A lack of foreign investment rules has been highlighted as the main factor restricting economic growth in the newly independent East Timor.
East Timor's Australian-born First Lady, Kirsty Sword-Gusmao, says there have been plenty of enquiries from potential investors.
James Dunn – For the Howard Government to move to restore links with Indonesia's special forces command, Kopassus, at this time, would be an act of indecent haste.
Last week, the Defence Minister, Robert Hill, said: "Kopassus is the counter-terrorist capability in Indonesia and to defeat terrorists requires co-operation and mutual support."
[East Timor has marked the eleventh anniversary of the Santa Cruz massacre. Hundreds of people were killed in the Dili cemetery on November 12, 1991, when Indonesian forces opened fire on some 2,000 peaceful demonstrators. The East Timorese marked the day with a mass and flown the nation's flag at half mast.
Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The House of Representatives (DPR) on Monday endorsed a bill on the formation of 14 new regencies in Papua in a bid to cut red tape and increase the people's welfare in the sparsely-populated, large province.
Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The morning after a deadly bomb ripped apart a popular nightclub in Bali, three senior generals huddled together for a meeting with President Megawati Sukarnoputri at her residence.
Jane Perlez in Denpasar – Two early breaks, including the discovery of a red getaway motorbike, combined with old-fashioned detective work, led Indonesian police to the first suspect in the Bali terrorist attack.
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – The capital went into mourning on November 13, 1998, when 12 people were killed and dozens of others were injured, mostly by gunfire, during clashes between antigovernment protesters led by students and heavily armed police officers and soldiers.
Alison Dellit – "It was under the military rule of Suharto that Indonesia experienced the only decades of stability that it has so far enjoyed. They were decades of corruption and suppression, but also of increasing prosperity and stability.
Jakarta – Papua Military chief Maj. Gen. M. Simbolon said on Tuesday that the military would sue a non-governmental organization (NGO) for libel over an inaccurate report it released implicating its officers in the ambush of a bus in Timika in August.
Bambang Bider and Oyos Saroso H.N. Pontianak/Bandar Lampung – The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) staged a demonstration to protest attacks against three journalists in Lampung and Pontianak, and demanded authorities to investigate the incidents thoroughly.
Jill Jolliffe, Dili – Witnesses at East Timor's truth and reconciliation commission have described atrocities going back to 1975 involving Indonesian soldiers, militia groups – and the Fretilin Party that liberated the newly independent nation.
Dili – East Timorese students and human rights groups called Tuesday for an international court to judge those responsible for human rights abuses during the Indonesian occupation of Timor, on the anniversary of a massacre in which over 100 people died.
Dili – About 1,000 protesters Tuesday demanding that the Indonesian soldiers who shot to death 200 people at a rally 11 years ago be brought to justice.
The November 12, 1991, massacre at the Santa Cruz cemetery, in the capital, Dili, was secretly caught on video and broadcast around the world. It galvanized opposition to Indonesia's brutal rule of East Timor.
A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Shocking government statistics show that more than 25 percent of Indonesia's 18 million under five-year-old children are suffering from malnutrition.
And experts are warning the "alarming" figure is worsening due to the government's lack of will to deal with the problem.
Linda Mottram – Out of control and not to be trusted: that's the caution being sounded this morning to the Federal Government about Kopassus, as Canberra contemplates re-establishing links with Indonesia's disgraced special forces unit, which is also the country's special counter-terrorism unit.
Jason Koutsoukis – The $3.5 billion Bayu-Undan natural gas project between Australia and East Timor received a major boost yesterday when a joint federal parliamentary committee recommended ratification of a joint ownership treaty.
The treaty will give project operator Phillips Petroleum the required certainty to proceed with the second phase of the project.
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Press activists criticized the government's plan to establish a public information dissemination agency for fear that it would only pave the way for a return to the New Order's tight information policy.
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Nani Farida, Jakarta/Banda Aceh – Fear of the worst bloodshed is looming in Aceh as the Indonesian Military (TNI) continue their siege on separatist rebels, who refused to budge and rejected calls for their surrender on Monday.
[Indonesia's Armed Forces chief, General Endriartono Sutarto, has agreed to send a special team to the province of Papua, to probe claims of military involvement in killings of three three people at the American-owned Freeport gold and copper mine, 10 weeks ago.
Fitri Wulandari and A'an Suryana, Jakarta/Bali – Oddities in the police investigation into the Bali bombing need further explanation for the sake of credibility, an intelligence analyst said on Sunday.
Debbie A. Lubis, Jakarta – Embattled former ruling party Golkar has recruited a number of retired police and military officers into its ranks, which analysts described as a move to maintain or even improve its performance in the 2004 general elections.
Jakarta – Prosecutors on Monday sought the minimum 10-year jail sentence for a former Indonesian army chief officer charged with crimes against humanity in East Timor in 1999.
Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri inaugurated on Sunday the Seroja Memorial, located inside the compound of the Indonesian Military (TNI) Headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, as part of a ceremony commemorating National Heroes Day.
Todung Mulya Lubis – The Bali tragedy, which killed over 190 people and wounded countless others, has finally jolted the government into admitting the existence of terrorism in Indonesia.
Dili – Australia is using East Timor's vulnerability as one of the world's poorest nations to gain leverage in negotiations on the carving up of oil resources in the Timor Sea, Dili's prime minister said Monday.
Jennifer Hewett – The Minister for Defence, Robert Hill, has given his strongest backing yet to the controversial idea of Australia working with the Indonesian special forces unit Kopassus, despite concerns about its human rights abuses and possible links with some Islamic terrorist groups.
Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – A few days before the Bali bombing, a Yemen national quietly slipped into Indonesia.
Stephen Khan – A Scottish woman who has been under arrest in Indonesia since September for allegedly misusing a tourist visa faces being held for a further 20 days without charge.
[Just what was Jakarta trying to achieve two days ago by sending its acting ambassador scurrying back to Canberra with threats that the Government might have to withdraw its cooperation in the Bali investigation?
When neighbours become ensnared by mutual insults and perceived slights the easiest, and most perilous, course of action is to escalate the dispute.
Bill Guerin – Indonesian investors are to be wooed in a deliberate effort to release the potential of the domestic economy and get money flowing through the business infrastructures.
Mark Baker, Sarah Crichton, Mark Riley and agencies – The suspect who has allegedly admitted taking part in the Bali bombings has told police he wanted to kill as many Americans as possible and "wasn't happy" that Australians died.
Jakarta – Police blockaded the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh to prevent 5,000 people from attending a mass prayer held by the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) on Friday, El Shinta radio station reported.
Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said here on Friday the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has no authority whatsoever to declare a cease-fire as it is an outlawed group that is not entitled to possess weapons.
Jakarta – Defense Minister Matori Abdul Djalil rejected here on Friday the idea of including foreign observers in a team that would monitor the implementation of a possible peace agreement between the government and the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Aceh.
Jill Jolliffe, Dili – A United Nations prosecutor has hailed the indictment of two Indonesian officers for the 1999 murder of Dutch journalist Sander Thoenes as a turning point in East Timor war crimes charges.
Jakarta – The government has agreed to hold a special repatriation program for East Timorese refugees who want to go home late this year, Antara reported.
East Nusa Tenggara Governor Piet A. Tallo said on Friday that the decision was conveyed by Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Yusuf Kalla in a letter sent to a group tasked to handle the refugees.
Kupang – The people of the western half of Timor Island, East Nusa Tenggara, must also enjoy their traditional rights as owners of the Timor Sea, the site of oil and gas explorations known as the Timor Gap, and not merely receiving the impacts of damage of the ecosystem in the Timor Sea.
Robert Go, Jakarta – A radical group, infamous for using Islamic teachings to justify threats against Westerners and attacks on nightclubs and bars, has announced that it is suspending its activities.
This is seen as yet another sign that radical Islam followers could be losing ground support.
Central Java Governor Mardiyanto has asked former members of the recently disbanded radical Islamic group Laskar Jihad to help the province cope with natural disasters and major accidents.
John Roberts – An article published in the Washington Post last weekend reported evidence that the highest levels of the Indonesian armed forces (TNI), including TNI chief General Endriartono Sutarto, were involved in the August 31 ambush of employees of the Freeport McMoRan Inc mine in the province of Papua.
Don Greenlees, Jakarta – Indonesian armed forces commander General Endriartono Sutarto has sent a special team to Papua to investigate allegations that the military were involved in the murders of three employees of the Freeport copper and gold mine, including two Americans.
Serang, Banten – The Muhammadiyah Students Association (IMM), a student wing of the Muhammadiyah Muslim organization, during its 16th national congress from November 4-6, will confer the "Terrorism Award" to the United States, its chairman Piet Hizbullah Haidir disclosed here on Thursday.
Vice president Hamzah Haz said that he was not sure of the involvement of international terrorist groups or the al-Qaeda network in last month's bombings in Bali, El Shinta radio station reported.
Hamzah's remarks were quoted by the head of the Indonesian Islamic Student (PII), Zulfikar, following a meeting at the Vice Presidential palace.
Jakarta – The leader of a worker union at the Pondok Indah hospital in South Jakarta went on trial Wednesday for allegedly torturing his supervisor two months ago.
Prosecutor Hari Wahyudi told the South Jakarta District Court that defendant Edi Waluyo attempted to choke Nugroho Marwanto after the hospital management reprimanded him for neglecting patients.
Yuliansyah, Banjarmasin – Some 463 workers at Pelaihari Sugar Company in Tanah Laut regency, South Kalimantan, have lost their jobs without compensation after their once reputable firm was liquidated by the Office of the State Minister of State Enterprises last month.
The workers have been out of work for three months since the company ceased operations.
Dili – The leadership of East Timor's ruling Fretilin party met Thursday with its deputies in the Dili parliament to discuss recent revelations of high absenteeism among Fretilin MPs and threats by the party's chiefs to expel "rogue" members.
A former militia chief has denied he had committed human rights abuses in East Timor three years ago and said he was a victim of the Indonesian government's desire to appease international criticism.
Dean Yates, Jakarta – Investigators in East Timor have issued an indictment against two Indonesian military officers over the 1999 killing of a Dutch journalist around the time the territory voted to break from Jakarta's harsh rule.
The Indonesian military is reported to be engaged in its biggest operation for five months as light tanks and armored personnel carriers pounded a base of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
Troops were using light tanks and armored personnel carriers against a suspected concentration of GAM rebels in an area 35 kilometers south of the industrial township of Lhokseumawe.