University of Urbaniana, Rome – The controversial plan to divide Papua into three provinces was delayed on the heels of the fatal clashes following the announcem

Nine suspected separatist rebels and two civilians have been killed in Indonesia's Aceh province during the fourth month of an operation to crush the guerrillas, police and the military

The information disclosed by new media watchdog Aceh News Watch on Wednesday that most national newspapers and television stations had failed to practice the very basic media principles

As drought continues to grip much of Indonesia, it was little surprise to see agricultural policies in the news last week.

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Jakarta – The accusation that particular members of TNI [Indonesian armed forces] have committed rapes has surfaced again.

How should Australia respond to the growing terrorist threat in Indonesia?

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – The involvement of public order officers, policemen and military officers in the eviction of around 10,000 illegal occupants of private-owned land at

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – One of two packages exploded in the front yard of the residence of renowned human rights activist Munir on Jl. Cendana XII No.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – The North Sumatra legislative council approved on Thursday a controversial bylaw on spatial planning for the province, which critics say fails to protect the in

Jakarta/Papua/Denpasar – Experts have finally begun to step up criticism of the government for violating its own laws on Papua, saying that it would only spark further legal uncertainty

Human rights groups say, since martial law was introduced in Indonesia's war ravaged province of Aceh in May, to crack down on the separatist Free Aceh Movement, schools have been burnt

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – With more than 35,000 troops on the ground, Jakarta has only managed to incapacitate 35 percent of Aceh's 5,000-strong rebel force so far, more than three month

Sari P. Setiogi, Jakarta – A noted woman activist and legislator called on Wednesday for a specific revisions to Marriage Law No.

Jakarta – Plans by a large number of foreign companies here to relocate their operations to other countries is an apparent reaction to their frustration over the slow progress by the go

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia took delivery of its first two Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jets yesterday as officials declared that the arms embargo by the United States and its allies

Kirsten E. Schulze – The military operation against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has entered the fourth month of what increasingly looks like an indeterminate period.

Kurniawan Hari and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Most national newspapers and television stations have failed to uphold the basic principle of covering both sides in reporting the Aceh confl

At least three people have been killed and 45 injured in clashes between supporters and opponents of the setting up of Central Irian Jaya province in Timika since Saturday, when the pro

The Indonesian military reported 14 more deaths in war-torn Aceh province and said seven of them were villagers massacred by separatist rebels.

Kuching – Malaysia assured Jakarta on Thursday that it would not grant political asylum to people fleeing the restive Indonesian province of Aceh.

The Indonesian government has suspended plans to divide the province of Papua into three, after days of sustained street fighting.

Jakarta – Chief of the National Defence Force (TNI) General Endriartono Sutarto has said his side will not yet launch a military operation in anticipation of possible security disturban

The death toll in several days of clashes in Indonesia's Papua province has risen to four, police said after the unrest prompted the central government to shelve controversial plans to

John Aglionby – When Jakarta declared martial law in Aceh in May and launched it latest offensive to crush the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels following the collapse of a fiv

Oyos Saroso HN, Lampung province – Many thousands of people from Lampung have been forced to start eating cassava as the drought continues its stranglehold over the impoverished provinc

Nani Farida and Teuku Agam Muzakir, Banda Aceh/Lhokseumawe – For the second reported time, the Indonesian Military (TNI) dropped bombs and fired rockets at suspected rebel positions in

Jakarta – The Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) warned on Tuesday that more foreign companies were set to relocate their operations here to other countries due to the worsening inves

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Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Yusuf Kalla said on Wednesday that the government had distributed 1,800 tons of relief rice to 250,000 farmers in Java, which is suf