Hamish McDonald Herald, Jakarta – United States intelligence agencies have intercepted messages between Indonesian army commanders indicating they were involved in staging an ambush at the remote Freeport-McMoRan mine in which three schoolteachers – two of them Americans – were killed, according to a source close to the US embassy in Jakarta.

News that Indonesian soldiers might have been involved in an August ambush in Papua that killed two Americans and an Indonesian and wounded 11 isn't surprising. The history of the chaotic province has been marked by separatist revolts and reprisals; civilian deaths at the hands of the army have occurred before.

Kupang – The president of the Democratic Republic of East Timor, Alexander "Xanana" Gusmao, arrived here on Friday morning, amid tight security, for a four-day official trip that will include visits to East Timorese refugee camps.

Jakarta – Undeterred by fierce criticism of his policy, Jakarta governor Sutiyoso has reiterated his intention to close the city to migrants who do not have sufficient money to live on, job offers or a house to stay in.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – The Indonesian Islamic militant group Laskar Jihad had relocated from Maluku to Papua province where it was attacking churches and mosques, church sources said yesterday.

This made a mockery of the group's claims that it had disbanded after the October 12 Bali bombings, they said.

Shawn Donnan, Jakarta – A key member of the US Congress yesterday tied resuming military aid to Jakarta to solving the killing in September of two Americans – for which members of the Indonesian military are now prime suspects.

IV was going to press as news came in of the terrorist bombing in Bali which led to the deaths of almost 200 people. While the Indonesian government has been accused of laxity in its treatment of Islamic militants, it has been ferocious in its repression of genuine movements for self-determination like those in the province of Aceh.

John Walker – As Australian policy makers attempt to analyse the implications for Australian-Indonesian relations of the bomb attacks on Bali, it is important that they maintain a realistic appreciation both of the nature of our immediate region and of Australia's longer term strategic interests.

Max Lane – The relationship been Australia and Indonesia has always been complex. One of the main reason's for this has been, as Mark Otter explained in his article in Jakarta Post on October 29, the difference between governmental (i.e. elite) and public opinion.

Banda Aceh – Four people, including a woman, are the latest casualties of decades-long violence between government and separatist rebel forces in Aceh province, residents said on Wednesday.

They told journalists that two men, including an 18-year-old high school student, were found dead in a oil palm plantation in Paya Rambong, East Aceh, on Tuesday.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Police have deployed hundreds of personnel to Indonesia's border area with Papua New Guinea (PNG) to prevent Papua's most wanted man, Benny Wenda, from escaping to the neighboring country after he escaped from jail on Sunday.

[With the world's media spotlight heavily focused on the Bali bombings, the plight of Australian academic Lesley McCulloch has been largely forgotten. For the past seven weeks, the British-born Australian resident has been held in a police station in the Indonesian province of Aceh.

[There is a growing backlash in Indonesia over the arrest of Abu Bakar Bashir. A powerful visitor went to visit him in hospital recently, the chairman of one of Indonesia's largest Muslim organisations, Muhammadiyah. After the meeting, Professor Ahmad Syafii Marrif said that Bashir is a "scapegoat", arrested only after pressure from the United States.

A long-awaited round of peace talks between the Indonesian government and separatist rebels from Aceh province will get underway on November 2-5 in Switzerland, Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh said here.

Graham Matthews, Melbourne – Some 400 people on October 23 attended a forum on the Bali bombings. It was organised by Asialink and was also simulcast on Radio National and was addressed by academics Arief Budiman, Merle Ricklefs and Tim Lindsey, as well as Greg Fergin, political counsellor for the US embassy.

Sydney – Portuguese intelligence has warned of terrorist attacks against Australian, Portuguese and US interests in East Timor, the Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) said yesterday.

Sri Wahyuni and Tarko Sudiarno, Surakarta/Yogyakarta – Hundreds of alumni from Al-Mukmin Islamic Boarding School went on strike in Yogyakarta on Wednesday to protest the police arrest of their headmaster and terror suspect Abu Bakar Ba'asyir.

Oyos Saroso H.N., Menggala, Lampung – Two men were killed and one man was seriously injured when gunmen launched a three-day attack on the inhabitants of almost a dozen villages in Lampung.

John Martinkus – As Australia contemplates renewed military ties with Kopassus, Indonesia's special forces, the people of Papua fear an increase in military operations against their pro-independence leaders by the same organisation.

President of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Francis Carroll, has written to the Minister for Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, the Hon Philip Ruddock, asking that 1800 East Timorese asylum seekers, who have been in Australia for at least eight years, be allowed to stay.

Dili – The East Timorese government is to undertake a review of its state budget plans after a fall in government receipts and delays in delivering aid funds have left the new nation with a deficit of about USD 1.9 million in the third quarter of this year.

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, wounding three people, including servicemen.

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 society they are building, Pope John Paul II said.

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 prison for "insulting the head of state".

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, the policy responses to the bombing by President Megawati Sukarnoputri's government have created a storm of debate.

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 down on them.

Debbie A. Lubis and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – Activists urged the House of Representatives on Tuesday to reject government regulations in lieu of laws on terrorism and instead amend the Criminal Code in a bid to provide a stronger legal basis to fight terrorism.

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 yesterday, dubbing it the "Palace of Ashes".

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 progress toward fuller democracy.

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 Indonesia-Free Aceh Movement (GAM) peace talks scheduled for October 31, 2002.

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 peace deal could be approved before the Ramadhan fasting month begins next week.

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 not only with terrorism but also the police.

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 of Bali two weeks ago.

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 from the houses and land they have been squatting upon.

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 giant Indosat as a class action "test case" in their attempts to thwart the government's privatization program.

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 January. Workers gave The Jakarta Post various responses to the issue. Bambang, 31, is a quality control staff member at an Australian-owned company in Tangerang.

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 basic rights in Indonesia, says Tapol, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign.

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 supported by his Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos Horta.

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 military here said on Saturday.

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – In observance of the Youth Pledge Day on October 28, some activists were saddened that nationalism in the country had fallen to one of its lowest levels ever due to numerous conflicts, violence and terrorist issues threatening the country's survival as a nation state.

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 two generals, one from the military and one from the police, who mysteriously visited the island on the day of the carnage and left the next day.

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 being a militant breeding ground. It is a place where students and teachers alike profess their admiration for the man they call the Muslim "hero".

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 that has accused the military of involvement in an ambush that killed two Americans, its coordinator said here on Monday.

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.

Aceh Ulema Consultative Assembly (MPU) chairman Muslim Ibrahim said on Saturday that caning would be meted out on Muslims in Aceh who took lunch during the fasting month.

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 Aceh Separatist Movement (GAM).

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 one Indonesian employee of the giant Freeport copper and gold mine in Papua.

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. Absurd, as it may seem, if talk shows and media commentaries are any indication, the most likely candidates in most Indonesians' minds are the US government and the Indonesian army. Al-Qaeda is a distant third.

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 arrested four others in the waters off Asahan on Friday.