Hamish McDonald – It will stand on a hill overlooking Dili, the capital of newly independent East Timor: a massive flagpole entwined with the trunk and branches of a symbolic banyan tre

Geneva – Fresh peace talks between Indonesian government officials and Aceh separatists could resume in Geneva at the end of the month, a spokesman for the centre that mediates the disc

Jakarta – Protesting Muslim students in favor of Palestinian solidarity tried to force their way into the US Embassy compound on Jl.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Indonesia's political parties are self-centered, and ignore the public interest they claim to represent, resulting in a crisis over a loss of confidence, a new p

Jakarta – Citing budgetary constraints, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) has canceled a plan to meet in Bali from April 3 through April 7 to draft the amendments to the 1945 Con

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – The Jakarta Prosecutor's Office questioned City Governor Sutiyoso on Wednesday as a witness in a graft case related to a controversial foreign trip involving ci

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri has come under fire from legislators for spending enormous amounts of money on the Indonesian military and even editors who acco

Jakarta – Applicants to join the Indonesian police must pay bribes of up to 15 million rupiah (1,500 dollars) if they want to pass the selection process, a newspaper reported Thursday.

Amnesty International has condemned Indonesian security forces for "appalling" practices in Papua, Aceh and elsewhere and urged the United Nations Commission on Human Rights not to igno

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – An Army general revealed on Wednesday that members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) believed to be involved in the killing of Papuan leader Theys Hiyo Eluay wou

Simon Montlake, Kebon Cengkih – The Dutch sailors who arrived here 500 years ago to barter for spices have long-since abandoned Kebon Cengkih, a village named for the clove trees that s

Agus Maryono, Pekalongan – In a move to step up pressure on the government to revoke newly decreed fishing taxes, thousands of fishermen from Central Java have planned to storm the Mini

Jakarta – A key witness in the Tommy Suharto murder-and-firearms trial said police beat her up and threatened her family to force her to implicate the suspect.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Poor law enforcement has allowed the sale of illegal narcotics to flourish in Medan, North Sumatra, causing a serious concerns for local residents, according to

Mike Steketee – East Timorese Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta yesterday urged rich countries, including Australia, not to use artificial barriers such as quarantine restrictions to di

Dili – Some members of East Timor's ruling party Fretilin were accused of waging a dirty tricks campaign to try to reduce the vote for independence hero Xanana Gusmao in this month's pr

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Students, at the forefront of the reform movement in 1998, have been urged to take up their old role once more in the face of a political elite widely blamed for

Jason Koutsoukis – Negotiations between the Australian Government and US-based Phillips Petroleum over the tax treatment of a gas project in the Timor Sea remained deadlocked last night

Yemris Fointuna, Dili – The Indonesian government and the United Nations Temporary Administration at East Timor (UNTAET) have yet to find an appropriate way of solving the problem of In

Geneva – Amnesty International accused Indonesian forces on Wednesday of grave human rights violations in Papua, where the murder of the province's top independence leader last year rem

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – One would expect applause for last week's announcement that Indonesia is planning to build a bridge linking Java with Bali, putting an end to the two-hour fe

Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta – Street rallies slamming Israeli military actions against Palestinians hit at least three major Indonesian cities on Wednesday while a minister said Jakarta w

Yogyakarta – The relatives of Aan Yulianto, a bystander during last week's brawl in Yogyakarta who died on Sunday after being questioned by the authorities, said on Tuesday they will su

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Freedom from injustice as a result of political reform in the country has proven short-lived for Indonesian farmers, who are now facing tougher challenges in the

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Indonesia's state-owned companies are being torn apart by internal rifts as employees fight against government attempts at privatisation.

Bandar Lampung – Around 300 part-time, non-contract doctors in Lampung ended their week-long strike on Tuesday after Minister of Health Achmad Suyudi promised them better pay and a clea

Jakarta – State Minister of Administrative Reforms Feisal Tamin said on Tuesday that the government was carefully considering a plan to lay off unproductive civil servants.

Almost 50 people were injured in the eastern Indonesian city of Ambon in the worst outbreak of violence since a Muslim-Christian peace agreement in February.

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Several party factions in the City Council challenged on Tuesday the practice of corruption in the city administration.

Jakarta – Indonesia's National Assembly Speaker Amien Rais on Tuesday accused police in the Philippines of engineering the arrest of three Indonesians on terrorist charges, a report sai

Jakarta – Indonesia's highest Islamic authority is investigating reports that a boarding school is teaching a deviant version of the religion and is linked to a shadowy group campaignin

Andrew Trounson, Melbourne – East Timor Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta said Tuesday there will be no hitches to ratifying a treaty with Australia sharing potentially lucrative oil an

Darwin – The Australian government is under pressure to make public its draft agreement on Timor Sea energy reserves to prove the East Timorese were not signing away their legal rights.

Oyos Saroso, Bandar Lampung – More than 300 temporarily employed doctors in Lampung would continue striking this week to push their demand for a clear status and better payment, strike

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Major state-owned firms in Indonesia are sending their top executives to an Islamic training centre where they are taught to be better professionals – through l

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – A truck carrying a load of diesel fuel was trapped in traffic on Jl.

Jakarta – Street gangs in the Indonesian capital Jakarta are stealing fuel from tanker trucks which become stuck in heavy traffic, a newspaper reported Monday.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) will soon dispatch at least 1,850 replacement troops to the rebellious Aceh province, Deputy Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen.

Jakarta - One of the three Indonesians arrested in Manila on suspicions of terrorism has accused the Philippine police of planting explosives in his bags.

Rita A.

Ahmad Junaidi and Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Actions speak louder than words, but sadly some equate this as wanton violence and are proud of it even if their actions are nothing more

At Ipenburg – There was always something ambiguous about Theys Hiyo Eluay. He became a focal point in the struggle for Papuan independence.

The Indonesian military claimed to have killed 12 suspected separatist rebels in the restive province of Aceh over the weekend.

Four suspected separatist rebels and a public transport driver have been killed over the past three days in Indonesia's rebellious Aceh province, the military and residents said.

Jill Jolliffe, Gleno – Just two weeks after a lopsided campaign began for East Timor's presidential elections due on April 14, there are signs that it may be turning dirty.

Police in the Indonesian capital have arrested seven people after men wielding machetes and sticks attacked rights protestors, wounding at least 15, reports said.

Jill Jolliffe – An Indonesian human rights lawyer has criticised a special court appointed by President Megawati Sukarnoputri to hear war crime charges on East Timor, accusing it of run

Margot Cohen, Zumalai – Juana Dos Reis fought off a wave of revulsion as the woman held her in a tight embrace.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, who is charged with murder, sat so lazily during the trial at the Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday that the p

Jakarta – Judges in Indonesia's first human rights court ruled Thursday that the trial of a former police chief in East Timor is legal and should go ahead, throwing out arguments by def