A'an Suryana, Lhokseumawe – At first she refused to be interviewed but then relented on the condition that she be quoted under a false name, Hanafiah. "I am afraid that I'll be killed after an interview," said the 50-year old women, a resident of Krueng Dhoe hamlet in Pidie regency.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – After 13 years studying it, and eight years living in it, Thomas Walton feels confident to nominate his No. 1 issue: "Urban air quality is the single worst environment problem in Indonesia ... so many people are affected and they can't get away from it."

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – In Indonesia's better hotels you will sometimes see signs that read: "No Durians Past This Point." Because the prickly green fruit has a smell that lingers like a blocked drain, staff are taught to treat it like non-paying guests.

Jakarta – At least 150 civilians have died, 80 have been wounded, and another 71 have gone missing since the government launched the integrated operation in the troubled province of Aceh on May 19, authorities say.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's top general says Aceh operations are "ahead of schedule", but admit the authorities may extend martial law for the province beyond the current six-month order.

The military and the police have also asked Parliament for an additional fund of US$220 million to finance the campaign against the separatist Free Aceh Movement.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) said on Friday that the military operation against the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) had failed and urged both parties to go back to the negotiating table.

Jakarta – It is not enough to hold a judicial review of the anti-terrorist laws numbers 15/2003 and 16/2003 which were promulgated three months ago. These laws must be totally revised or amended so they do not allow for their misuse by the authorities.

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – The presidential race kicked off within the country's second biggest party, Golkar, on Friday, with five would-be candidates presenting their visions and missions on the first day of a three-day meeting of Golkar-affiliated mass organizations in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – High school graduates, suspects, or convicted persons can be nominated as presidential candidates in 2004 when the country will organize the first direct presidential elections following a consensus of the nine House factions on those issues on Friday.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has declared it will proceed with buying Russian fighter jets despite controversy raging in Parliament about the deal.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The management of 68H radio news lodged a strong protest on Friday with the martial law administration in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam over an assault the previous day on one of its journalists, Alif Imam Nurlambang, in Panton Luas, South Aceh.

John Aglionby, Jakarta – Separatists in the Indonesian province of Aceh yesterday dismissed military claims that Jakarta had taken control of the whole province and vowed to continue fighting until they get their freedom.

Indonesia's military claims it now controls all of Aceh province, six weeks after imposing martial law to crush separatist rebels. But local human rights groups are counting the civilian cost of the war... saying as many as 35-thousand Acehenese have fled their homes and hundreds more have been killed in attacks and air raids.

Presenter/Interviewer: Tricia Fitzgerald

Jakarta – Indonesia's Director General of Foreign Trade Sudar yesterday said the purchase of Russian-made jet fighters and helicopters was free from collusive practices.

"I am responsible for that," he said after a meeting with the House of Representatives' working committee tasked to look into the purchase.

Richard Norton-Taylor, London – The value of British arms cleared for export to Indonesia rose from 2 million Pounds in 2000 ($A4.9 million) to more than 40 million Pounds last year, a 20-fold increase.

Jakarta – A five-year jail term given to a prominent activist in Indonesia's rebellious Aceh was harsh and heightens the "apparent intimidation" of those trying to monitor rights abuses in the province, the US government said.

Moch. N Kurniawan, Jakarta – Public outrage is increasing over the government's move to allow mining in conservation forests in Sulawesi and Kalimantan.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Experts criticized President Soekarnoputri on Wednesday for supporting the establishment of citizens' defense groups, saying that such moves would only heighten fanaticism and the culture of violence in society.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – Nothing was as usual on Wednesday at the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta), located at Jl. Mendut No. 1 in Central Jakarta, which used to be crowded with justice seekers and activists throughout the day.

Jakarta – The most senior Indonesian military officer indicted by Jakarta's special tribunal for the violence in East Timor in 1999, Major-General Adam Damiri, made a heartfelt plea this week for mercy from the five judges trying his case. The verdict is to be announced on August 5.

Jakarta – Indonesian police yesterday warned of fresh terrorist attacks in the country after disclosing that key suspects are still in the country and are seeking funds for another bombing.

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – Amid the military operation to crush the separatist movement in Aceh, the government has begun to screen a total of around 67,000 civil servants in Aceh to ensure their loyalty to the Unitary Republic of Indonesia.

A'an Suryana, Lhokseumawe – The court martial of three soldiers for the rape of four women in Aceh will start on Friday, a court official in the North Aceh town of Lhokseumawe said on Wednesday.

Jakarta – Indonesia's military claimed control over the whole of Aceh province yesterday, six weeks after it launched a huge operation to crush separatist rebels.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Following increasing allegations of torture and civilian deaths, the Army withdrew on Wednesday 98 of its 158 elite Special Force (Kopassus) and Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) soldiers deployed to crack down on separatists in Papua.

Indonesian's top security minister, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, is reportedly preferred over incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri as the country's next president.

According to a poll conducted by the Centre for the Study of Development and Democracy ,13 percent of 3,000 respondents in 13 provinces have picked Mr Yudhoyono. Mrs Megawati trails in second place with seven percent.

The new UN police chief in East Timor says one of her top priorities is to provide training to the local police force to take over policing of the young nation. UNPOL Commissioner Sandra Peisley is an Australian, who formerly served with the Australian Federal Police.

Presenter/Interviewer: Sen Lam

Ethnic violence has broken out again in West Kalimantan province, while hundreds of people in South Sulawesi province have run amok during a protest demanding the creation of a new province.

Jakarta – The number of students taking the 2003 state university admission exam (SPMB) declined by 12.11 percent to 350,306 students from 398,589 in 2002.

Andrew Burrell – They may not like being lumped together, but Indonesia's radical Islamic terrorists and the nation's military commanders have more in common than they would care to admit.

Most glaringly, they are both accused of using or authorising shocking violence, often leading to the death of many innocent civilians, in the pursuit of their goals.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – A United Nations official has confirmed that an investigation is under way in East Timor into prostitution and allegations of human trafficking. The probe follows claims by the Portuguese newspaper Expresso of a growing problem involving UN staff.

Lesley McCulloch – In the police stations of Aceh, in Indonesia's far northwest corner, fear is the daily diet of the detainees. Not fear of the outcome of a due legal process, but fear of torture by Indonesian police to force a false confession.

Nani Farida and A'an Suryana, Banda Aceh/Lhokseumawe – Following Monday's bomb blasts in Aceh's provincial capital Banda Aceh, authorities said they would tighten security in the city, as terrorist acts mark a new threat in the war against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri welcomed members of the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM) back to the fold of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), a day after they surrendered to the Papua Provincial Administration and pledged full unwavering loyalty to the state government.

Geneva – The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), the world's largest coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) engaged in the fight against torture, would like to express its deep concern about the ongoing conflict in the province of Aceh, which, to a great extent, is being ignored by the international community.

Makassar – Hundreds of East Timorese, currently under the care of the Al Anshar Foundation here, and other refugees and students have refused to go back to East Timor.

In Jakarta, around 1000 people, the majority women from the Women's Claim Alliance (APM), commemorated March 8, International Women's Day (IWD), by condemning increases to fuel prices and calling for a reduction in prices and the resignation of President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday called for civilian militias to be set up in Indonesia as the military and police struggle to contain insurgencies and widespread lawlessness in the country.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The government-initiated re-registration of civil servants failed to gain momentum on its initial day on Tuesday with civil servants appearing decidedly unenthusiastic.

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – The Banda Aceh District Court handed an unwanted birthday present to Muhammad Nazar, the chairman of the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA), in the form of a five-year jail term for "displaying hostility" to the government through his campaign for a self-determination referendum in Aceh.

An international rights group criticised East Timor's new police force for arbitrary detentions, beating some detainees and a trigger-happy response to last December's riots in which three people died.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Papua Provincial Legislative Council decided on Friday that it would refuse to implement the newly endorsed bill on national education in the province, saying that the bill would only compartmentalize citizens based on religion and could further trigger national disintegration.

Dili – East Timor's prime minister, Mari Alkatiri, criticized Tuesday the earlier pronouncement by Dili's Court of Appeal that a draft immigration and asylum bill is unconstitutional. The Appeal Court ruled Monday that parts of the draft bill which limit political rights for foreign citizens in Timor are "unconstitutional".

Jakarta – A general on trial before a human rights court on Tuesday rejected allegations that troops fuelled the 1999 atrocities in East Timor as "fantasy."

Major-General Adam Damiri is the last and highest-ranking official to appear before the court, accused of crimes against humanity during East Timor's bloody breakaway from Jakarta's rule.

Bogor – Protected forests in Bogor, such as those on the slopes of Mt. Salak, Mt. Pangrango and Mt. Pongkor, are being destroyed by illegal logging and mining, an expert says.

Jakarta – About 500 people from eight villages in three subdistricts, including Jonggol, Bogor, staged a rally over the weekend to oppose the Jakarta administration's plan to use land there as a dumpsite.

"We reject the construction of a dumpsite as it would be a disaster for locals," one of the protesters, Triasa Cahyaputra, was quoted as saying by Antara on Saturday.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Human rights activists denounced the excavation of mass graves in Aceh by the Indonesian Military (TNI), saying it violated normal investigation procedures for possible gross violations of human rights.

Three Indonesian soldiers arrested for raping four women in war-torn Aceh province have confessed to the crimes, the military said.

The private soldiers are now being detained at military police headquarters in North Aceh, said military operations spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Yani Basuki.

Jayapura – Forty-two rebels in Indonesia's eastern Papua province surrendered Monday, vowing to end their struggle for independence, police said. It was not immediately clear what prompted the move.

Jakarta – More than 40 fighters of an armed separatist group in Indonesia's remote eastern province of Papua have surrendered to police and their immediate fate is – handicrafts training.

Papua police chief Budi Utomo told leading El Shinta radio that most of the 42 members of the Free Papua Organisation (OPM) had been living in the jungle, some as long as 10 years.