Cindy Shiner, Jakarta – Indonesia-Genoveva Misiati named her son Bima, after a traditional Indonesian shadow puppet character that symbolizes honesty, strength and courage. She apparently hoped it would act as a mystical safeguard against trouble.
Her wish, however, foundered on political upheaval. Bima's life has been reduced to memories and fading photographs.
Jakarta – The Indonesian military is reviewing its role in the country's political life but has vowed to stay in the legislature where its members are appointed directly by the president, reports said here Tuesday.
Macau – East Timorese Nobel Peace Prize co-laureate Jose Ramos Horta said on Tuesday that Jakarta was sending 3,000 new troops to his occupied home land.
Jakarta – Hundreds of people have looted rice from a government-owned warehouse in East Timor, while police arrested 54 people for looting teakwood in Central Java, a report said Tuesday.
Jakarta – Volunteers working with Indonesian victims of rape, especially those from the May riots, said they and their families are still being terrorised. Mr Sandyawan Sumardi and Ms Karlina Leksono-Supelli of the Volunteers for Humanity told The Jakarta Post that those targeted included gynaecologists.
Washington – More than 100 members of the US Congress have asked for the release of East Timor's jailed armed resistance leader Xanana Gusmao in messages addressed to US President Bill Clinton and Indonesian President Jusuf Habibie.
Jakarta – The government is ready to submit to parliament three draft bills on political parties, elections and the legislature in post-Suharto Indonesia, State Secretary Akbar Tanjung said Monday.
Jakarta – Hundreds rioted and looted in Indonesia's third-largest city [Medan] today when a strike by public transport drivers turned violent. And in Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, soldiers blocked 300 students who tried to demonstrate outside military headquarters to demand that the armed forces get out of politics.
Jakarta – Soldiers and police deployed around Jakarta's central Merdeka square Monday halted a student demonstration to protest the military's role in political life.
Jakarta – Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto warned on Friday the military would take repressive measures against street demonstrations which foment public disorder.
For the first time in 23 years, all of East Timor's major political parties have come together to discuss a reconciliation proposal.
Jakarta – About 1,500 people looted four hectares (9.8 acres) of ready-to harvest onion fields in the densely-populated island of Java, reports said here Saturday.
Jakarta – About 1,000 student demonstrators staged a noisy but peaceful rally near the Presidential Palace on Thursday, demanding President B.J. Habibie's government lower staple food prices and try former president Soeharto.
David Jenkins, Jakarta – In an attempt to rebuild the prestige of an institution which is coming under mounting public attack, the leaders of the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI) have decided to cut the national police force free of military control and reintroduce conventional police uniforms and rank systems, according to well-placed sources in Jakarta.
Jakarta – Student and youth protestors from Indonesia's remote Irian Jaya province scuffled with police during a demonstration at the military headquarters here Friday, leaving at least one injured.
Jenny Grant, Jakarta – The number of reported rapes of ethnic Chinese women that occurred during the May riots could drop significantly because of a problem with the way human rights groups collected data, a new report says.
Jakarta – A four-day operation by Indonesian police to crack down on teak-wood looting in central Java has left one dead, several injured and forced hundreds of villagers to flee their homes, sources said Friday.
Jakarta – Faced with deadlock in getting embattled Indonesian debtors and banks to agree on debt restructuring, the government Wednesday made a last-ditch attempt to get both sides talking.
David Jenkins, Jakarta – Indonesia seems poised on the brink of another major crisis – one that is already triggering fears of renewed bloodletting.
Nick Edwards, Jakarta – Mounting social unrest in Indonesia has scared more skittish capital out of the crippled economy, felling the rupiah and dashing faint hopes of recovery.
Jakarta – Mobs looted warehouses and stores of rice, sugar and instant noodles for the third straight day Wednesday in the Indonesian provincial capital of Pontianak, sources and press reports said. "The looting is continuing, this time in downtown Pontianak in the central market area," a staff member at the police information office told AFP by telephone.
Surabaya – Hundreds of people slashed teak trees at the Parengan forest and wrecked three police cars in Tuban district, west of here Tuesday, following the arrest of 149 men suspected of stealing teak logs.
Jakarta – Hundreds of people raided a state-owned fish pond in West Javan city of Karawang on Tuesday and got away with 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of newly-harvested prawns worth some 2,500 dollars, reports said Wednesday. Some 500 people were involved in the two-hour raid on the pond, owned by the central government's state secretariat Tuesday.
Rick Ouston and Ian Mulgrew – Internal government and RCMP correspondence covering the visit to Vancouver last year of then-Indonesian president Suharto show the RCMP were concerned about the threat of violence from his bodyguards and the federal government was intent on ensuring he was not embarrassed by protesters.
Dili – Five former political parties in the troubled territory of East Timor Wednesday announced the formation of a new national organisation and named jailed rebel leader Xanana Gusmao to head it.
Jailed East Timorese Resistance leader Xanana Gusmao said today that claims made by Indonesia of a large troop reduction in East Timor are false. He said 3,500 new Indonesian troops have been brought in the troubled territory, secretly, to replace the ones that left last month.
Surabaya – Riot police scuffled with protesters and fired warning shots Wednesday when about 4,000 students staged one of the biggest protests so far against Indonesia's president over skyrocketing food prices.
Jakarta – Some 100 students demonstrated outside the attorney general's office here Wednesday demanding that ousted Indonesian president Suharto answer allegations in court of amassing billions while in power.
Jay Solomon and Jeremy Wagstaff, Jakarta – An inquisition against some of the Suharto era's most renowned cronies is gathering steam. The question that continues to be asked, however, is can it be controlled?
Jakarta – Police detained at least 74 people after a second day of rioting in Central Java in which scores of ethnic Chinese-owned stores and cars were torched or damaged Tuesday, Antara news agency reported. Thirty-two high-school students were among those held for questioning after rioting and looting in the town of Kebumen.
Jakarta – An international rights body Tuesday called on the Indonesian government to stop trying to discredit reports of gang rapes of ethnic Chinese women during May riots here, saying they were scaring off potential witnesses.
Jakarta – At least five people were injured early Tuesday as Indonesian riot police beat student protestors who were demanding that President B.J. Habibie step down and hand over power to a transitional authority. The riot police, using tear gas, chased the 250 protestors out of the parliament compound, hours after they had arrived there for an overnight vigil.
Jakarta – Anyone caught disrupting Indonesian government moves to beat food shortages could face execution, Justice Minister Muladi warned Tuesday as anger mounted over price hikes and the scarcity of vital supplies.
Kevin Sullivan, Jakarta – Eleven-year-old Ipan, a cheerful little beggar in a buzz cut and a dirty T-shirt, knocks on car windows and sings and pleads for money with his 4-year-old sister, Tuti, holding tight to his side in her fading flowered dress.
Jakarta – Thousands of protesters rampaged through a central Java town Monday, burning and looting Chinese-owned shops and cars, while at least 2,000 students in the capital tore down the gates of Indonesia's parliament.
Jakarta – It has now been revealed that in his final days as president, Suharto ordered armed forces commander General Wiranto to finish off the reform leader, Amien Rais, along with thousands of students who had planned to march to the presidential palace to call for his resignation. This was revealed by a member of his personal staff, Prof Dr.
Jakarta – Indonesia's fallen president Suharto went on television late Sunday to deny allegations that he had accumulated a fortune worth billions of dollars during his 32 years in power.
Jakarta – Indonesian police were on standby to stem industrial unrest at three factories in a West Java city Saturday, a day after a pay dispute at Indonesia's largest polyester producer turned violent.
Surabaya – Three people were injured and 32 others arrested when a clash erupted between troops and hundreds of villagers pillaging a teak forest near the town of Ngawi, 150 kilometres (95 miles) west of here, resident sources said Saturday.
Jakarta – A group of activists Friday burned caricatures of former president Suharto, his family and close associates in front of parliament, to protest their alleged involvement in bank scams and graft.
High school students arrested for their part in a violent riot this week in troubled Aceh province said they were asked to riot by strangers.
How do you keep a fleet of buses and cars on the road when the cost of spare parts has skyrocketed by over 300 per cent? The answer: Find parts from other vehicles. "Motor cannibalism" has kept the transport industry alive in the crisis – but only barely.
Jose Manuel Tesoro, Batam – Before he ruled all of Indonesia's 13,000 islands, he was in charge of just one. B.J. Habibie came about Batam the same way he later got the country. It was handed to him by a patron high in government. Not Suharto but one of the ex-president's longtime cronies: Ibnu Sutowo, head of state oil company Pertamina, which once managed the island.
Don Greenlees – The slow wheels of Indonesian justice, rusted to a standstill after 32 years of Suharto rule, have finally begun to turn, bringing friends, business allies and even the children of the former president closer to a legal reckoning.
By Farhan Haq, New York – The US Senate's passage this week of restrictions on arms sales to Indonesia and demands for further political reforms have pleased some pro-democracy activists, who welcome the signs that Washington plans to keep some pressure on Jakarta.
Dewi Loveard, Jakarta – For a man whose visage was once seen everywhere, former president Suharto has dropped dramatically out of sight since his resignation on May 21. Suharto watchers now spend their time guessing which mosque he is likely to select for his Friday prayer session that week. The last sighting was on Aug.
Jakarta – A second general has denied an allegation by a former security guard of Indonesia's founding president Sukarno that he and three other generals forced Sukarno to hand over power to Suharto on March 11, 1966, reports said Friday.
Jakarta – A group of white collar workers marched in central Jakarta Thursday demanding that the government suspend income taxes if it cannot control spiralling inflation. The 30 office workers marched down the sidewalk of the main Thamrin street waving placards reading "Lower prices," and "We should not subsidize the rich," witnesses said.
Already pummeled by the general Asian economic collapse and the downturn in crude oil prices, Indonesia is facing yet another crisis – impending famine. The Indonesian newspaper "Kompas" reported on August 28 that rice supplies in Rengasdengklok, Jatirage, Plumbonsari, and Cilamaya are depleted.
Jakarta – Fourteen prisoners in the troubled territory of East Timor on Thursday entered the fourth day of hunger strike to press for the release of jailed rebel leader Xanana Gusmao, an official said Thursday.