Jakarta – Indonesia's military police chief said on Tuesday two officers from the special forces were the main suspects in last year's killing of a top Papua separatist leader.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – The Indonesian government and Parliament have agreed on the need to set up a new body to advise the President on defence and international security issues, Chief Security Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced yesterday.

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – Thousands of the have-nots staged a peaceful rally in front of the Aceh provincial legislature building on Monday, demanding the administration disburse billions of rupiah of public funds to alleviate poverty in the resources-rich province.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The inclusion of foreigners in the planned monitoring commission to ensure peace in the war-torn province of Aceh will be discussed in the coming peace talks between the government and Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

The International Finance Institutions (the IMF, World Bank, the ADB) present a real threat to East Timorese economic independence.

Matthew Moore, Yogyakarta – A new regional group intended to strengthen Indonesia's brittle relations with its neighbours held its inaugural meeting at the weekend, and Australia's Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, stressed Canberra's strong opposition to Indonesia's secessionist movements.

Matthew Moore – Indonesia's President Megawati Soekarnoputri made headlines last week by not turning up at the site of a disused well in east Jakarta for an annual ceremony.

Jose Ramos Horta knows a thing or two about Indonesia, about suppression, and about independence. So when he recently advised the Melanesians of Papua, and the Acehnese, to take Jakarta's offer of autonomy at face value, and give it a try, his voice demanded a hearing.

As global stock markets slide and a lack of leadership on international reform colored the annual meetings last week of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank annual meetings, analysts predict mixed results for Indonesia, which has long asked international creditors to be more understanding if conditions attached to fresh loans are not met on schedule.

Jakarta – East Timor said on Monday it wants its land border with Indonesia to be gradually de-militarised and hopes all frontier disputes with its former ruler can be solved by next year.

East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao called Monday for Portugal to strengthen the "bridge" connecting his country and the European Union, adding that Lisbon's backing would be invaluable in developing Dili's embrionic foreign policy.

At least three people, including a woman and her grandson, were killed in the latest violence in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh, witnesses and the military said.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – More than three decades after an abortive coup blamed on the communists, Indonesians are still unable to come to grips with this bit of their nation's history.

Sri Wahyuni, Yogyakarta – Golkar Party cadres from the party's founding organizations piled more pressure on party chairman Akbar Tandjung on Saturday to quit his post to rid the party of its bad image in the run-up to the 2004 general election.

Jakarta – Indonesia will prosecute eight of 13 members of a radical Muslim group arrested for raiding nightspots in the capital as the police chief warned people against taking the law into their own hands.

Jakarta – Indonesian police arrested seven members of a Muslim group yesterday over recent vigilante-style raids on nightspots in Jakarta.

Officers arrested the men at the headquarters of the Islamic Defenders Front organisation, a Jakarta police spokesman, Colonel Bahrul Alam, said.

Uli Schmetzer, Jakarta – The investigation into the deadly ambush of a convoy of American teachers in Indonesia has become bogged down by a long list of suspects in a nation where terrorists wear many faces and violence often hides behind an official mask.

Many were shocked but few surprised to learn last week that the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) had paid "protection money" to members of the military to secure IBRA property assets.

Jill Jolliffe, Bazartete – Ever since Lysistrata and her sisters refused sex to their warmongering husbands in ancient Greece, women have had a special role to play in brokering peace.

In East Timor, the militia violence of 1999 was almost exclusively the work of men. They may have been bit players in an Indonesian master plan but that, too, was men's business.

Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo – My native East Timor became the 191st member of the United Nations last week. We reached this milestone after a 24-year war in our island nation that left few families unaffected. Justice and common sense dictate that positive lessons be drawn from these tragic events, not only for my people but for many others throughout the world.

Padang, West Java – Thousands of workers and students trying to get to Padang, the capital of West Sumatra, were left stranded on Thursday when public transportation drivers went on strike.

The drivers called the strike to protest the mushrooming number of unofficial terminals on the city's outskirts.

Denise Leith – On 31 August, 2002 fourteen employees of the Freeport mining company were shot on the road leading to the company town of Tembagapura high in the mountainous interior of West Papua.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – The Indonesian government should probe reports that a Singaporean extremist helped fund a plot to assassinate President Megawati Sukarnoputri, said lawmakers and Muslim leaders while remaining sceptical of the revelations.

Yogyakarta – East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta said on Saturday he doubted allegations Australian troops tortured pro-Jakarta militiamen and shot one in the head during a peace mission in the territory in 1999.

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – New lawyers representing two foreigners suspected of violating immigration law in war-torn Aceh called on the local police and the prosecutor's office to be cautious in charging their clients.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia lacks strong, respected leaders who can guide it out of the current political and economic crises, according to the findings of a recent survey.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Kornelius Purba, Yogyakarta – Indonesia, as the host, opened a two-day meeting of the Southwest Pacific Dialogue Forum here on Friday to seek reconfirmation of support for its territorial integrity from the six-member forum.

Jakarta – Around 500 members of the Islamic Defenders Front militant group attacked several nightspots in the Indonesian capital yesterday, damaging three cars but causing no serious injuries.

The group, one of several hardline Islamic organisations in the nation, occasionally vandalises entertainment spots in Jakarta.

Kendari – The People's Consultative Assembly has urged the government to stop its cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as early as late 2003 on the grounds that the Fund cannot do much to overcome the country's economic crisis.

A Muslim radical from Singapore allegedly helped finance a plot to assassinate Indonesian leader Megawati Sukarnoputri before she became president.

Tom Allard and Jill Jolliffe – The bodies of two militia fighters, one of them alleged to have been summarily executed by the Australian SAS in East Timor, have been exhumed by United Nations order as part of investigations into the incident.

The alleged war crime centres on claims someone using a handgun of a senior SAS officer shot one of the militia members in the head.

Mark Forbes and Jill Jolliffe – The Australian Defence Force has promised a vigorous investigation into allegations that SAS troops carried out torture and murder in East Timor, and will examine the exhumed bodies of two militia fighters.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – East Timorese authorities are fighting an invasion by Indonesian prostitutes, who have swarmed into Dili since independence on May 20.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Maps showing the location of military forces in Indonesia's Aceh province in the possession of a former University of Tasmania lecturer and her American colleague prove the women are guilty of espionage, the prosecutor's office says.

East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao appealed to business leaders in the former colonial power Portugal Friday to invest in his war-battered country, recently admitted to the United Nations.

Rod McGuirk – East Timorese private sector groups today urged the federal government not to ratify the new Timor Sea Treaty.

Leaders of the East Timor National NGO Forum, Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring Analysis and Independent Information Centre for the Timor Sea flew to Darwin to address the Federal Parliament Treaties Committee.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri is said to be considering replacing Indonesian Attorney-General M.A. Rachman after auditors questioned him for allegedly concealing assets worth billions of rupiah.

He has also been under fire since early this year for his poor record in following up on corruption cases.

Adam Morton, Melbourne – Australia will have to step in and "sort out" East Timorese politics within five years unless the Timor Sea Treaty is balanced, the ACTU said today.

The bodies of two Timorese militiamen shot dead in a gun battle with Australian soldiers in 1999 have been exhumed as part of an inquiry into allegations of torture and brutality by SAS troops.

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – The Lampung chapter of the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) has urged Governor Oemarsono to step in and resolve a land dispute between thousands of villagers in the regency of Tulangbawang and sugar firm PT Indo Lampung Perkasa (ILP).

Jakarta – Around 500 workers of PT Doson Indonesia, a subcontract firm of the shoe giant Nike, held a demonstration on Wednesday in front of the BRI building, which houses the US firm PT Nike.

But unlike their previous demonstration, they could not enter the building as security guards blocked the area and installed barbed wire in front of the building.

John McBeth, Jakarta – Black markings along its flanks, a large grey fish glides across the aquarium at the far end of Eddie Widiono's tasteful, wood-panelled office in south Jakarta. The Sumatran belida is said to have mystical qualities, but there's nothing mystical about the way it strikes out and swallows one of the dozens of tiny red carp trying to stay out of its way.

Tangerang – Some 300 workers of two companies located on Jl. Raya Serang, Cikupa district of Tangerang staged a rally at the Tangerang regency office in Tigaraksa on Wednesday.

Rumours a captured pro-Indonesian militiaman was summarily executed by Australian troops in East Timor had floated around special forces circles for some time, a defence commentator said today.

City Council secretary Moerdiman revealed on Wednesday that the ceremony inaugurating Sutiyoso as city governor could be moved from the council building to some other place if there was a threat of demonstrators occupying the building.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – The brutal five-hour siege of a police station in North Sumatra by about 200 soldiers reveals the lack of discipline in the Indonesian armed forces.

Just as important, Monday's bloody battle in the town of Binjai also illustrates the soldiers' desperation to make extra money to supplement their meagre income.

East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao prepared to head to Portugal Thursday after a "positive" round of meetings in Washington, including talks with President George Bush.

Ben Bohane, Port Vila – A senior Indonesian diplomat who went to Vanuatu last week on a mission to try and persuade the Vanuatu government against supporting the West Papuan independence movement has left without success, according to a statement from Vanuatu's Foreign Affairs department.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Going along with Washington's anti-terror campaign – including pushing the government to enact its own anti-terror law – brings Indonesia's armed forces (TNI) one step closer towards re-establishing full military ties with the US.

Medan – Indonesia's army chief dishonourably discharged 20 soldiers from a crack airborne unit on Wednesday, saying they had behaved like thugs by killing at least seven people in recent attacks on two police posts.