President of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Francis Carroll, has written to the Minister for Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, the Hon Philip R

Cindy Wooden, Vatican City – Catholics in East Timor held firmly to their faith during their struggle for independence, and now they must bring their Catholic values to bear on the new

A court in East Timor has sentenced a former militia commander to five years in prison for crimes against humanity committed in 1999, the United Nations said.

Max Lane, Jakarta – In a scene reminiscent of the Suharto era, on October 24 a Jakarta court sentenced two pro-democracy activists from the Popular Youth Movement (GPK) to one year in p

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – Only a couple of days before the peace talks resume between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), an explosion rocked Lhokseumawe on Tuesday, woundi

Salim Osman – The leader of Indonesia's largest Muslim organisation backs tough government measures to tackle terrorism and radicalism, saying it was in the country's interests to clamp

Debbie A.

Max Lane, Jakarta – While Indonesian police investigations, conducted in cooperation with Australian, US, British and other police forces, continue into the October 12 Bali bombings, th

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – He didn't wear sack cloth, but Timorese President Xanana Gusmao sent a clear message on austerity when he unveiled a burnt-out building as his new headquarters yes

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The planned dialog between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist group has been postponed, but Jakarta expects a new pea

Nani Farida, Langsa, East Aceh – The Human Rights Forum (PB HAM) deplored on Monday the continued violence against civilians, especially teachers, in war-ravaged Aceh on the eve of the

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Hundreds of people from West Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta visited the city council on Monday, demanding the city administration to reconsider an eviction order

Being appointed coordinator of all intelligence activities in the days after the Bali bombing, head of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), Hendropriyono, has found himself at war no

Richel Langit, Jakarta – Indonesia's war on terrorism is drawing the country's powerful military back on to the political stage, threatening to put an end to political reforms and progr

Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Defense and Security Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono rejected on Monday rumors of two generals being involved in the bomb blasts in the tourist destination

A new grouping of trade unions from state-owned enterprises and student groups linked to former ruling party Golkar are planning to use the planned sale of sale of telecommunications gi

Tiarma Siboro and I Wayan Juniartha, Denpasar – The tedious investigation into the bomb attack on Bali has resulted in another bizarre twist following reports that linked the blast with

The Anti-Terrorism Decree enacted by President Megawati Sukarnoputri on 18 October, in the wake of the Bali bombing outrage that killed over 180 people, represents a grave threat to bas

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Devi Asmarani, Solo – An Osama bin Laden picture adorns the wall calendar at the infirmary of the Al-Mukmin Pesantren, the Islamic boarding school which has acquired a reputation for be

Leo Wahyudi S – The city administration, employers and labor unions agreed last Monday to raise the provincial minimum wage by 7 percent, from Rp 590,000 to Rp 631,000, starting next Ja

Don Greenlees – Agents from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and Western diplomats believe Indonesian soldiers fabricated evidence after the August 31 shooting of two American and

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Six Indonesians were wounded when a homemade bomb exploded at a traditional market in an East Timorese town near the border with East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), the

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – East Timor's President Jose "Xanana" Gusmao has repeated his opposition to trials for Indonesian officers accused of human rights violations in Dili, a stand suppo

Nani Farida and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Banda Aceh/Jakarta – Nearly 2,000 Acehnese gathered and prayed on Sunday for peace, ahead of the next set of talks between the government and the

Jakarta – The Aceh provincial administration is to introduce caning as punishment in the upcoming fasting month Ramadhan for Muslims who do not carry out their religious obligations.

Jakarta – A gang of unidentified men raided the Jakarta office of the Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy for West Papua (Els-Ham Papua Barat), a Papuan human rights group tha

Sidney Jones – In the aftermath of the 12 October bombing in Bali, Indonesians are convinced they have terrorists in their midst. They're just not sure who they are.

[A group of Indonesian journalist today said the Australian Government is incorrect in thinking Abu Bakar Bashir was the man responsible for the Kuta Beach bombings.

Darren Goodsir, Kuta – Investigators hunting the Bali bombers have unearthed credible links between the Kuta explosions, the closure last month of the Australian embassy in East Timor i

Jakarta – Indonesian troops have shot dead six suspected rebels in Aceh a day after the government said it was ready to sign a truce with the province's separatist movement.

Apriadi Gunawan and Haidir Anwar Tanjung, Medan/Pekanbaru – A joint police-military team from Asahan, North Sumatra, killed two suspected rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and ar

Ellen Nakashima and Alan Sipress, Jakarta – Police have told senior Indonesian military officials they believe Indonesian soldiers were responsible for the August 31 ambush near a coppe

Tony Sitathan – The recent bomb blasts in Bali have created what some experts describe as a "terrorism risk premium" not just to Indonesia but to all of Southeast Asia.

Australia, with a nod from Washington, is rebuilding its relationship with Indonesia's military.

Sonny Inbaraj, Melbourne (Inter Press Service) – Australia's move to restore links with Indonesia's feared special forces after the October 12 bombings in Bali is risky and short-sighte

Jakarta – Suspected gross human rights violator in East Timor, Eurico Guterres, said he had felt neither guilt nor sorrow over what he did in the region before it separated as an indepe

Banda Aceh – Some ten unidentified gunmen shot dead a middle-aged couple identified as Hasan Basri, 50, and his wife Rosmawati, 45, at their home in the Idi Rayeuk area of East Aceh dis

Lisbon – The World Bank is studying, with a view to financing, a Portuguese publishing firm's proposal to produce 50,000 school books for use in East Timor's education system.

Matthew Moore, Mike Seccombe and Marian Wilkinson – The Indonesian Government has flatly rejected a suggestion by Australia's Defence Minister, Robert Hill, that Australian troops could

[There are fears that the Indonesia is facing a period of increasing instability with worrying signs of tensions on the predominantly Catholic island of Flores.

Jakarta/Brussels – Widespread criticism of President Megawati's performance following the 12 October attacks in Bali means she is no longer a virtual certainty for re-election in 2004 b

Damon Kingsbury – Defence Minister Senator Robert Hill has said that in a bid to counter terrorism, Australia will restore its links with the Indonesian army's special forces, Kopassus,

John Pilger – What passing bells for these who die as cattle?" wrote the great First World War poet Wilfred Owen.

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Dozens of street vendors who had been evicted from Pulogadung bus terminal in East Jakarta visited the City Council on Wednesday, asking for the legislators' he

Jakarta – The fate of two demonstrators charged with insulting the President and Vice President by stomping on their pictures during a protest, is expected to be announced by the Centra

East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta says his country is ready to ratify the Timor Sea Treaty and the Australian Government will owe his people an explanation if it decides to

Nani Farida, Jakarta/Banda Aceh – Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Governor Abdullah Puteh said on Wednesday that the recommencement of a dialog between the government and the Free Aceh Movemen

Kuta – Indonesian Vice-President Hamzah Haz yesterday paid his first visit to the scene of the devastating Bali bombing and said the attackers aimed to break up the country and wreck it

President Xanana Gusmao defended Wednesday a dynamic of national reconciliation rather than the setting up of an international court to try human rights abuses committed in East Timor.