Matthew Moore – Indonesia's President Megawati Soekarnoputri made headlines last week by not turning up at the site of a disused well in east Jakarta for an annual ceremony.

Many were shocked but few surprised to learn last week that the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) had paid "protection money" to members of the military to secure IBRA propert

Jakarta – Indonesian police arrested seven members of a Muslim group yesterday over recent vigilante-style raids on nightspots in Jakarta.

Uli Schmetzer, Jakarta – The investigation into the deadly ambush of a convoy of American teachers in Indonesia has become bogged down by a long list of suspects in a nation where terro

Jakarta – Around 500 members of the Islamic Defenders Front militant group attacked several nightspots in the Indonesian capital yesterday, damaging three cars but causing no serious in

Jill Jolliffe, Bazartete – Ever since Lysistrata and her sisters refused sex to their warmongering husbands in ancient Greece, women have had a special role to play in brokering peace.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Kornelius Purba, Yogyakarta – Indonesia, as the host, opened a two-day meeting of the Southwest Pacific Dialogue Forum here on Friday to seek reconfirmation of

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia lacks strong, respected leaders who can guide it out of the current political and economic crises, according to the findings of a recent survey.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – The Indonesian government should probe reports that a Singaporean extremist helped fund a plot to assassinate President Megawati Sukarnoputri, said lawmakers an

Denise Leith – On 31 August, 2002 fourteen employees of the Freeport mining company were shot on the road leading to the company town of Tembagapura high in the mountainous interior of

Padang, West Java – Thousands of workers and students trying to get to Padang, the capital of West Sumatra, were left stranded on Thursday when public transportation drivers went on str

Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo – My native East Timor became the 191st member of the United Nations last week.

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – New lawyers representing two foreigners suspected of violating immigration law in war-torn Aceh called on the local police and the prosecutor's office to be ca

Yogyakarta – East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta said on Saturday he doubted allegations Australian troops tortured pro-Jakarta militiamen and shot one in the head during a p

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri is said to be considering replacing Indonesian Attorney-General M.A.

Kendari – The People's Consultative Assembly has urged the government to stop its cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as early as late 2003 on the grounds that the Fu

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Maps showing the location of military forces in Indonesia's Aceh province in the possession of a former University of Tasmania lecturer and her American colleag

Tom Allard and Jill Jolliffe – The bodies of two militia fighters, one of them alleged to have been summarily executed by the Australian SAS in East Timor, have been exhumed by United N

Mark Forbes and Jill Jolliffe – The Australian Defence Force has promised a vigorous investigation into allegations that SAS troops carried out torture and murder in East Timor, and wil

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – East Timorese authorities are fighting an invasion by Indonesian prostitutes, who have swarmed into Dili since independence on May 20.

East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao appealed to business leaders in the former colonial power Portugal Friday to invest in his war-battered country, recently admitted to the United Nat

A Muslim radical from Singapore allegedly helped finance a plot to assassinate Indonesian leader Megawati Sukarnoputri before she became president.

Adam Morton, Melbourne – Australia will have to step in and "sort out" East Timorese politics within five years unless the Timor Sea Treaty is balanced, the ACTU said today.

Rod McGuirk – East Timorese private sector groups today urged the federal government not to ratify the new Timor Sea Treaty.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – The brutal five-hour siege of a police station in North Sumatra by about 200 soldiers reveals the lack of discipline in the Indonesian armed forces.

Ben Bohane, Port Vila – A senior Indonesian diplomat who went to Vanuatu last week on a mission to try and persuade the Vanuatu government against supporting the West Papuan independenc

City Council secretary Moerdiman revealed on Wednesday that the ceremony inaugurating Sutiyoso as city governor could be moved from the council building to some other place if there was

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – The Lampung chapter of the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) has urged Governor Oemarsono to step in and resolve a land dispute between thousands of villagers

John McBeth, Jakarta – Black markings along its flanks, a large grey fish glides across the aquarium at the far end of Eddie Widiono's tasteful, wood-panelled office in south Jakarta.

Rumours a captured pro-Indonesian militiaman was summarily executed by Australian troops in East Timor had floated around special forces circles for some time, a defence commentator sai

The bodies of two Timorese militiamen shot dead in a gun battle with Australian soldiers in 1999 have been exhumed as part of an inquiry into allegations of torture and brutality by SAS

East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao prepared to head to Portugal Thursday after a "positive" round of meetings in Washington, including talks with President George Bush.

Tangerang – Some 300 workers of two companies located on Jl. Raya Serang, Cikupa district of Tangerang staged a rally at the Tangerang regency office in Tigaraksa on Wednesday.

Jakarta – Around 500 workers of PT Doson Indonesia, a subcontract firm of the shoe giant Nike, held a demonstration on Wednesday in front of the BRI building, which houses the US firm P

Jakarta – A day after disclosing that Jakarta would work with Washington to probe into Al-Qaeda's alleged links here, security czar Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono backtracked in an apparent m

Jakarta – A group of 22 youths from the Democratic Socialist Coalition staged a sit down protest outside the US embassy here on Tuesday to begin a one-day hunger strike against possible

Robert Go, Jakarta – Going along with Washington's anti-terror campaign – including pushing the government to enact its own anti-terror law – brings Indonesia's armed forces (TNI) one s

Papua has the highest number of HIV/AIDS cases in Indonesia.

Jane Counsel – The key players developing gas resources in the Timor Sea have urged the Federal Government to ratify the Timor Sea Treaty without delay or risk losing billions of dollar

Brigham Goldenm, Jakarta – A hail of gunfire burst from the mist-shrouded jungle in Indonesia's remote Papua Province, strafing a convoy of cars belonging to the American mining corpora

Medan – Indonesia's army chief dishonourably discharged 20 soldiers from a crack airborne unit on Wednesday, saying they had behaved like thugs by killing at least seven people in recen

[The Australian government has begun four days of hearings into the Timor Sea Treaty it signed with East Timor on the day of that country's declaration of independence in May this ye

Iggy Kim – A show trial is looming for Australian academic Lesley McCulloch, detained by the Indonesian military in Aceh, along with US nurse Joy-Lee Sadler.

[This letter was received from Lesley McCulloch via an email from the Acehnese human rights activists working for her release from Indonesian custody.

Tangerang – Dozens of workers from PT Shinta Woosung, a textile producer in Cikupa district, Tangerang, staged a rally at the Tangerang regency legislative council office on Tuesday.

Max Lane, Jakarta – As the Indonesian economy sinks into even deeper crisis, a major social and political crisis has begun to unfold.

Nani Farida and Moch. N.

James Balowski – On September 25, two leaders of the Acehnese civil rights movement – Muhammad Nasir Azis and Kautsar bin Muhammad Yus – who were abducted on September 22 by the Indones

Documents of the police operation code-named Operasi Adil Matoa show that the aim of the Operation is to build cases against Papuan organisations which support independence in order to

[Paradise Betrayed: West Papua's Struggle for Independence. By John Martinkus Quarterly Essay, issue 7 Black Inc Order at ]