Debbie A. Lubis, Jakarta – Those involved in the May 1998 riots may not run free much longer as the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and a group of non-governmental organizations have established separate teams to investigate the riots.

Both aim to create pressure for the holding of ad-hoc trials for those responsible for the riots.

Banda Aceh – The police here forced some 300 activists of the Aceh Referendum Information Agency (SIRA) to disperse as they staged a demonstration in front of the local office of the Henry Dunant Center (HDC) on Monday, to protest the inclusion of the Philippines in the monitoring team on the implementation of the peace accord, Antara reported.

Seven Indonesian special forces soldiers accused over the murder of Papua pro-independence leader Theys Hiyo Eluay will go on trial next month, a general said yesterday.

Indonesia has agreed to let agents from the US Federal Bureay of Investigation (FBI) join an investigation into an ambush that killed two Americans and an Indonesian in Papua province.

Top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying that the agents would take part in an inquiry team led by Indonesian police.

Jakarta – A high-ranking official of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) reportedly attended a ceremony marking the 46th anniversary of the Aceh Military Command in Banda Aceh on Monday, Antara reported.

Aceh Military spokesman Lt. Col. Firdaus confirmed the attendance of the GAM member, identified as North Aceh GAM police official Teungku Gumarni.

Jakarta – Employees of PT Indosat, a state-owned overseas call operator, threatened here on Monday to stage a strike later this week if the government does not cancel the recent sale of its stake in the company.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – A series of bizarre revelations and rulings last week has raised serious questions once again about Indonesia's legal system.

Behind the walls of the prison on the remote island of Nusakambangan, influential prisoners are receiving special treatment.

Berni K. Moestafa, Jakarta – A number of local publications have recently rejected or become overly wary of articles critical of Islam after an opinion piece by a moderate Muslim drew condemnation and a death threats from Islamic hardliners, two Muslim intellectuals said on Monday.

East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao has taken another swipe at the new country's politicians in a Christmas message to his people.

Simon Elegant, Venelale – During the bloody insurrection that produced the new nation of East Timor, Hasan Basri presented residents of the small town of Venelale with a proposition: give me your youngest children. I will feed them, I will educate them, and most importantly, I will protect them.

Two soldiers, a policeman and five civilians were shot dead in Indonesia's Aceh province over the weekend despite this month's peace agreement, an army officer and a rebel leader said.

The soldiers were the first known to have been killed in the province since the government and separatist rebels signed the peace pact in Geneva on December 9.

Jakarta – The Supreme Court has ruled to favor of Shangri-La Hotel in its termination of 75 former hotel employees who were involved in a strike, illegal demonstrations and occupation of the hotel in December 2000.

Peace monitors began work in Indonesia's Aceh province as fresh violence erupted between troops and separatist rebels despite a ceasefire pact this month.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – US President George Bush has told Indonesia's President Megawati Soekarnoputri that Indonesia must find and punish those responsible for shooting dead two American schoolteachers at the Freeport mine in Papua and has proposed a joint FBI-police investigation.

Jakarta – A long-time golfing partner of former Indonesian dictator Suharto has been frequently absent from the island prison where he is serving time for corruption.

Former forestry magnate Bob Hasan is serving six years for corruption at Batu prison on Nusa Kambangan island, off the south coast of Central Java.

Jakarta – The draft budget proposal for regular perks for high-profile Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso, who was recently in the public eye over allegations of corruption, is raising eyebrows.

Dili – East Timor's outgoing bishop, Carlos Belo, hit back Friday at accusations he had made a fool of an Indonesian human rights court hearing charges against Indonesian military officers, saying he would never appear before it.

Banda Aceh and Lhokseumawe – Neat rows of red and white flags around Banda Aceh's historic Baiturrahman mosque are the Indonesian government's way of saying that, despite a truce signed on December 9th, Aceh is and always will be its sovereign territory.

John Ward and Peter Symonds – In the wake of violent protests in the capital of Dili on December 4, the East Timorese government, backed by UN officials, has attempted to deflect attention from the country's mounting social tensions by blaming politically-motivated "provocateurs".

Jakarta – The family of missing poet Wiji Thukul rejected the Yap Thiam Hien human rights award mainly because a foreign-based mining company is allegedly involved in several human rights violations partially sponsors to the award.

Craig Skehan – Australia's Foreign Minister has cautioned Vanuatu that any change to Indonesia's boundaries to provide for independence for the province of Papua would result in bloodshed.

New York – The Indonesian ad hoc court for East Timor has utterly failed to bring to justice the perpetrators of the 1999 violence in East Timor, Human Rights Watch charged in a new briefing paper released today.

Sidney Jones, Jakarta – Since President Soeharto resigned in May 1998, violence and conflict seem to have become part of Indonesian life.

[The United Nations and legal workers in East Timor have accused the international community, including Australia, of failing to offer continuing support to the country's reconstruction. More than six months after independence, there is broad agreement that the justice system is in crisis.

Jill Joliffe, Dili – The recent resignation of Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo as head of the Catholic Church in East Timor has brought to a close a courageous and painful period in the life of the Nobel laureate. And, in the current volatile climate, it has also heightened the feeling of political insecurity in the newly independent nation.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) is considering dropping its plan to sue US-based The Washington Post daily provided it writes a letter apologizing to TNI for the use of unverified intelligence reports by its reporters.

Tony Sitathan, Jakarta – When Indonesia's national monument to independence, the Monas, underwent a major renovation project recently, another national hallmark – bureaucratic corruption – had no such overhaul.

Nigel Wilson – The East Timor parliament has ratified the Timor Sea Treaty with Australia, further embarrassing the Howard Government.

The office of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri confirmed last night that parliament had voted 65 to 13 to approve the treaty on the administration of petroleum reserves between Darwin and Dili.

Veronica Brooks, Canberra – The Australian government Wednesday said it welcomes the passage of East Timor's legislation implementing the Timor Sea Treaty.

A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer also told Dow Jones Newswires that Australia's legislation on the treaty will be ready for introduction into parliament in early 2003.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Dominggus dos Santos, the suspected main actor in the deadly riot in Dili, East Timor on December 4, was arrested on Monday night in the Indonesian territory of Atambua, Belu regency, when he was trying to escape from the United Nations Civilian Police (CivPol). Kupang military chief Col.

Banda Aceh – Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri said on Tuesday a landmark peace pact agreed with Aceh rebels was a dream come true, although both sides have started to accuse each other of violations.

Lela E. Madjiah, Surabaya – Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu dismissed on Monday the possibility of Army troops in Aceh laying down their arms following last week's signing of a cessation of hostilities agreement by the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Geneva, Switzerland.

Jakarta – Indigenous youth and migrants clashedin Kalimantan on Monday leaving at least one person dead, AP reported.

More than 20 houses were torched in the fighting between migrants from Madura island and local Malays in West Kalimantan province, about 800 kilometer north of Jakarta, said a military officer who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Life appears to be returning to normal in Aceh, a week after an historic peace deal was signed in Geneva.

Previous deals between the Indonesian government and separtists from the troubled province at the northern tip of Sumatra have failed.

Jakarta – Around 30 suspected separatist rebels, some armed with automatic rifles, ambushed a group of government officials in Indonesia's Papua province on Monday. At least two of the attackers were injured, officials said.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Police here dispersed a separatist street parade at the Cendrawasih University compound, arrested three people and confiscated two flags representing the so-called state of Western Melanesia.

Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) Chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto cautioned against demands for a trial on past human rights abuses in Aceh, saying Sunday it should not be pressed upon if it threatened the nascent peace process in the troubled province.

Jakarta – A human rights court trying an Indonesian army general heard the first live televised testimony Monday from witnesses in East Timor.

In a broadcast funded by the World Bank, a former Indonesian soldier and a former police detective gave separate accounts of deadly attacks on a church in Suai town and the Dili Catholic church diocese offices in September, 1999.

Chris Brummitt, Jakarta – Indonesian security forces looked on but did nothing when a pro-Indonesia mob attacked a church in East Timor, killing at least 27 people, a witness said Monday during the trial of an army general accused over the violence three years ago.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The peace deal between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) could go into a tailspin as the rebels still eye independence.

They want the 2004 election to be turned into what observers described as a "referendum" to decide whether Aceh should stay or break away from Jakarta.

Dili – The parliamentary inquiry into Dili's deadly rioting found that street demonstrations began "spontaneously" but appeared to have turned into mob action for "political motivations", the commission's chief told Lusa Monday.

Phil Zabriskie – When East Timor formally celebrated its independence in May, it closed the chapter on four centuries of stern Portuguese colonization and 24 years of brutal Indonesian occupation. The mood was finally one of hope for the future, of anticipation of a peace dividend.

[Inside Indonesia's Special Forces, By Ken Conboy, Equinox Publishing (Asia), 2002, 320pp.]

As many as six people have been killed in Aceh by Indonesian troops hunting separatist rebels despite the signing of a peace pact December 9, a resident and a rebel commander said.

Mark Baker, Dili – The Federal Government is locked in a bitter dispute with East Timor over control of multi-billion-dollar oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea that is threatening to delay desperately needed revenues to the newly independent country.

Mark Baker, Dili – It is a simple but splendid house with whitewashed walls and a high-pitched roof of traditional timber and thatch. It sits beside a village on the eastern outskirts of Dili with a view that sweeps across the harbour.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – Five gunshot victims interviewed by The Age in the Dili hospital yesterday say they were shot by roaming groups of special police in the capital's outer suburbs after the main rioting last week had subsided.

Nethy Darma Somba and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta/Jayapura – The government has for the time being shelved plans to create three new provinces from the country's easternmost province of Papua after Papua Governor J.P. Salossa strongly argued against the move.

Jakarta – The country's green organization Walhi said on Friday they plan to sue state-owned forestry company Perhutani for alleged illegal logging above a hotspring resort in Mojokerto, East Java that was flattened by a massive landslide, AP reported.

Walhi would file a lawsuit against Perhutani on behalf of the victims of the accident.

Another person has been shot dead in Aceh province where a ceasefire between Indonesian troops and separatist rebels is in force, humanitarian workers said.