Singapore – About 100 armed protestors have withdrawn from a power plant they illegally occupied at a Singapore-managed industrial park on Indonesia's Bintan island as part of a truce over land compensation claims, officials said Thursday.

Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) top brass lashed out at rumors of a coup attempt by the armed forces, saying such a move was contradictory to TNI culture.

TNI Chief of Territorial Affairs, Lt. Gen. Agus Widjojo, said after addressing a seminar on nationalism here that the country's five decade history has never seen a military plan to topple the government.

Jonathan Thatcher, Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid on Wednesday backed his controversial former top general Wiranto, but said he would have to step down if found guilty of human rights abuses in East Timor.

Sam King, Dili – The stated aim of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) is to effectively administer the country during the period of transition to a popularly elected government.

Conor O'Clery, East Timor – The electricity power station in Los Palos, a remote town on the eastern plains of East Timor, survived the devastation wrought on the former Portuguese colony by pro-Indonesian forces in September. All it lacked was diesel fuel.

Since the coming to power of Indonesia's brutal New Order regime in 1965, discussion and dissemination of Marxist ideas has been banned in Indonesia. However, on November 20, 200 students and activists gathered at the Bandung Institute of Technology campus for a seminar on the ideas of Karl Marx and their relevance in Indonesia.

Jon Land – The low wages that workers receive in East Timor today are little different from the pre-referendum rate, but given the dramatic increase in food and basic commodity prices since then, East Timorese can afford to purchase only a fraction of what they could previously.

Jakarta – A team promoting reconciliation in the strife-torn Maluku islands has named four men suspected of stirring up sectarian violence, and linked former president Soeharto and ex- defence chief General Wiranto to the clashes.

Vaudine England in Makassar, South Sulawesi and Agencies – Indonesia's leading reformist soldier and the regional commander for Sulawesi, Major-General Agus Wirahadikusumah, wants a neutral peacekeeping force to be deployed in the neighbouring Maluku Islands.

Makassar – A fierce clash between demonstrators, armed with swords and wooden bats, and military troops erupted at about 9pm local time in Makassar on Tuesday evening.

Max Lane – For the first time since 1974, a public split has emerged within the Indonesian army's top generals over how best to preserve the political authority of the Indonesian armed forces (TNI). The split has been provoked by the inquiry, launched by the Indonesian National Commission for Human Rights, into the events in East Timor that followed the August 30 referendum.

Jakarta – The government has officially revoked Presidential Instruction No. 41/1967, which restricted the observance of Chinese religious practices and traditions.

Ministry of Home Affairs spokesman Herman Ibrahim said on Tuesday that Presidential Decree No. 6/2000 was issued on Monday to revoke the 33-year- old instruction.

Jakarta – On Monday, the government announced a planned revision to the 1999 election law which would include dissolving the present General Elections Commission (KPU).

Andrew Marshall, Jakarta – Indonesia's powerful bank restructuring agency went on the offensive on Tuesday in the battle over control of the country's largest automaker, Astra International, launching a bid to change the firm's management.

Washington – Indonesia's struggle for democracy is facing tough challenges and must be supported from the outside, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Tuesday.

Canberra – The commander of the multinational peacekeeping force in East Timor said Monday that he had issued a warning to his troops after a group of women complained of sexual harassment.

Jakarta – Indonesia on Monday urged the United Nations to give Jakarta the chance to complete its own inquiry into atrocities in East Timor before stepping up international action.

Ian Timberlake, Dili – East Timor's leadership plans to start paying volunteer public servants as part of measures to ease growing frustration over the lack of progress since Indonesian rule ended.

The National Consultative Council (NCC) has also agreed to create a central fiscal authority which will be the foundation for a finance ministry.

Banda Aceh – Representatives of 15 international non- government organizations concluded their two-day meeting here on Sunday putting more pressure on the Indonesian government to soon end the violence in the restive province.

Terry McCarthy – On the streets of Ambon, people describe what's happening in their homeland as perang – war.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has said he plans to continue replacing senior government and military officials in an effort to wipe out corruption and strengthen professionalism.

Jakarta – The marginalization of Christians and a power struggle among local politicians are behind bloody year-long clashes in Indonesia's Maluku islands, analysts say.

Three people have been injured in Dili during violent scuffles when thousands of poor and unemployed East Timorese scrambled to apply for jobs offered by the United Nations administration.

They were frustrated their applications for about 2,000 available positions had been rejected. When the UN recently advertised the positions it received 9,000 applications.

Jakarta – The government decision to start a fresh investigation into alleged widespread sexual abuse during the May 1998 riot received mixed reactions from female activists concerning the relevance of the inquiry.

Vaudine England – Throughout the telling of their individual stories of fighting and displacement, the Christian refugees now in Bitung, North Sulawesi, are clear on one point – the root of each quarrel which became a killing spree was not religion but ethnic and economic competition.

New York – The United States warned Indonesia's military on Friday not to overthrow the country's new president and to cooperate with national and UN investigations into human rights abuses in East Timor.

Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) claims to have uncovered a plot to provoke violence in Ambon and clashes in other parts of the Maluku province, where thousands have been killed and injured in a year of religious rioting.

Reuters, Tokyo – Indonesia faces a bank-sector meltdown and a political break-up that could trigger a financial crisis, according to a senior official of the Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC).

Jakarta – In the wake of mounting criticism for its alleged indifference, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas Ham) set up on Friday a commission to investigate atrocities in Maluku and North Maluku.

Jakarta – The government will intensify taxation efforts and reduce new foreign borrowing and investment spending to control the budget deficit for the 2000 fiscal year at a maximum of 5 percent of the gross domestic product, finance minister Bambang Sudibyo said on Friday.

Michael Richardson, Singapore – Like many other institutions from the rule of former President Suharto of Indonesia, the headquarters of the central bank in Jakarta has an impressive facade.

Reuters in Jakarta – Indonesia's military said on Friday it would send hundreds of crack troops to the bloodied Malukus to help quell widespread violence between Muslims and Christians.

United Nations civilian police have arrested a pro-Indonesian militiaman implicated in one of the first mass murders in East Timor last year.

A spokesman for the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor, Mr Refik Hodzic, said yesterday that a man had been arrested at his home in Liquica on Monday over murders committed in April last year.

Dili – A number of pro-Indonesian militiamen and members of their families were attacked when they tried to return to their homes in East Timor, a UN official said Friday.

Several people were injured in fights with their neighbors in recent days, said Paul Stromberg, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Sangwon Suh and Tom McCawley, Jakarta – Abdurrahman Wahid must have the toughest job on the planet. As if governing the fourth-most populous nation in the world isn't challenging enough, Indonesia's president has inherited a host of problematic legacies, each of which has the potential to derail a government that is not even 100 days old.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid yesterday sacked a key economic official over the snail-like pace of banking reform, which is becoming a drag on economic recovery.

Banda Aceh – Representatives of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have rejected President Abdurrahman Wahid's offer of protection and possible clemency if leaders of the rebel group attend an Acehnese gathering slated for January 25.

Community and business leaders on the Indonesian island of Bali have asked their local parliament to seek greater autonomy within Indonesia.

The Indonesian Observer newspaper said the proposal, citing Bali's religion and its status as a tourist magnet, was made at a meeting of the leaders of the local parliament's representative faction.

Severin Carrell – Tony Blair is to resume the sale of Hawk jets and other arms to Indonesia by lifting a Europe-wide embargo imposed during the East Timor crisis. Whitehall sources say the Prime Minister and Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary, are expected to vote to allow renewed arms sales to Indonesia at a Council of Ministers meeting in Brussels next week.

Daniel Cooney, Jakarta – Indonesia's president ordered a major shake-up of the military and bureaucracy Thursday, replacing an armed forces' spokesman who had challenged his authority and appointing a new head of military intelligence.

The bureaucratic shake-up in Jakarta included the firing of the chief spokesman for the armed forces, Maj. Gen. Sudradjat.

Rin Hindryati – Indonesian ad agencies say their business is heating up, thanks to improving consumer demand and a strong holiday season. And foreign multinationals are among the big spenders.

Jakarta – Over 400 East Timorese who fled their violence-ravaged homeland following the August 30 self-determination ballot have died from various diseases in their refugee camps throughout West Timor in Indonesia.

Peter Symonds – Continued intense fighting between Christian and Muslim groups in the Indonesian provinces of Maluku and North Maluku is fueling religious antagonisms in other parts of the archipelago and threatens to open up divisions within the fragile "national unity" government of President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Michael Shari, Jakarta – Indonesia is preparing to take stern measures to regulate its debt-plagued financial system. The new government of President Abdurrahman Wahid plans to audit large military expenditures, punish violators of toughened regulations, and raise capital targets for state banks, according to a confidential government document obtained by Business Week Online.

Reuters in Jakarta – Separatist leader Thom Beanal says Indonesia's eastern Irian Jaya province could be independent by 2003 but freedom may have a bloody price, as it did in East Timor.

Mr Beanal said yesterday separatists planned to convene a congress later this year to map out a strategy for independence, which they want to achieve through dialogue with Jakarta.

Jakarta – Thousands of people attended a ceremony to hoist the separatist Free West Papua flag in a town in Indonesia's easternmost province of Irian Jaya, a report said here Tuesday.

Agence France Presse, Jakarta – The central bank may have violated procedures relating to US$11 billion worth of emergency liquidity for debt-ridden banks during the Asian financial crisis, according to an audit report.

Associated Press, Baucau – Gang warfare has broken out in East Timor's second largest city leaving several people injured, UN officials said on Tuesday.

For the past two weeks, gangs of youths have fought pitched battles in Baucau, 110km west of the capital, Dili, vying for control of city's streets, said Sergey Lashin, chief of the UN's police force in East Timor.

Dili – A piece of cardboard torn from a Tiger beer carton covers the small beef satays (kebabs) to help them smoke on Emilio Gomes' grill.

They used to sell for 300 rupiah (40 cents) each stick but a 66 percent price hike has pushed the cost to 500 rupiah a skewer.

John Martinkus, Kupang – Exiled pro-Indonesian militia leader Eurico Gutteres who was widely blamed for the destruction of Dili wants to negotiate a return to East Timor for himself and his men.

"I want to return but it's not that easy," Gutteres told AAP from a safe house in Kupang, West Timor, where the leader of the feared Aitarak militia is planning his next move.