Jakarta – The Pro-democratic Activists Network (PRODEM) and the Action Study Circle for Indonesian Democracy (LS-ADI) carried out a protest at Jakarta Stock Exchange (BEJ) building today, April 23. They demanded that the IMF, which resides in the JSX building, immediately cancel Indonesian foreign debt that accrued during the era of the New Order government.

Jakarta – Indonesia on Monday outlined five key steps to keep its budget deficit at the forecast 3.7 percent of gross domestic product in 2001 amid fears of an uncontrollable blowout.

Jakarta – Over the next two weeks, the Indonesian government will send 200 judges to riot-torn areas such as Aceh, Maluku and Irian Jaya to restore their battered systems of justice.

Jakarta – The chairman of the former ruling Golkar Party, Akbar Tandjung, said on Sunday that Indonesia would get a lot better when the party wins the general election in 2004 and takes control in the country again.

Jakarta – Experts see the announcement of public servants' wealth as a good start in fighting corruption, but say it will take time before any effect is seen.

Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association chairman Hendardi said on Saturday that announcing official's wealth would be useless unless it was followed by investigation.

Kornelius Purba, Jakarta – According to the official data, Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri is 17 times wealthier than President Abdurrahman Wahid, whose personal assets are valued at Rp 3.5 billion.

Devi Asmarani, Atambua – Tension is running high in this border town 2 1/2 years after the influx of over 200,000 East Timorese who fled the post-ballot violence in their homeland.

Sydney – Nobel peace laureate Bishop Carlos Belo of East Timor appealed Monday for an international tribunal to punish crimes against humanity in his country and help the fledgling nation come to terms with atrocities committed after it voted for independence from Indonesia.

Geraldine Goh, Jakarta – East Timorese leader Xanana Gusmao said new blood is needed to lead his country towards self-rule.

Christiani Tumelap in Atambua and Lindsay Murdoch in Dili – A 16-year-old East Timorese girl allegedly kidnapped as a war prize has defended the notorious militia leader who fathered her son, saying she is "doing just fine" and wants to stay with him and his three de facto wives.

Jakarta – About 40,000 refugees of the strife-torn North Maluku have returned to their homes in the regencies of Halmahera, Morotai, Bacan and other islands after living for nearly two years in refugee camps.

North Maluku Governor Muhyi Effendie said on Thursday that the refugees – both Muslims and Christians – decided to go home on their own initiative, Antara reported.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid warned on Thursday of a "nationwide rebellion" against the House of Representatives (DPR) if its attempts to oust him continue.

Speaking at a seminar on the country's future, Abdurrahman added that the DPR's attempt to impeach him was "legally impossible".

Jakarta – A group of influential Muslim clerics and organizations in East Java launched on Thursday the Ukhuwah Islamiyah Forum (FUI) which aims to promote peace and national unity and pledges to prevent President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid's fanatical followers from thronging the capital.

Marianne Kearney, Surabaya – Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri's PDI-P party is launching its own counter-offensive to staunch mass violence on the streets, and cleverly projecting the party as the one struggling to hold Indonesia together as President Abdurrahman Wahid again threatened "nationwide rebellion" if the parliament proceeds with impeachment attempts.

Jakarta – Indonesia's disgraced former military chief General Wiranto Friday accused the country's political leadership of driving the nation to the edge of an abyss and mobilizing personal militias.

Jakarta – A policeman and three separatist rebels were killed in the continuing violence in strife-torn Aceh, an official said on Thursday.

Police's Cinta Meunasah II Operation spokesman Comr. Sudarsono said two rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) were shot dead in West Aceh regency of Gagak village in Darul Makmur district on Wednesday.

Banda Aceh – Violence in Indonesia's Aceh province has left at least five people dead since Thursday, hospital staff said.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – As the East Timorese capital was being looted and burned on a stifling hot day in September 1999, an Indonesian Army officer rushed to the Turismo hotel.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – An investigation by a former Australian diplomat, Mr James Dunn, identifies a group of still-serving officers who secretly planned and supervised a campaign of violence to counter a surge of support for independence and then to punish East Timorese for rejecting Indonesia's rule.

Jakarta – East Timorese leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao insisted on Thursday that overcoming the territory's complex social and economic problems was his most immediate priority, and not the convening of a tribunal to try past human rights abusers.

Dili – UN officials in East Timor Friday distanced themselves from a report that accuses senior Indonesian army generals of masterminding the wave of violence that swept the territory after an independence vote in 1999.

Geniva – The United Nations urged Indonesia on Friday to bring those responsible for bloodshed in East Timor to justice and rein in militias intimidating thousands of refugees still in camps.

Jakarta – A former army commander Friday admitted excesses in the Indonesian military in its handling of separatist movements, and publicly embraced East Timor's independence leader Xanana Gusmao.

The head of TNI's Information Center, Air Marshall Graito Usodo said yesterday there was an elite group that was trying to revive nationalistic sentiments in order to "seize back" Timor Lorosae and "annex" it as part of Indonesia.

Air Marshall Graito said this elite group was trying to seek popularity for their cause. But he warned they would not succeed.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia and the International Monetary Fund broke an impasse over the country's swelling budget deficit problem yesterday, but the obvious solution proposed by the international lender and other aid agencies – lifting generous fuel subsidies – could amount to political suicide for President Abdurrahman Wahid's government.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Chief security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono yesterday advised foreign businesses to start dealing directly with local administrations, in the clearest admission yet that Jakarta's economic sphere of influence would decline as decentralisation kicks in.

Palu, Central Sulawesi – The coordinator for the Poso refugees, Yus Mangun, said on Wednesday 3,000 packages of food aid from the Kuwaiti government had gone to waste.

Yus, who is an official in the local administration, said the packages passed their expiration date before they could be distributed.

Jakarta – Efforts to settle problems in the strife-torn province of Aceh took a new turn when the government revealed on Wednesday a plan to invite the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to the meeting table for talks.

Jakarta – East Timor's economy has rebounded strongly after violence destroyed the tiny half-island territory nearly two years ago, with 15 percent growth forecast for 2001 and 2002, the Asian Development Bank said on Thursday.

But the Bank cautioned the growth was from an extremely low base and the fledgling economy was still dependent on external financial support.

Jakarta – Indonesian Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri and her husband have a net worth of around US$6 million, the country's Examination Commission for Government Officials' Wealth (KPKPN) said yesterday.

This is almost 20 times more than the net worth of President Abdurrahman Wahid, based on his submission to the commission.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The detention order issued against tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim of the Gadjah Tunggal Group over longstanding money-swindling charges has raised concerns in the business community that the move is yet another attempt by the administration to prevent their defection to the political opposition.

Marianne Kearney, Banyuwangi – Leaders of Indonesia's largest Muslim group are distancing themselves from a suicide squad heading for Jakarta – but it has become apparent that their own militia outfit has been training the 50,000-strong outfit.

Jakarta – Formal support for Megawati Soekarnoputri to replace President Abdurrahman Wahid grew on Wednesday as two house factions stated their political backing for a change of leadership.

Support came from the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the United Development Party (PPP) who separately expressed their desire to see the Vice President succeed Abdurrahman.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The scene spoke for itself. In February, Indonesian generals lined up behind legislators to charge President Abdurrahman Wahid with involvement in two damning financial scandals.

Soe, Indonesia – Around 70 per cent of the tens of thousands of East Timorese refugees languishing in squalid camps in Indonesia want to return home, an Indonesian military official said on Wednesday.

Craig Skehan – East Timor is set to receive a much larger slice of income from the rich oil reserves it shares with Australia.

Federal Government sources said yesterday Australia was willing to give the incoming independent Government in Dili 80 per cent or more of the income from a joint production zone where the split was previously 50/50.

Dr. Jose Ramos Horta, one of the political leaders of East Timor, thinks that reconciliation among the people of East Timor must be carried out in two areas i.e., political reconciliation and criminal reconciliation.

Farida Husna, Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund told the Indonesian parliament Wednesday that a new letter of intent will only be signed after the current state budget is revised, legislator Kwik Kian Gie said.

An ex-militia leader yesterday appealed for a general amnesty for those who committed human rights crimes in Timor Lorosae.

UNTAET's Timorization process is not clearly visible within the Transitional administration. Also, the transitional administration does not have a definite target for achieving it. This was stated by the vice-president of CNRT/CN Mario Carrascalao in an interview with Radio UNTAET last week.

Jakarta – UN officials believe East Timorese refugees they met during a visit last week to camps in West Timor were instructed to challenge the results of the 1999 independence ballot, a UN spokesman said Tuesday.

Jakarta – The Army's Special Force (Kopassus) officially announced on Monday the reorganization of its structure from five operational groups to three, with two supporting units. Kopassus chief Maj. Gen. Amirul Isnaeni, however, said the new structure would be under trial for one year before being reviewed for further implementation.

Jakarta – Indonesian officials fear the government might not meet its 6.5 trillion rupiah privatisation target this year amid weak markets.

Jakarta – The World Bank canceled the second US$300 million tranche of its $600 million social safety net adjustment loan on request from the Indonesian government, a Cabinet minister revealed Monday.

Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked the government to shelve several large projects this year in a bid to rescue the troubled state budget, according to a source.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid has endorsed the 11 names recommended by the House of Representatives Commission II for home and legal affairs as members of the General Election Committee (KPU), an official said on Monday.

Tomi Soetjipto, Jakarta – Tens of thousands of Indonesian suicide warriors have flooded Jakarta ready to defend embattled President Abdurrahman Wahid, the commander of the squads said on Tuesday.

Nuril Arifin also claimed a similar number of other Wahid supporters had also come to the capital ahead of a showdown between Wahid and an angry parliament on April 30.

Geraldine Goh, Jakarta – A boycott on the payment of city taxes has been called by a local group fighting for the rights of the urban poor.

The Coalition for Financial Transparency (CFT) also mobilised about 3,000 people, including 1,000 trishaw operators, who took to the streets on Sunday to protest against corruption.

Yogyakarta – More than 7,000 supporters of the United Development Party (PPP) attended on Saturday a mass prayer in Ngaglik, Sleman, some 12 kilometers north of here, with ulema KH Zaenuddin MZ from Jakarta as the key speaker.

Bagus Kurniawan/HD & HY, Yogyakarta – Eleven people from the Yogyakarta branch of the Anti Communist Piety Society Forum (Format) have declared war on Communism. They staged a demonstration at the Yogyakarta police headquarters (Mapoltabes).