Jakarta – Indonesia appeared to back down yesterday from a multi-million dollar fight with the United States after Washington threatened to seize Indonesian assets abroad.

David Barber, Wellington – An ethnic-Chinese Indonesian businessman freed by former New Zealand SAS troops was allegedly held captive for five years in a tiny room in a Javanese village

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Indonesian authorities have identified at least 10 companies responsible for starting fires in the Riau province but are facing problems prosecuting them.

Jakarta – Thick haze from forest fires shrouded several towns in Sumatra on Friday, keeping Pekanbaru, Riau, mostly in the dark during daylight hours.

Ambon – Tension prevailed on Friday in Halmahera in North Maluku following a series of communal clashes earlier in the week that left at least 30 people dead and dozens injured.

Jakarta – Indonesia's Investment Minister Laksamana Sukardi has pleaded for time to reform the country's graft-ridden legal system and promised to honour contracts agreed with past regi

Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid said Friday he will pardon former president Suharto if a court finds him guilty of corruption and abuse of power during his 32 years in

Jakarta – In another move aimed at promoting a civil society and human rights principles, President Abdurrahman Wahid decided on Wednesday to disband the military-controlled Agency for

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Past and present came together yesterday when President Abdurrahman Wahid met former Indonesian leader Suharto for the first time since taking office four mont

Jakarta – The main challenge facing the Indonesian government is the reform of the legal system, a senior minister said Thursday.

John McBeth, Jakarta – For both admirers and critics of Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, the picture is disturbing: At the presidential palace in Jakarta there are signs of a new

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Crime is shooting up and guns are the rage in Jakarta these days.

Jakarta – Indonesia's military now acknowledges the legitimacy of the country's new government and realises that a coup attempt would trigger a bloodbath, a senior US official said yest

Yogyakarta – Surakarta-based radio station PTPN Rasitania was silent on Wednesday after it was forced to suspend broadcasting after airing a talk show that some accused of being blasphe

Jakarta – Conflicts between local communities and timber companies will likely increase in the future because the people are now more aware of their rights, a senior government official

Indonesia's environmental monitoring agency, Bapadal, has been trying to get hard evidence to nail those responsible for the dangerous levels of haze that has covered the Riau province

Jakarta – The World Bank has questioned the decision by a Jakarta court to acquit the director of a politically linked company accused of involvement in Indonesia's multi-million dollar

May Sari – Attended by 50 of its leading members, the Indonesian National Front for Labour Struggle (FNPBI) held its national council meeting in Cisarua, West Java, on February 13-15.

Jakarta – President Abdurrachman Wahid has signed a law ratifying a convention of the International Labour Organization (ILO) on immediate prevention of abuse of child workers.

Vaudine England and Agencies, Pekanbaru – The end of Indonesia's rainy season is once again revealing the chaos created by allowing plantation owners and farmers to clear land by settin

Jakarta – Abortion is strictly prohibited under both the Criminal Code and the Health Law. But despite the legislation, women continue to seek abortions.

Marina Carman – One hundred and fifty students staged a protest outside the office of the regional legislative assembly in Surabaya, Indonesia, on February 22.

Jakarta – The director of a politically linked company accused of involvement in Indonesia's multi-million dollar Bank Bali fraud scandal has been acquitted on a technicality, reports s

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – The baby sits in rags among the filth, a commodity for sale.

Jakarta – A new presidential decree will be issued allowing the government to take over Rp 4 trillion (US$540 million) in assets from former president Soeharto's seven foundations.

Jakarta – Leading politicians and observers said on Monday the attack on National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman Matori Abdul Djalil was politically motivated, speculating that it might

Jakarta – Indonesia's National Commission on Human Rights on Tuesday set up a team to probe the 1984 shooting in Jakarta's northern port area that left scores dead.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – More than 10 senior military officers, at least one of them holding a three-star rank, threatened to quit the Indonesian defence forces (TNI) last week after c

Marianne Kearney, Riau – Where there's smoke there is fire but in Riau province, central Sumatra, finding the source of the fire and who started it is not always easy.

On February 28, Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid appointed an unusual new advisor: former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) Commander Adm. Widodo approved a large-scale reshuffling of the military this week, shifting 74 officers and several top positions.

Jakarta – Suspended Cabinet minister General Wiranto has denied that Lt-General Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the military's former chief of territorial affairs, proposed that he should sei

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The Indonesian armed forces (TNI) plans to reduce the number of its extensive territorial commands in the country in a move that could diminish the military's

Jakarta – A loan scandal involving Indonesia's biggest textile magnate, Marimutu Sinivasan of the Texmaco Group, is turning into a major challenge for President Abdurrahman Wahid's four

Marianne Kearney, Pekanbaru – Just across the Malacca Strait from Singapore, was yesterday enveloped in a blanket of haze as over 100 fires blazed for the third day this week.

Jakarta – Indonesia's best-known writer, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, is a surprise critic of the country's new President, Mr Abdurrahman Wahid.

Jakarta – The House Commission VIII in charge of mining and energy said it would ask the Mines and Energy Ministry to clarify the position with regard to higher fuel price and electrici

Singapore (AP) – Fires have broken out on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where land-clearing blazes caused severe pollution in much of Southeast Asia in 1997, officials in Singapore

Jakarta – People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais said on Wednesday Indonesia did not need foreign advisors, thus President Abdurrahman Wahid's appointment of several foreign

Jakarta – The government and the House of Representatives budget committee agreed on Wednesday to raise the basic salaries of President Abdurrahman Wahid and Vice President Megawati Soe

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Former military strongman Wiranto is finished politically and is unlikely to ever play a dominant role in politics here, Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono said

In Indonesia, hundreds of drivers of the popular three-wheeled pedicabs took to the streets late last night.

Pip Hinman, Jakarta – Around 500 members of the People's Democratic Party (PRD) protested outside the Presidential Palace on February 21 to demand that the Indonesian government abandon

May Sari, Jakarta – Having failed to gain satisfaction from their employer or the Indonesian government, thousands workers from PT Kong Tai Indonesia protested outside parliament here o

Jakarta – Indonesia signed the protocol of the United Nations Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (UN-CEDAW) on Monday.

The last year of the twentieth century was a transition for both East Timor and Indonesia.

Jakarta – An Indonesian anti-graft watchdog has demanded that the youngest son of former president Suharto return 255 million dollars which it charged he had embezzled through his clove

Jakarta – The Indonesian economy may be showing signs of recovery from the financial crisis two years ago.

Ahmad Pathoni, Jakarta – Indonesia's press welcomed the country's wide-ranging military reshuffle here Tuesday, hailing it as an early victory for efforts to assert civilian control ove

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – The Indonesian military's most outspoken reformer, Major-General Agus Wirahadikusumah, has been appointed to head his country's main combat force in a further