[Kirsty Sword was a resistance fighter who became the First Lady. Now comes the hard part. Susan Wyndham profiles the wife of the East Timorese leader.]

Jakarta – Thousands of illegal Indonesian workers and their families are living in dire conditions in camps near the country's border with Malaysia and one relief worker said a few are selling their babies to raise cash.

Marni Cordell – It's cold on the first morning of the Yumi Wantaim gathering, and we – an eclectic mix of faces, ages and colours – are huddled under a large white marquee in Pipemaker's Park in outer Melbourne. Outside, under a drizzle of rain, a fire pit is being prepared to cook sweet potato and a pig, killed for the occasion.

Mystery has shrouded the death in September 2001 of Willem Onde, a local OPM commander in Merauke, together with a colleague. Investigations conducted this year by the Catholic Diocese in Merauke point to the involvement of Kopassus in his murder, just two months before Theys Eluay, the pro-independence leader was put to death by Kopassus officers.

[The following review of Don Greenlees and Robert Garran, "Deliverance: The Inside Story of East Timor's Fight for Freedom" (Allen & Unwin), is by John Martinkus. It was published in Australian Book Review, September 2002, No 244, pp 24-5, and is reproduced here with the kind permission of both the author and of the Editor, Mr Peter Rose.]

Jakarta – Health and emergency workers in an Indonesian border town said yesterday they were struggling to ensure thousands of Indonesians fleeing an immigration crackdown in Malaysia had access to clean water and adequate sanitation.

Only misery, not wealth, flows from the ExxonMobil gas pipeline that passes near this poor Aceh village, residents say.

They blame Indonesian security forces assigned to guard ExxonMobil's facilities for beatings, kidnappings, sexual assaults and other human rights abuses.

The murder of two Americans and an Indonesian by unidentified gunmen on Saturday near PT Freeport Indonesia's huge copper and gold mine is certain to reinforce attention on the company's "environmental vandalism" and alleged complicity in human rights abuses.

[The Indonesian government has had harsh colonial policy vis-a-vis the people of West Papua (formerly Irian Jaya). Whereas East Timor became a cause cilhbre, West Papua has been passed over. The United Nations is not interested. Yet the forgotten people fight on for their cultural and political identity. By our special correspondent Damien Faure.]

While civil society groups have placed their hopes in creating a zone of peace in West Papua, thousands of members of Laskar Jihad have flooded into the province in the past year, amid protests from West Papuans that this could lead to inter-religious conflict.

In a statement issued today by Messrs Willy Mandowen, Victor Kaisiepo and Clemens Runawery on behalf of the people of West Papua, the Papua Council Presidium and its interim Chairman, Mr. Tom Beanal, and Mr.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Less than three weeks after lawmakers agreed to scrap the military and police's free seats in the House of Representatives (DPR) and the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) by 2004, Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto has urged his troops to shun the next general election.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Legal experts and critics yesterday described the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the graft conviction for Central Bank governor Syahril Sabirin as yet another blow to Indonesia's legal system.

They said the ruling was further evidence of the country's corrupt legal system, which has recently handed down a slew of controversial verdicts.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – A Bill that involves placing a government "spy" in broadcasting agencies here is likely to be passed next month by parliament to regulate the electronic media.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Indonesia's supreme military commander has warned the separatist movement in Indonesia's troubled province of Aceh that he would prefer war to a negotiated settlement to the 26-year-old dispute.

Jakarta – Legislators are drafting new changes to the long running debate on the labor bill, proposing, among other items, a government permit for worker strikes and a ban to outsource workers under temporary contracts.

Jill Jolliffe, Gugleur – Gugleur has little to recommend it. Its people are subsistence farmers and the maize crop has failed this year. The dust whips around the cluster of forlorn thatched huts that provide the bare necessity of shelter, no trimmings.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Hundreds of members of the Indonesian Prosperity Trade Union (SBSI) marched to the West Java provincial legislature compound to demand the local authorities release all detained activists and stay out of industrial disputes.

Jakarta – East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao urged his people on Friday to focus on the task of nation-building as the territory marked its first 100 days of independence.

The former guerrilla leader said in an address to the nation the tiny country was suffering growing pains and warned against the threat of corruption.

Catharine Munro, Jakarta – Indonesia's military (TNI) commander today argued for greater international ties but could not fully guarantee against human rights abuses by his men.

"It's impossible that 100 per cent of all soldiers respect human rights, it's almost impossible," General Endriartono Sutarto told reporters.

Banda Aceh – Adj. Brig. Syarifuddin was killed by unidentified gunmen and 10 others, presumed to be civilians were killed on Wednesday and Thursday in strife-torn Aceh.

Syarifuddin was on his way from his office to his home in Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, early on Thursday.

Jakarta – President Megawati's sister, Rachmawati Soekarnoputri, proclaimed here on Thursday the establishment of a new party, Partai Pelopor (Pioneer Party).

Jakarta – In yet another sign of a return to New Order policies, the government is now drafting a bill that will give more power to political parties to expel non-conformist legislators from the House of Representatives, likely quelling opposition voices, an essential ingredient in a healthy democracy.

Rizal Sukma – After being postponed for almost two weeks from August 5, the government finally issued a "new policy" for Aceh on August 19. The policy, while it continues to stress the relevance of previous "comprehensive policy" to deal with the Aceh problem, has two new, additional elements.

East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao took stock of his new nation on Friday in a speech marking 100 days of independence, calling for greater grassroots democracy to check potential abuse of power.

Dili – East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao on Friday asked his critics for more time to solve the vast problems facing the newly independent nation.

There are worrying signs that Indonesia's timber barons are trying to accelerate their destruction of Indonesia's last remaining forests.

In a series of underhanded campaigns, the tycoons are posing as conservationists in order to increase their profits and productivity.

Banda Aceh – Security authorities in Aceh have arrested 12 members of the pro-independence Front for Acehnese People's Democratic Resistance.

They were netted in a security operation conducted by a group of security personnel from the Police Mobile Brigade, in Indrajaya, Pidie on August 15, 2002 and so far, none have been released.

Jakarta (Agencies) – The war of words between leaders of the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) independence group continued, an Army captain was killed and at least five civilians were injured in the latest clashes in the region, according to military sources.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Jakarta has seen its security situation worsen considerably recently as indicated by the increase in street crime over the last three years, and many people are now afraid of utilizing public facilities, a seminar concluded here on Wednesday.

Jakarta – Indonesia's biggest mainstream Muslim organisation said on Thursday it strongly opposed any US attack on Iraq. Hasyim Muzadi, head of the 40-million strong Nahdlatul Ulama, said his group would protest if the United States launched military action against Iraq, although he declined to say how.

Don Greenlees, Jakarta – Indonesian police have drawn up plans to outlaw the main Papuan independence organisation in a crackdown on separatism aimed at preventing Papua from becoming a "second East Timor".

Jakarta – Berlin-based Transparency International (TI) has still ranked Indonesia among the most corrupt countries in the world, with scores of two or less, while Finland, Denmark and New Zealand were the "cleanest", with scores of between nine and ten.

Peter Symonds – The outcome of the first trials by an Indonesian court over the massacres in East Timor in 1999, prior to and following the UN-sponsored vote on independence, has proved to be a farce.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – A total of 49 non-governmental organizations on Wednesday demanded that President Megawati Soekarnoputri stop the ongoing Jakarta gubernatorial election process, stressing that it was being carried out undemocratically and against the prevailing regulations.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – New districts and regencies are mushrooming across Indonesia as ambitious politicians try to carve out fiefdoms to increase their political power and attract more funds to the newly created districts.

Stewart Taggart in Dili and Lor – Times have changed for Commandante Elias Falour. Once he was a leader in the East Timorese guerrilla resistance. Today he has an official job, district commander of East Timor's national defence force in the town of Los Palos – and a lot less to do. With the Indonesians gone, there isn't much to defend against.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Jakarta – Heavily-armed police in the West Java capital of Bandung have arrested two more labor activists in apparent attempts to suppress the labor movement in the province.

So far, a total of 34 labor activists have been arrested in line with mounting opposition to two labor bills currently being deliberated by the House of Representatives.

John Aglionby – For anyone who is not in Indonesia's military it must be hard to understand why Colonel Herman Sedyono is not in jail.

Jill Joliffe, Dili – East Timor's Government is likely to ask the United Nations to set up an international tribunal to hear war crimes cases after key suspects were acquitted by a Jakarta court.

Jakarta – Ten representatives of temporarily employed teachers here came to the City Council on Wednesday to complain about the various problems they were facing, including unfair dismissal, low-salaries and other examples of allegedly discriminatory treatment.

The group of demonstrators who protested outside the Malaysian embassy in Jakarta yesterday is suspected to have links with Indonesian military forces and armed groups involved in the East Timor massacre three years ago.

The governor of the Indonesian province of Central Kalimantan has threatened jail terms for people who set fires to clear land as haze thickened over the area and halted many flights, officials said.

Governor Asmawi Agani has issued a circular warning offenders they may face up to three years in jail, said provincial spokesman, Hadi, on Wednesday.

Brendan Pereira, Kuala Lumpur – Malaysian politicians yesterday asked the Indonesian government to rein in troublemakers in Jakarta or face the prospect of a more trying period in bilateral relations with its Asean neighbour.

Implicit in the message was the point that Indonesia had more to lose if the current spat became worse.

Vincent Lingga, Jakarta – Raising revenues for the state budget is only one of the objectives of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency's (IBRA) massive auction sale of Rp 135.4 trillion (US$15 billion) in bad loans which began last month, and not the most important one for that matter.

The Swedish Ambassador to Indonesia Harald Sanberg says his government won't take any legal action against Hassan Tiro, the exiled chief of Indonesia's separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), as long as he doesn't break any law in Sweden.

[The Australian engineering firm Thiess is seeking a court order to sack six hundred workers from its coal mining operation in Indonesia's southern Kalimantan province. Thiess says it's the worst dispute its encountered in the 30 years the company has operated in Indonesia.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Women use it to entice the opposite sex, celebrities often resort to it to boost popularity and politicians turn to it to further their careers – the supernatural.

They are all clients of Indonesian psychics, practitioners of the occult and others with knowledge of the supernatural – all enjoying booming business despite the economic crisis.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The government dispelled public fears on Monday over the number of political parties participating in the 2004 general election, saying that all parties would undergo a strict screening process before they were allowed to contest in the event held once every five years.

Vincent Lingga, Jakarta – Most analysts view the government's estimate of 5 percent economic growth for 2003 as too optimistic since consumer spending, one of the biggest locomotives of economic expansion besides export, is expected to slacken as a result of the contractible fiscal policy, while foreign investment will likely remain moribund.