Jill Jolliffe, Gleno – Just two weeks after a lopsided campaign began for East Timor's presidential elections due on April 14, there are signs that it may be turning dirty.

Four suspected separatist rebels and a public transport driver have been killed over the past three days in Indonesia's rebellious Aceh province, the military and residents said.

A local rebel leader identified as Usman bin Rahmad was killed in a gunfight with soldiers at Simpang Nalep in Bireun district on Thursday, Aceh military spokesman Major Zenal Muttaqin said.

Police in the Indonesian capital have arrested seven people after men wielding machetes and sticks attacked rights protestors, wounding at least 15, reports said.

Nine people were questioned on Friday for their involvement in the attack on Thursday but two of them were released, Jakarta police detective chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri said in the Jakarta Post.

Margot Cohen, Zumalai – Juana Dos Reis fought off a wave of revulsion as the woman held her in a tight embrace. "In my heart I felt sick, but I could still control myself," says Dos Reis, recalling the February encounter at a refugee camp just across the border from East Timor in Indonesian-controlled West Timor.

Jakarta – Indonesia and the United States are to discuss a possible resumption of security cooperation, during a meeting here next month, foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said.

"We believe that talks on a possible resumption of military ties is one of the main items in the agenda of the meeting," Natalegawa told AFP.

Dili - A Special Panel for Serious Crimes in East Timor sentenced a former Mahidi militiaman Wednesday to four years in prison for his role in a murder during the violent aftermath of the UN-run ballot on the future of the territory.

Also Wednesday, a major Crimes Against Humanity trial resumed after a three-week recess.

Yemris Fointuna, Dili – Life is hard in East Timor despite three years after it voted to break away from Indonesia, unemployment remains a serious problem plaguing the country's former province, currently under the UN administration.

Most of the local workforce are jobless due to the limited vacancies and lack of business capital on their part.

Yogita Tahilramani, Jakarta – The need for transparency in the use of State Logistics Agency (Bulog) funds has found a fresh cause as the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) disclosed on Wednesday an alleged misuse of over Rp 377 billion belonging to the institution between January 1998 and December 1999.

Jakarta – Indonesian Parliamentary Speaker Akbar Tanjung will retain his post after all, despite his ongoing corruption trial.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, who is charged with murder, sat so lazily during the trial at the Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday that the prosecutor asked the judge to order him to sit properly to respect the court.

Jakarta – Judges in Indonesia's first human rights court ruled Thursday that the trial of a former police chief in East Timor is legal and should go ahead, throwing out arguments by defence lawyers that the court breaches the constitution.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – While President Megawati Soekarnoputri was preaching to Chinese businessmen that there was no racial discrimination in Indonesia, experts and activists back home were demanding that her administration revoke over 60 rulings that discriminate against Indonesians of ethnic Chinese descent.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Islamic boarding school staff in West Java are brainwashing students into supporting the fundamentalist group Indonesian Islamic State (NII), parents claim.

Leo Wahyudi S, Jakarta – The United States and its allies should tread carefully in their recriminations of radical religious groups here, since over-emphasizing their potential threat may create unwarranted sympathy for these groups, a leading Islamic scholar warned.

Jakarta – An international research group says there is a "slim chance" for peace in the bloody 25-year separatist war in Indonesia's Aceh, but only with sustained international pressure on both sides.

Max Lane – Almost every day, details of the murder of Acehnese civilians by Indonesian military forces are reported by democratic and human rights organisations and international news agencies. At least 300 killings have been reported since January. More than 10,000 Acehnese have been killed in the last two decades.

Tommy Suharto, youngest son of Indonesia's former dictator, said he was the victim of planted evidence as his trial resumed on murder and firearms charges which could result in the death penalty.

"Those things are not mine," Hutomo [Tommy] Mandala Putra told judges after a police officer testified that nine guns were found at a Jakarta apartment complex which he owned.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Buckling under increased international pressure, the Indonesian government said yesterday there was no grand design for a Suharto-like clampdown on the foreign media.

But it continued to evade questions about its recent decision to ban an Australian journalist from working in Indonesia.

Jakarta – Speculation is growing is some circles that the three Indonesians recently arrested in Manila were made scapegoats to ease international pressure on Jakarta to act against reported terrorist elements establishing roots in the country.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government may raise between 7.2 and 9.25 trillion rupiah (750-963 million dollars) from its privatisation program this year, a minister said Wednesday.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Internal investigators of the Indonesian Military (TNI) are likely to name several officers as suspects in the murder of Papuan independence leader Theys Hiyo Eluay last November, a TNI official said.

Jakarta – Soldiers are suspected of involvement in the murder of Theys Hiyo Eluay, a separatist leader in Indonesia's Papua province, the military said Wednesday.

Banda Aceh – Separatist rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province are demanding a ransom for three kidnapped oil company workers, the military said Wednesday.

Hamish McDonald – Australia yesterday announced it would no longer submit to international legal rulings on maritime boundaries – after leading lawyers advised East Timor that Canberra was poised to rob it of tens of billions of dollars in oil and gas revenue.

Oyos Saroso, Bandar Lampung – Three hundred and twenty nine temporarily-employed doctors went on strike in Bandar Lampung, protesting to late payment of salaries, demanding a rise in allowances and guaranteed full-time employment, on Tuesday.

Yemris Fointuna, Dili – East Timorese residents want their compatriots – including former anti-independence militiamen – currently sheltering at refugee camps in East Nusa Tenggara to return home, signifying their full acceptance in their homeland.

Joanne Collins, Jakarta – Whether he wants to lead the world's newest nation or not, East Timor's independence hero Xanana Gusmao looks bound to get the job.

A legend among the people and one of the best political talents the territory has to offer, Gusmao is the hot favourite to win the two-man presidential race just over two weeks away.

Bogor – Around 200 workers from PT. SGI, a motorcycle painting business, staged a protest in front of Bogor's social and labor agency office on Monday.

The workers rejected the company's plan to lay off some workers who had joined the labor union at the company.

Oyos Saroso, Bandar Lampung - Incensed by continued power blackouts in the Lampung capital of Bandarlampung, a mob of at least 50 people ransacked the city's Tanjungkarang branch office of state-owned electricity firm Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN).

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – The landmark human rights trial for atrocities in East Timor more than two years ago has commenced, but disappointment persists as the Attorney General's Office fails to prosecute the top leaders implicated by the commission of inquiry into the crimes against humanity.

Fears of a crackdown on Indonesia's domestic media were expressed at a seminar in Jakarta, with senior media figure Goenawan Mohamad saying that if this was so, many people were ready to fight such a move.

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Amid allegations of the city administration bribing councillors, observers proposed on Monday the implementation of direct gubernatorial elections for the city's next governor to prevent "money politics".

Jakarta – Indonesia's rubber production could fall by eight percent this year because of the El Nino weather phenomenon, a report said here Tuesday.

"The El Nino can reduce the Indonesian production by some eight percent," Chairman of the Indonesian Rubber Association (Gapkindo), Asril Sutan Amir said according to the Bisnis Indonesia daily.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri wants army chief General Endriartono Sutarto to head the armed forces, replacing Admiral Widodo Adisucipto.

A legislator from her political party said yesterday that Ms Megawati will nominate Gen Sutarto for parliament's approval when it resumes its session in May after a two-month break.

Jennifer Chen, Singapore – Ratings agency Standard & Poor's said on Tuesday Indonesia's long-term sovereign ratings are still at risk of a downgrade to "selective default" despite recent positive economic and political developments.

Jakarta – Telecoms workers on Tuesday threatened to go on strike if the government went ahead with plans to sell its 65 percent stake in international call operator PT. Indonesia Satellite Corp (Indosat).

Jakarta – Hundreds of workers of Bank International Indonesia (BII) staged protest at the bank's headquarters on Jl. M.H. Thamrin in Central Jakarta on Tuesday, demanding a better salary and welfare, report said.

Bandung – Around 1,500 truck drivers and container workers went on strike in the West Java capital of Bandung on Monday to protest against new regulations limiting the traffic of trucks carrying containers on the city's highway.

Thousands of Indonesian children in one district alone have been forced to drop out of school because of poverty.

The new leader of separatist rebels in Aceh called for foreign human rights activists to visit the province and investigate what he called past and present brutality by Indonesian troops.

Muzakir Manaf, military leader of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), said Monday foreign investigators must come to Aceh to witness "forced confiscation, molestation and arson" by soldiers.

Beijing – China and Indonesia pledged to boost trade and cooperation in wide-ranging fields yesterday, as the two countries' largest oil companies agreed to form a partnership on the first day of Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri's visit.

China was her first stop on an Asian tour that will also take her to North and South Korea, and to India.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – The city council is planning to spend US$1.4 million to install red and white lights and new pipes in the city's most famous fountain.

The Legislative Assembly, formerly known as the Constituent Assembly, called a two-week recess today after extending its powers over the weekend to cover the remaining two months before East Timor's independence.

Jakarta – Defence lawyers Monday slammed Indonesia's new human rights court as a tool of foreign powers as the trial resumed of five army and police officers accused of gross human rights violations in East Timor in 1999.

Banda Aceh – Separatist rebels in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province claimed Sunday to have shot dead 18 soldiers over the past three days, a claim denied by the security forces who said they had killed at least five rebels.

A sister of one of the three Indonesians detained in the Philippines on suspicion of terrorism has described their arrest as a "weird drama."

Washington – Indonesia is about to find itself under mounting US scrutiny as the Bush administration presses home its campaign to rout out terror havens, and analysts say the attention could prompt hard choices in Jakarta.

Jakarta – Indonesia's newest political party, the United Development Party for Reforms (PPP-R), Sunday announced its new leadership line-up.

Thousands of supporters and party activists gathered at the Senayan sport stadium as Chairman Zainuddin MZ swore in the new line-up.

Barani Krishnan, Kuala Lumpur – Jani Rahman shrugged when asked where his family, including his one-year-old daughter, had been spending its nights since a bulldozer flattened their home in the Malaysian capital's oldest Indonesian settlement.

Thick haze shrouded the capital of Indonesia's South Kalimantan province on Borneo island, reducing visibility to only 10 meters (yards), the Antara news agency said.