Jakarta – Thousands of people on Sunday took part in anti-war protests in several cities across the country, AFP reported.

Bandung – Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) said on Saturday that her party had contributed only a little to the nation.

"If we look at the history of the nation, we should be ashamed that our party has contributed so little compared to what the country has contributed to us," she said.

Tangerang – After a three-day rally, some 900 factory workers of PT Hancook Ceramics Indonesia, in the Pasar Kemis district of Tangerang, went on strike from Friday to Saturday demanding improvement in welfare benefits.

Jerry Norton, Jakarta – The president of Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, told a conference of Islamic women on Monday that women across the world should launch a movement against war.

Ellen Nakashima, Jakarta – On a recent day in a weathered courthouse in Jakarta sat defendant Tono Suratman, an army brigadier general accused of failing to prevent two massacres in East Timor during its bloody breakaway from Indonesia in 1999.

Beside him were eight defense attorneys. Opposite them was the prosecution: two lawyers called out of retirement.

A mob of some 1,000 people ransacked and torched a peace monitors' office in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh, witnesses and a staff member said.

Indonesia's cabinet met to discuss the increasingly fragile ceasefire in Aceh's bloody separatist war, with the armed forces chief suggesting it might decide to scrap the agreement.

Jakarta – The two largest political parties came under fire from a small party on Friday for not joining the antiwar rallies against the United States-led strike on Iraq, which has now entered its 16th day.

Nethy Dharma Somba and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta/Jayapura – Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu ordered the military in Papua to quell the Free Papua Movement (OPM), which was blamed for a deadly burglary at the Jayawijaya military district arsenal early on Friday.

Makassar – McDonald's restaurant at the Ratu Indah Mall here was still closed on Saturday following threats from anti-US demonstrators.

Hundreds of demonstrators on board three trucks thronged the tightly-guarded restaurant on Friday, threatening to set it ablaze unless the American fast-food chain closes and the US ends its assault on Iraq, Antara reported.

Reuters in Melbourne – Corruption poses the biggest risk to the future of East Timor, says its president, Xanana Gusmao.

The world's newest country, which will celebrate its first anniversary next month, was struggling to make democracy work beyond just holding elections every five years, he said.

Jakarta – United Nations peacekeepers have arrested two former East Timorese militiamen for alleged involvement in crimes against humanity during East Timor's bloody breakaway from Jakarta in 1999.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – One thing about abortion in Indonesia is clear: it is easier to get one than to understand the law that regulates them.

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – Indonesia suffers a whopping US$4.7 billion in economic losses per year or $12 per family per month due to its poor sewerage system, a United Nations task force says.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – State-owned television station TVRI is no longer broadcasting in North Sumatra, marking another suspension of a TVRI station under a restructuring program to slash state funding for TVRI stations nationwide.

Banda Aceh/Jakarta – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has called for a delay in the general elections in Aceh until after the holding of an all-inclusive dialog (AID) as stipulated in the peace agreement signed last year.

Jakarta – In an outbreak of violence likely to raise concerns about the peace process in troubled Aceh province, security forces said on Friday they killed five rebels in two separate incidents.

Solo – A crowd of 10,000 people burned a mock Statue of Liberty and chanted "Bush is a terrorist" during a boisterous anti-war rally on Friday in the world's largest Muslim nation.

Jakarta – Suspected rebels trying to steal weapons during a night raid on a military post exchanged fire with government troops early yesterday, killing two soldiers in Indonesia's remote Papua province, the military said.

The gunbattle also killed one man, who villagers later identified as a rebel, said Papuan military chief Brigadier-General Nurdin Zainal.

Dili – An East Timorese court on Saturday sentenced a senior militia leader to 12 years in prison for crimes against humanity committed during the country's bloody break from Indonesia in 1999.

Jose Cardosa Fereira was found guilty of murder, rape and torture against East Timorese civilians who supported the territory's independence from Indonesia .

Jakarta – While the United States military and coalition troops moved closer to Baghdad, antiwar protests here continued on Thursday, with some targeting Arab countries which support the attack on Iraq.

Jakarta – Gunmen believed to be separatist rebels shot dead two soldiers during an attempt early Friday to steal weapons from a military post in Papua province, the military said.

Nani Farida and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Banda Aceh/Jakarta – Violence continues to pose a threat to the five-month-old peace accord in Aceh as a fresh firefight took place in Pidie regency on Thursday, claiming the lives of three alleged Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members.

The ceasefire in Aceh's separatist war looked fragile after Indonesian police shot dead three rebels in the seventh armed clash in a week.

Security forces and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have yet to agree on a demilitarisation plan for the province, almost two months after a crucial phase of the December 9 peace pact began.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The truce that Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels signed last December is already showing wear and tear as Aceh looks to be nowhere near peace.

Although the pact has dramatically reduced the level of violence in the province, there is more distrust between the two sides than ever before.

Jakarta – At least 18,500 schoolchildren – some as young as seven – are believed to use drugs in Indonesia, National Narcotics Agency chief Togar Sianipar has said.

"From that number, primary school students account for about 1,000, junior high school students around 7,500 and senior high school around 10,000," Mr Sianipar was quoted as saying by the Antara news agency.

Surabaya – The team of lawyers for the seven members of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) accused of killing pro-independence Papua figure Dortheys "Theys" Hiyo Eluway, have appealed to judges to be fair in imposing punishment on their clients. One of the lawyers, Mario Bernardo, said he suspected political pressure had led to the trial.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Abu Bakar Bashir had no reason to look lonely as he sat facing the judges who could lock him up for life. After all, he's got 80 lawyers on his team, and nearly a quarter of them were lined up beside him in rows three deep.

Indonesia's vice president Hamzah Haz has lashed out at the US-led war against Iraq, calling President George W Bush the "king of terrorists".

Mr Haz says the United States has always boasted about upholding human rights and democracy, yet it invades Iraq without United Nations approval.

Controversy is growing over the draft bill on presidential elections in relation to an article that stipulates that only parties or coalitions of parties garnering 20% of national legislature seats will be allowed to field candidates in the country's first direct presidential election in 2004.

Jakarta – A director with Indonesia's central bank was jailed yesterday for three years after being found guilty of corruption in failing to properly monitor insolvent banks during the regional financial crisis.

Heru Supraptomo is the second central bank director jailed this week. Fellow Bank Indonesia (BI) supervision director Hendro Budianto was sentenced on Tuesday.

Thousands of Indonesians staged protests in several cities as the US-led war against Iraq entered its third week, with some burning President George W. Bush in effigy.

Max Lane – Todung Mulya Lubis makes some sensible points in his interview with The Jakarta Post on March 31. For example, he is correct to question the usefulness of a boycott of American goods – at least, at this point of time.

David Rood – East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao said yesterday he opposed Australia's involvement in the US-led war on Iraq.

Mr Gusmao's views appear to conflict with those of his Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos Horta, who has previously endorsed the use of force in Iraq.

Nani Farida and Tiarma Siboro, Banda Aceh/Jakarta – Activists representing 41 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Aceh have launched a month-long campaign to save the five-month-old peace agreement that has nearly ended almost three decades of armed conflict there.

Jakarta – Indonesia's security minister has warned that a recent peace deal between the government and rebels in Aceh province could break down because of repeated violations by the guerillas.

Pekanbaru, Riau – Thousands of field workers of American mining company PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia (CPI) threatened on Tuesday to go strike if the management went ahead with its decision to cut the days off in the company.

The National Human Rights Commission, Komnas HAM has called on the government to explain what has happened to information or intelligence reports about persons deemed to be political enemies of the Old Order. Such data should be declared invalid and totally destroyed.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights declared on Tuesday that gross human rights violations had occurred during massive riots in Jakarta in May 1998, which preceded the fall of long-time ruler Soeharto.

Police in Indonesia say a Muslim hardliner believed to be close to the Jemaah Islamiah terrorist network has been reported as missing.

Lamkaruna Putra recently reported the alleged abduction of his father, Fauzi Hasbi, alias Abu Jihad, to national police headquarters. The alleged abduction occurred on February 23. The reason for the delay in reporting is not clear.

Indonesia has expressed alarm at the opening of a Papuan People's office in Vanuatu.

The Indonesian embassy in Canberra has issued a statement saying it may review diplomatic ties with Vanuatu.

It says it learned from credible sources the office was set up in the capital Port Vila last week. Indonesia has asked the government of Vanuatu for an explanation.

Soldiers in Indonesia have killed two suspected rebels in the province of Aceh.

A police official says the two Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels were shot dead after they attacked soldiers investigating reports of blackmail by GAM in the Pidie district. Soliders confiscated an automatic rifle from the scene.

Jakarta – Indonesian police have stepped up security at vital installations in Medan after two bombings within 24 hours.

The first explosion rocked the parking lot of the Medan city administration's offices on Monday afternoon, shattering windows and damaging two cars. No one was hurt.

Kalinga Seneviratne, Sydney – Australia's international profile, already hurt by criticism against its role in the US-led invasion of Iraq, is under fire for is its desire to boot out East Timorese asylum seekers who fled the former Indonesian territory more than a decade ago.

Paul Kelly – Iraq is not the only humanitarian issue facing the Howard Government today. East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao made an urgent and desperate appeal to Australia last week and failed to raise a flicker of media interest.

Jakarta – A parliamentary panel drafting an education Bill is retaining a controversial article requiring missionary schools to provide religious instruction in the pupils' own religion despite opposition from educators and mission schools.

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar – As Balinese prepare for the year 1925 on the Saka calendar, young men in every neighborhood banjar are busy building and displaying ogoh-ogoh, the colorful bamboo and papier mache demon effigies featured in celebrations leading to Nyepi, the day of silence marking the new year.

Not one charge has been laid in Sydney since the post-Bali raids on six Indonesian families, but 255 Indonesians have been locked up since and the community feels under siege. Now some have even lost trust in each other. Linda Morris writes.

Dili – An East Timor-Australia treaty that serves as the basis for the development of the major oil and gas deposits in the Timor Sea between the two countries came into force Wednesday.

Indonesia's defence ministry has defended a policy document which calls for the military's close scrutiny of civilian affairs to be maintained.