Bill Guerin, Jakarta – While the news this week that the European Union, the US and Canada are to end the current textile quota system to meet a World Trade Organization ruling is a severe blow to Indonesia's textile industry, it also has the potential to clear up a distorted production system that has led to a flourishing and shady trade in the quotas themselves.

Andi Hajramurni and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Makassar/Jakarta – A soldier and a policeman were wounded on Thursday in shoot-outs between troops and police in the town of Palopo, Luwu regency, South Sulawesi, officials and residents said.

The appointment of Indonesia's former East Timor police chief, Timbul Silaen, as the new police chief of West Papua and the involvement of notorious East Timor militia leader, Eurico Guterres, in a new West Papua militia group renew fears of increased instability and violence in the territory and are a triumph for impunity over justice, says Tapol the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign

Jakarta – Four FBI agents have been in Indonesia's Papua since early this week to probe the killing of two Americans in the remote province last year that strained ties between Washington and Jakarta, police said on Thursday.

Jakarta – FBI agents will come to Indonesia this week to investigate the killing of two Americans in remote Papua province last year that strained ties between Washington and Jakarta, officials said on Thursday.

Peter Kammerer – The Indonesian government's experiment with autonomy in the restive province of Papua has been dismantled by growing nationalism among the ruling elite in Jakarta, observers said yesterday.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Former East Timorese militia leader Eurico Guterres plans to establish a branch of his pro-integration Red and White Defender Front (FPMP) in troubled Papua province, but local people have opposed it.

Jakarta – The 2004 general election are expected to become an arena for the restoration or recycling of the old powers from the New Order [regime of former President Suharto] who are getting ready to win the 2004 elections. The 2004 elections will not bring any kind of alternative because the system has been engineered not to produce the slightest change.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – The World Bank has announced an ambitious new lending program for Indonesia where money will go to organisations or local governments that can show they have taken steps to wipe out corruption.

Peter Kammerer – East Timorese look at Iraq in wonderment. Hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and investment are pouring into the still unstable Persian Gulf nation, while promised international contributions to their peaceful young democracy have dried up to barely a trickle.

The World Bank announced plans to boost lending to Indonesia to help lift millions out of poverty but said much of the extra aid depends on greater efforts to fight rampant corruption and improve governance.

In the Indonesian province of Papua, the appointment of a new police chief has been greeted with protests. Last year, Inspector General Timbul Silaen was charged and acquitted of human rights violations and crimes against humanity, relating to his time as police chief in East Timor.

Presenter/Interviewer: James Panichi

Indonesia's dilapidated infrastructure poses a greater threat to human life than terrorism and will hamper long-term growth unless there is urgent new investment, the World Bank says.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – A notorious East Timorese militia leader has formed a militia group in the mining town of Timika, a Papuan rights group reported yesterday.

Dewi Santoso, Jakarta – With HIV/AIDS emerging as an increasingly ominous threat, the government appears to lack concrete plans to fight the virus, non-governmental organization activists and a legislator have said.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – The former leader of the most notorious of East Timor's militias, Eurico Guterres, claims he now heads an organisation with 18,000 members and funds to fight separatists in Indonesia's Papua province.

Sandy Darmosumarto, Jakarta – The lack of financial institutions in the eastern part of Indonesia is the main reason for the state-owned pawnshop company Perum Pegadaian to further expand operations in the region, where Islamic-based pawnshop activities have been on the rise.

Tiarma Siboro and Teuku Agam Muzakkir, Jakarta/Lhokseumawe – Despite warnings and threats of attacks by the Indonesian Military (TNI), the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) plans on celebrating its 27th anniversary, which falls on December 4.

Jakarta – Indonesian police and troops cut down a separatist flag in Papua province on the anniversary Monday of an independence proclamation, activists said, but there were no immediate reports of violence.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The latest Indonesian banking scandal, in which hundreds of millions of dollars disappeared into thin air, may seem like a run-of-the-mill bank-fraud case, but besides worrying potential investors, it could also affect the outcome of next year's election.

Irvan NR, Palu – Four people were killed in two separate attacks on a single village in the Central Sulawesi town of Poso over the weekend, apparently targeting Balinese migrants. A bomb also exploded at a traditional market, but no casualties were reported.

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – Hundreds of evicted fishermen and their families living along the banks of the Muara Angke river in North Jakarta will again be forced to move, as the Jakarta administration started widening the river over the weekend to ease flooding.

Jakarta – As the globe commemorates World AIDS Day on December 1, Indonesia's response continues to remain dangerously slow while millions of its people continue to obliviously engage in high risk behavior.

Ian Timberlake, Jakarta – On paper Indonesia doesn't have much of a problem with HIV and AIDS. But the huge country's relatively low adult HIV infection rate belies a rapidly escalating level of infection among prostitutes, their customers, injection drug users and prisoners, an AIDS worker said.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Seven of 42 Papuans arrested on Thursday for flying the Morning-Star independence flag in Manokwari have been declared suspects and will be charged with treason under the Criminal Code, a police officer says.

Ben Terrall – George W. Bush's late October visit to Indonesia was heavy on the superficial, upbeat sloganeering that characterizes his Administration's explanations of US foreign policy.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Contrary to the general fear that security issues could be the major threat to the success of the 2004 general elections in Papua, a local election official cited the province's geographical condition as the most serious electoral constraint.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Just when investors might have been thinking it was safe to look at Indonesia a little less skeptically, the biggest banking scandal to hit the country since the central bank liquidity scandal, this one involving Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) and allegedly fraudulent letters of credit, has shattered confidence yet again.

An international rights group called for the immediate and unconditional lifting of press restrictions in Indonesia's Aceh province, where a major military campaign to crush separatist rebels is in its seventh month.

Dili – A Timorese militiaman was convicted Wednesday of crimes against humanity and sentenced to nine years in jail for killing three independence supporters and torturing others during the country's bloody break from Indonesia's 24-year occupation.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday lashed out at members of her own party, calling them "thugs" who are out of touch with voters – an apparent attempt to rein in corrupt cadres seen as hindering her re-election next year.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Nani Farida, Jakarta/Banda – Aceh Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said the government has not dropped the option of having the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) included on the United Nations' list of terrorist organizations.

Banda Aceh – Indonesia's military said Friday it has killed four more rebels in Aceh province, where troops are in the seventh month of an offensive to crush separatist guerrillas.

Jakarta – A plenary meeting of the House of Representatives endorsed on Thursday 13 bills on the creation of 24 new regencies in 13 provinces into law.

The 24 regencies approved include Kolaka Utara, Kolaka Utara, Bombana and Wakatobi in the province of Southeast Sulawesi, Sumbawa Barat (West Nusa Tenggara) and Lingga (Riau).

Jakarta – An influential politician who helped topple Indonesia's previous president explained Thursday why he believes current leader Megawati Soekarnoputri should also go.

Jakarta – The Army's special forces (Kopassus) chief must stand trial for crimes against humanity over a massacre which took place almost 20 years ago, the country's human rights court ruled Thursday.

Judges rejected defence claims that they have no right to put Maj. Gen. Sriyanto Muntarsan, who now heads the Kopassus special forces, on trial.

Jakarta – Secular-nationalist parties in Indonesia will have the vote of Muslim voters in next year's election.

That is the result of a study carried out by the independent Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) which found the majority of respondents backed Golkar or President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party – Struggle (PDI-P).

Jakarta – The Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has asked the regional military commander Major General Endang Suwarya to improve the quality of the integrated operation in Aceh.

Matthew Moore, Banda Aceh – Six months after more than 600 of Aceh's schools were destroyed by fire, virtually none have been rebuilt and thousands of students can't go to school.

And some temporary schools built after the fires are in such poor condition that enough rainwater leaks through holes in the roof to allow grass to grow on the dirt floor.

It was supposed to be a peaceful demonstration to mark the death of a fellow East Timorese activists.

Instead, Simplisio Celestino de Deus remembers how Indonesian troops indiscriminately opened fire on 3,000 unarmed protesters on November 12, 1991. Troops then stormed into the Santa Cruz cemetery, bayonetted survivors and hauled off the dead bodies in trucks.

Indonesia could become a world-class mining country but new investors are steering clear because of legal uncertainty and red tape, according to an annual survey of the industry.

"Investment spending on exploration and new mines has now been very low for several years," said the report by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Indonesia's director general of taxation, Hadi Purnomo, under strong pressure to increase income tax receipts, has responded by using gijzeling – the Dutch term for detention without trial used in the Indonesian legal system – to jail foreigners, and his approach is sending a serious shudder through Jakarta's expatriate business community.

Jill Jolliffe, Darwin – A United Nations official has pointed the finger at the UN police command for its failure to intervene effectively during riots in East Timor last December.

A UN report just released also said East Timorese police had been unco-operative in an investigation into the riots.

The Indonesian government's war against separatist rebels in Aceh has today entered its seventh month, with no end in sight to the bloodshed. Already some 16,000 have been killed in what has been described as Jakarta's biggest military operation in 25-years.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Thousands of troops were deployed to Poso in Central Sulawesi yesterday as residents braced themselves for more violence following reports of murder and unrest over the shooting of a terror suspect.

About 2,300 troops have been deployed here from Jakarta and nearby provinces.

Jakarta – Approved foreign investment in Indonesia rose sharply in the first ten months of this year to US$9.31 billion from $6.81 billion a year earlier, the National Investment Coordinating Board said in a report seen Tuesday.

However, the 37 percent rise was largely due to a change in investment status of many projects rather than new projects, the board said.

Matthew Moore, Lhokseumawe – Pro-military groups critical of human rights activists are emerging in Indonesia's conflict-ridden Aceh province, raising fears of a resurgence of East Timor-style militias.

Jakarta – The proposed resumption of marine sand exports to Malaysia and Singapore is part of a certain political party's scheme to raise funds for its 2004 general election campaign, a non-governmental organization claimed here recently.

ID Nugroho, Malang – Chairman of the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) Teten Masduki proposed that both Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah issue election guides suggesting followers not to vote for legislative candidates and political parties with unclean track records.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The government has backed down on its plan to have the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) listed as a terrorist organization by the United Nations to avoid turning Aceh into an international issue.