Dili – A captured former anti-independence militiaman has told interrogators in Dili that at least seven armed groups infiltrated East Timor from Indonesia in December, according to two reports obtained by Lusa Tuesday.

Karawang – The Indonesian Military (TNI) on Monday said it was the right of citizens to protest over recent price hikes but warned against hidden agendas, including toppling the government by calling for the establishment of a presidium to rule in the place of the president.

The Indonesian government made only half-hearted attempts during the year to hold accountable those responsible for TNI abuses in East Timor. Human rights defenders inside and outside the country called for an international tribunal in light of the failures of the Indonesian justice system.

Jakarta – Shortly after several cabinet ministers arrived in Ambon, Maluku, an unidentified man threw bombs at passing cars, which exploded and damaged the rear end of a public minivan on Tuesday, Antara reported.

The first bomb, which was thrown at a private-owned car, failed to explode, but the second did. No casualties were reported during the incident.

Jakarta – The government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri has restored some political stability but failed to address human rights abuses by the military and endemic corruption, Human Rights Watch saidTuesday in its annual report.

The watchdog said human rights campaigners faced increased ersecution especially in the rebellious provinces of Aceh and Papua.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – Two senior Indonesian police officers who uncovered evidence of army involvement in the killing of three teachers near the Freeport mine in Papua last August have been transferred to new posts.

[The following is a by Jeffrey Winters, Northwestern University, via Joyo Indonesia News Service.]

I would like to offer the following observations:

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – Ambassadors from the United States, Japan and Italy arrived here on Monday for a two-day visit to show support for a recent peace agreement to end decades of hostilities in the troubled province of Aceh.

Alan Boyd, Sydney – Indonesia may close its key border crossing into Papua New Guinea (PNG) after renewed separatist tensions in the rebellious province of West Papua (formerly Irian Jaya) that aid workers claim are being partly inflamed by Muslim extremists.

Jakarta – Violence erupted again on Monday as thousands of people embarked on a second week of protests nationwide against the steep rises in fuel prices, and electricity and telephone charges.

However, most of the street rallies proceeded peacefully across the country.

Jakarta – Some 5,000 women staged a rally on Tuesday outside the presidential palace in Central Jakara, protesting the government's decision to increase fuel prices and electricity and telephone rates, Antara reported.

Carrying kitchen utensils and banners, the women, led by the Muslim Women's Solidarity Forum for the Poor, marched along the streets under the hot sun.

Achmad Sukarsono and Telly Nathalia, Jakarta – Thousands of protesters rallied in more than a dozen Indonesian cities on Tuesday and knocked down parliament's gates in the capital, maintaining pressure on the government to review its recent fuel and utility price hikes.

Rachel Harvey, Jakarta – Rampant corruption in Indonesia is hampering attempts to tackle the problem of illegal logging, according to a report.

Indonesia's forests, home to endangered species, such as the orang-utan and Clouded Leopard, are being stripped. Campaigners claim up to 70% of Indonesia's timber comes from illegal sources.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – The Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) headed by President Megawati Sukarnoputri has joined the chorus of protesters calling on her administration to review its price increases for fuel and utilities.

Dili – The atmosphere of instability looming over East Timor is leading to a deterioration of relations between national and UN security structures.

Protests against price hikes for fuel and phone charges are continuing for a second week across Indonesia. The price rises for fuel, electricity and phones are aimed at cutting back on government subsidies as the administration tries to rein in its large budget deficit.

Mengwi – President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday defended her decision to raise fuel and power prices, arguing they were needed to end the country's reliance on foreign debt.

Jakarta – Riding the momentum initiated by mounting anti-government protests, several individuals representing different groups have become united in their efforts to unseat President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Vice President Hamzah Haz.

Jane Perlez, Banda Aceh – An American nurse freed after having been convicted by the Indonesian authorities of visa violations, which involved contacting separatist rebels, says she wants to continue her one-woman health mission among displaced people.

Banda Aceh – The number of killings and clashes between Indonesian forces and separatist rebels in Aceh province has plunged sharply a month after a peace deal was signed, a mediation group said yesterday.

Ati Nurbaiti, Ambon – It seems an inevitable, accepted fact of life here that while things must return to "normal", it would be wishful thinking to imagine that it means resuming normalcy in full, at least in the foreseeable future.

Bill Guerin – A year ago Indonesia's debut into the free-trade era took place when it opened its markets to the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA).

The landmark event, on January 1, 2002, was notable mainly for the silence of the government that had preceded the move, and the apathy of the people and business community. Public ignorance of AFTA prevailed.

Jakarta – Domestic researchers lashed out at the government's plan to impose restrictions on foreign scholars who wish to conduct field studies in the troubled provinces of Papua and Aceh. They said that the restriction impinged on academic freedom.

Jakarta – Street protests continued across the country Friday against steep increases in fuel and utility charges as the government began distributing cheaper rice nationwide to those hardest hit by the price rises, AFP reported.

About 10,000 students and workers staged a noisy but peaceful rally in Makassar, South Sulawesi province, El Shinta radio reported.

Tom Hyland – The accused sits with his seven lawyers in the listless heat of a Jakarta courtroom. He occasionally wipes his brow and shifts in his seat but mostly he is straight-backed, gazing with a soldier's practised stare into the middle distance. Major-General Tono Suratman, former Indonesian army commander in East Timor, seems bored.

Tony Sitathan, Jakarta – "I do not know how I am going to survive with three children, an ailing mother and an unemployed husband, with the current increases in basic electricity and telephone charges.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – After pulling up President Megawati Sukarnoputri, Indonesia's main audit body is flexing its muscles and plans to fire more shots this month at big names for their questionable wealth.

The move is likely to rile government officials and parliamentarians who have thrown their weight behind its closure.

Jakarta – Already under investigation for corruption, Indonesia's Attorney-General was accused by police yesterday of embezzling thousands of dollars from a charity set up to help refugees.

Jakarta – Police have uncovered a fifth military-style training camp in South Sulawesi – suspected to belong to the group behind last month's bombings in Makassar – which had enlisted the support of trainers from Afghanistan and the Philippines.

Jakarta – Despite making progress in clamping down on suspected terrorists, Indonesia lacks a comprehensive policy to combat terrorism and puts too much weight on responding to possible attacks rather than preventing them, security analysts say.

Jakarta – Calls for a national boycott on taxes and utility bills, and for the resignations of President Megawati Soekarnoputri and her deputy Hamzah Haz, mounted across the archipelago on Thursday as nationwide protests heated up against fuel, electricity and telephone price hikes.

Berni K. Moestafa, Jakarta – Unable to force the government to cancel utility price increases despite mass protests across the country, protesters vowed to continue demonstrating and consider "radical means" to put pressure on the government.

Jakarta – American nurse Joy Lee Sadler was released Friday from jail in Aceh province after four months in detention for visa violations, AP reported.

Sadler, 57, cried as she left the prison for Banda Aceh airport. She will fly to Malaysia en route to the United States.

Maria Endah Hulupi and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Thousands of workers and students staged a rally in front of Merdeka Palace, Central Jakarta, on Thursday to demand that the government annul the utility price hikes introduced on the first day of the new year.

Ibnu Mat Noor and Nani Farida, Banda Aceh/Lhokseumawe – Civilian casualties have dropped significantly in Aceh in the past month, but violence has not stopped entirely in the country's westernmost province.

Australia's foreign minister Alexander Downer has meet his East Timorese counterpart, Jose Ramos Horta, to discuss recent unrest in the developing nation.

Four people were killed recently when a gang armed with automatic rifles stormed villages in East Timor. It was the worst violence in the country since 1999.

Jakarta – Indonesia's troubled province of Aceh has been peaceful for a week and a Geneva-based organisation that brokered a peace deal between the government and rebels said on Friday that the pact appeared to be working despite initial pessimism.

Jakarta – The non-governmental organization, The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), condemned on Thursday the government's decision to allow controversial pulp plant PT Toba Pulp Lestari to restart operations, Antara reported.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Leniency in the labor law and lack of enforcement of standard safety measures have put the lives of millions of workers at risk, particularly those working in hazard-prone work places, a labor activist said on Thursday.

Jakarta – Hundreds of workers grouped in the workers union of many companies joined in a rally in protest of the increase in fuel oil prices, telephone and electricity tariffs in front of the State Palace on Thursday.

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Police fired two warning shots into the air to disperse a rally of some 1,000 former workers of PT Doson Indonesia, a company that produces shoes for Nike, in Tangerang.

The workers responded to police by throwing shoes at the officers, but there was no violence, reports said.

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – About 150 becak (trishaw) drivers united in the Daya Manunggal Becak Driver Group (PBDM) visited the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) office in Central Jakarta Wednesday, pressing for their right to operate legally in Jakarta.

Dili – East Timor police said Thursday they arrested two former pro-Jakarta militiamen on weapons charges but declined to say if the men were linked to a recent surge in violence in the newly independent country.

Jakarta – Indonesia's foreign direct investment pledges slumped 35 per cent last year compared with 2001, a bad sign for economic growth and a reminder of the nation's reputation as a tough place to do business.

State investment agency BKPM said in a statement on Tuesday that foreign investment approvals last year fell to US$9.74 billion from US$15.06 billion in 2001.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputi faces one of her toughest challenges today as Indonesia's businessmen join thousands of their employees here in a rare alliance to protest against the recent price hikes.

Berni K. Moestafa, Jakarta – Some 25,000 workers are expected to hit the streets of Jakarta on Thursday in what will likely be the biggest demonstration so far against the utility price hikes.

Jakarta – A lawyer for a Christian gang suspected of deadly bombings and shootings in Maluku said Wednesday some attacks had been assisted by special forces soldiers, AFP reported.

Dili – The East Timor Defense Force (ETDF) is currently mounting counter-insurgency operations in an attempt to capture presumed anti-independence militiamen who raided two villages Saturday and killed several inhabitants, the ETDF's commander said Thursday.

Jakarta – Unable to accept the burning of her effigy, President Megawati Soekarnoputri urged the people not to insult state symbols when expressing their aspirations, Antara reported.

Jakarta – The government has announced a plan to restrict foreign researchers' access to conduct field work in Papua and Aceh, saying that many came with intentions other than academic goals that could amount to an interference in Indonesia's domestic affairs.