Jakarta – The TNI-AD (the army) sincerely hopes that the 2004 elections will proceed safely, smoothly and orderly. TNI-AD has no wish for the festival of democracy, which will be crucial in determining the course of the nation for at least the next five years, to turn bloody as a result of conflict between the children of the nation for the sake of the ambitions of certain groups.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – The Army, which is the most dominant service within the ranks of the Indonesian Military (TNI), has been praised for keeping its distance from politics and better respecting human rights.

Banda Aceh – Four suspected separatist guerrillas and one civilian became the latest casualties of fighting between rebels and government forces in the Indonesian province of Aceh, the military said yesterday.

Troops clashed with rebels in Pasi Raja, South Aceh, Friday and shot dead two rebels, Lieutenant Colonel Ahmad Yani Basuki said.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – With the elections fast approaching, Indonesians of Chinese origin have set conditions for legislative and presidential candidates to win their support, namely the ending of all discriminatory policies and regulations.

Jacqueline Mackenzie, Jakarta – Gadis Arivia is the Executive Director of Yayasan Jurnal Perempuan (YJP, Women's Journal Foundation), which initiated the Suara Ibu Peduli (Voice of Concerned Mothers), among the crucial movements capitalizing on the early days of the economic crisis to raise people's political awareness.

Jakarta – Indonesia made progress in promoting respect for religious freedom, but in a number of cases the government failed to punish extremists responsible for murder and other crimes.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – A group of 13 political parties, mostly Muslim-based, have agreed to form a coalition immediately after the legislative election on April 5 next year, one party leader confirmed.

Palembang – Indonesia will fail to attract any foreign direct investment (FDI) next year if chaos occurs in the general elections, prominent businessman Sofyan Wanandi said.

Foreign investors would then think that saving their money in banks was better than investing it, he told a seminar on creating harmonious industrial relations.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) said that it would transfer all remaining unsold assets to new companies operating under the Office of State Minister of State Enterprises.

Previously, it was planned that the assets would be taken over by a holding company under the Ministry of Finance, after IBRA's termination on Feburary 27, 2004.

An Indonesian court imposed an 18-year jail sentence on a man who supplied Islamic militants with the explosives used in a McDonald's restaurant bombing.

Arman, alias Galaxi, was found guilty on Monday of assisting the bombing at Makassar in South Sulawesi on December 5, 2002 and of illegal possession of firearms.

Dili – President Xanana Gusmco challenged East Timor's parliament Monday to make 2004 "the year of stability" for the newly independent nation.

Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund has concluded its high-profile role in designing the country's economic reform program over six years with the announcement late last week of its last loan tranche.

Atambua – Indonesian military and police personnel assigned to the border regions shared by Indonesia and East Timor have shown reformed attitudes in accordance with current era of reforms, a local legislator has said.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – The minister known as the strongman in East Timor's Government wept like a child as he confessed publicly to beating a prisoner during the 1975 civil war.

Banda Aceh – Three armed Aceh rebels were killed in gunfights with government troops in North Aceh and East Aceh districts on Wednesday, a military spokesman said Thursday.

Jakarta – The newly elected chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Mr Taufieqqurrochman Ruki, has vowed to develop it into a credible institution.

Once the organisation is established, the KPK will focus on eradicating corruption in the civil service, law enforcement institutions and the private sector, he said on Wednesday.

Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri's son, Mohammad Rizki "Tatam" Pratama, has decided to withdraw from a business project in the Jakarta Fairground after intense scrutiny by legislators, The Jakarta Post reported yesterday.

Samarinda – The condition of East Kalimanatan forests has now become cause for worry, in view of continuing illegal logging activities, while bids of conservation have not been very effective, sources said on Wednesday.

Jakarta – The House of Representatives passed on Thursday the long-awaited state treasury bill into law, which Minister of Finance Boediono claimed will greatly improve the management of state funds and assets and thus help prevent corruption.

Shawn Donnan and Taufan Hidayat – From the perspective of Hansen Kurniawan's cookie shop in Jakarta's Pasar Minggu market, the International Monetary Fund's performance in Indonesia is easy to grade.

Jakarta – Indonesia has extended the detention of four Muslim students deported from Pakistan because they are suspected of links to an accused terror kingpin and several bombings, police said on Friday.

Banda Aceh – The involvement of civil society in efforts to fight the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) are becoming increasingly enthusiastic in a number of regencies in Aceh.

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – A hearing on evictions between Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso and House of Representatives Commission II for home affairs turned into a farce on Thursday as commission deputy chairman Abdul Rachman Gaffar, who presided over the hearing, prevented invited evictees and urban observers from criticizing Sutiyoso.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – The idea was to ease traffic along Jakarta's busiest streets by encouraging people to abandon their cars, but a new bus system due to start running next month is already causing headaches.

Given this country's poor record in industrial relations in the past, it is not surprising that the new Law on the Settlement of Industrial Disputes, which the House of Representatives endorsed this week, is viewed with suspicion by activists in certain segments of the labor movement.

Jakarta – The House of Representatives (DPR) has removed one major hurdle to judicial independence by placing all courts under the direct supervision of the Supreme Court, but a noted legal expert warned that an independent and clean judicial system was still a long way off.

Jakarta – More than 100 university students rallied outside the Supreme Court on Thursday, demanding the court to process the case against Speaker of the House of Representatives Akbar Tandjung for his corruption conviction which he has appealed to the Supreme Court.

Jakarta – Indonesia has described as baseless a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report alleging gross abuses by troops fighting separatist rebels in Aceh province.

Jakarta – House Commission IV for settlement and telecommunications failed on Wednesday to endorse the controversial water resource bill, ordering the Ministry of Settlement and Infrastructure to promote the draft among other state ministries and the public sectors that have opposed the bill.

As East Timor continues to delve into its painful past, there's been a suprising confession from Timor's last European governor. During this week's final hearings at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Major General Mario Lemos Pires publically admitted that Portugal failed to prepare the former territory for democracy.

Presenter/Interviewer: James Panichi

Kasparman Piliang, Padang – At least one man was killed, and three kiosks and a local community health center (Puskesmas) were set ablaze during a clash between residents from two villages in West Sumatra, witnesses said on Wednesday.

Jakarta – A former police general will head Indonesia's first five-member anti-corruption commission, dubbed a "super agency", given its authority to summon and investigate state officials and members of parliament without seeking presidential approvals.

Fedhly Averouss Bey, Jakarta - The Centre for Electoral Reform (Cetro) and Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial) have stated that they reject holding the 2004 general elections in Aceh while it is under the status of a military emergency. At the very least there needs to be a break in the military emergency if [the government] still wishes to organise elections in Aceh.

Klaten – Hundreds of supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) occupied and seized the party's local office in Klaten regency, Central Java, on Wednesday.

The incident was in protest against the dismissal on December 13 of the chief of the party's security, Haryanto Wibowo, by Harry Purnomo who chairs Klaten's PDI-P office.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Papuan people concluded a two-day meeting here on Tuesday, recommending that the central government speed up the establishment of the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) as mandated by the special autonomy law, and revoke controversial Law No. 45/1999 on the partition of the territory into three smaller provinces.

Banda Aceh – Two Indonesian soldiers of the Army Strategic and Reserve Command (Kostrad) were killed by rebels in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province on Tuesday, it was reported here on Wednesday.

Urip Hudiono and Nani Farida, Jakarta/Banda Aceh – Indonesia risks losing its international credibility if it fails to stop abuses by the military against civilians in Aceh and ensure that perpetrators of the human rights violations are brought to justice, an international rights group warns.

Yuli Tri Suwarni and Apriadi Gunawan, Bandung/Medan – Labor protests erupted separately in Bandung and Medan on Wednesday after their respective 2004 minimum wage pay increases were apparently much less than they had hoped.

Tangerang – Hundreds of workers of shoe producer PT Dongha Perkasa staged a rally at the Tangerang Municipal Council building on Wednesday starting at around 10:30 a.m., demanding their right to better welfare.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The huge increase in the number of cases reported of rape and domestic violence against women and children is an indication of the growing level of willingness among the victims to speak to women's organizations about it.

Jakarta – An Indonesian human rights group on Thursday accused President Megawati Sukarnoputri of giving the national intelligence agency too much power.

The executive director of Imparsial, Munir, said the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) had recruited regional officials, including village chiefs, as their agents and set up regional offices.

Jakarta – Indonesia's peak Islamic body has put a religious ban on terrorism and suicide bombings. The Indonesian Council of Ulemas issued a binding religious decree, or fatwa, on the attacks after its annual meeting on Tuesday.

Patrick Walters – East Timor is calling for the United Nations to deploy a 400-strong paramilitary force at least until 2006 to bolster its tiny security forces.

Leony Aurora, Jakarta – It looked like just another rally on Wednesday, when about 50 people holding cardboard posters stood inside the Ministry of Health compound in South Jakarta, chanting their demands.

Kafil Yamin, Jakarta – Some Indonesians see the presidential candidacy next year of former strongman Suharto's daughter, Siti Hardianti Rukamana – on the heels of that of her father's former military chief Wiranto – as a sign of the failure of reforms in the post-Suharto era.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Employers can no longer arbitrarily dismiss their workers as a new bill on industrial dispute settlement that the House of Representatives endorsed on Tuesday allows a dismissed worker to directly bring his or her case to court.

East Timor's tiny military has discharged 27 soldiers and will soon fire more than 60 others for being absent without leave or skipping training, a spokesman said Wednesday.

The country's 1,500-strong East Timor Defense Force is slowly taking over responsibilities from UN peacekeepers in the newly independent nation.

Jakarta – Central Jakarta police arrested 54 protesting students, six of them girls, just as they were dispersing after staging an anti-election rally at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon.

Max Lane – Most of the 24 parties which gained registration for the 2004 general elections trace their origins back to groups or parties that were participants in the New Order political system rather than its opponents. There are just a few partial exceptions.

Dewi Santoso, Jakarta – A legislator expressed concern on Tuesday about a price war among the country's generic medicine producers, fearing it would prompt drug trade in the black market.