Locals in the Indonesian province of Aceh are accusing forces they won't name of setting about destroying the island's very future, its schools.

For a second straight day, the Indonesian military has continued its offensive against Aceh's separatist rebels, with an order to exterminate those who refuse to surrender.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – On May 20 last year the Democratic Republic of East Timor became the first new nation of the second millennium.

Twelve months ago there was great fanfare when East Timor was declared the world's newest nation.

Matthew Moore – Two things are certain about the newly resumed war in Aceh: a lot of innocent people will die and not many people will care, at least outside this province on Sumatra's

East Timor, the world's newest nation, marked its first birthday but President Xanana Gusmao found little to celebrate.

Biak – Nine hundred inhabitants in the district of Kuyawage have fled their homes and sought sanctuary in Sinak district, Puncak Jaya, because Indonesian troops are conducting operation

Maumeta – Cancio dos Santos readily admits he joined pro-Jakarta militias and torched three homes in East Timor when it voted for independence from Indonesia in 1999.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri's declaration of martial law brings to an end a six month cease-fire.

Michael Casey, Dili – A year after independence, dozens of burned-out buildings dot East Timor's capital – haunting reminders of the country's bloody history.

[The following is a translation of an interview in Tokyo with Erwanto, a representative Aceh People's Freedom Front (FPDRA).]

Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) officers troops said Friday they had shot dead two suspected separatist rebels in the jungles of Papua province.

Jakarta – United States President George W.

Nani Farida, Lhokseumawe – Despite the apparent normalcy, hundreds of thousands of residents of North Aceh, a stronghold of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), are preparing to flee their vil

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The country's commercial courts, renowned for being ineffective and corrupt, must be reformed to encourage more investment and in turn boost economic

Jakarta – Discrimination against women remains rampant in Indonesian workplaces, the International Labor Organization (ILO) says.

In a final bid to salvage Aceh's shaky peace pact and avert war, separatist rebels have agreed to meet with the Indonesian Government in Tokyo this weekend.

As popular discontent continues to fester over unmet economic expectations in East Timor, Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri has rejected criticism that his Fretilin government is too central

The Indonesian government and Aceh separatist rebels said they are willing to hold talks in Tokyo on Saturday to avert a return to war in the province.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – The prime minister of the Democratic Republic of East Timor, which celebrates one year of independence next Tuesday, has said he is determined to bring to justice

Jakarta – As war drums beat louder in Indonesia's rebellious Aceh province, momentum is building at the other end of the giant archipelago for tougher action against separatists in Papu

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – About 200 victims of the May 1998 riots were forced by police to change the route of their march on Tuesday to commemorate the fifth year of the trage

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – What will it take for the world to believe that Indonesia is serious about fighting terrorism?

John McBeth, Jakarta – Indonesia's 25-year reign as the world's largest liquefied-natural-gas (LNG) exporter is under threat, though it's taken a distracted government years to wake up

Zakki Hakim, Jakarta – The toll road operators' plan to increase tolls by about 25 percent at the end of the month has upset local motorists, especially as many have said the companies

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Publicly listed state-owned pharmaceutical giant Indofarma is in the public eye over its miraculous transformation of a reported Rp88.6 billion profit in the firs

Jakarta – More than a thousand people staged a rally on Tuesday at television stations SCTV and Trans TV on Jl.

Marianne Kearney – When members of East Kalimantan's timber mafia, or cukong, need some illegally logged timber smuggled through the province's forests and rivers, they usually contact

Dili – As Indonesia marks five years as a democracy, its former territory of East Timor is celebrating its own landmark: one year as an independent nation.

John Martinkus – General Taur Matan Ruak, the former guerilla leader who now heads East Timor's defence forces, has called on residents of the world's newest nation to ignore rumours th

Tony Sitathan, Jakarta – When a troubled commercial bank in Indonesia needed to improve its standing with the public and the business community, it turned to Landor Associates, consider

Herbert Docena, Jakarta – Organisers of the "Iraq and the Global Peace Movement: What Next?" conference, which will be held here on May 19-21, expect attendance by as many as 200 delega

Alexander Irwan – Last year, the Partnership for Governance Reform in Indonesia published a study entitled "The Poor Speak Out: 17 Corruption Cases", which covered several poor communit

Former foreign minister Ali Alatas talked to The Jakarta Post's Kornelius Purba about his views on Aceh.

Canberra – Aid funding will increase but assistance for East Timor will be slashed under the Budget released tonight.

Lesley McCulloch, Melbourne – Extrajudicial executions, disappearances, torture, rape and the targeted harassment of human-rights defenders.

Jakarta – Acehnese scrambled to store basic commodities on Sunday, one day before the deadline for separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to abandon its demand for independence and disarm

Joe Cochrane – When Indonesia and Australia agreed in 1989 to jointly exploit East Timor's offshore oil and gas fields, the countries' foreign ministers sealed the pact by sipping champ

Australia and the US reasonably expect their ally to deliver justice for victims of atrocities.

The first trial of a Bali bombing suspect began in the Indonesian resort island amid a huge security clampdown.

Richard Bingley – Soon after Labour came to power in 1997, its approach to arms sales to Indonesia became the litmus test for the new ethical dimension to foreign policy expounded by a

Antony Barnett – The Observer Tomorrow is make-or-break day in one of South-East Asia's bloodiest conflicts.

Just five months after the Indonesian Government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) concluded a momentous accord on the Cessation of Hostilities (COHA) on 9 December 2002, which was enthu

Prangtip Daorueng, Jakarta – As Aceh's peace effort lurches toward a possible collapse, fear has taken over the persistent, if increasingly uncertain, hope that many from that restive I

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) has found financial irregularities worth about Rp 820 billion (US$97.62 million) in the selected city administration offices

Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta – The business sector has demanded that the government continue working with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) through a post-program monitoring system, say

Banda Aceh – The United States, the European Union and Japan yesterday issued a joint statement urging Indonesia not to launch a military operation in Aceh province.

Jakarta – Twenty companies in the Tangerang municipality have stopped operations due to the slow business over the past few years, causing 36,108 people to lose their jobs, an official

Jakarta – The speaker of the Bogor municipal council has admitted to receiving Rp 1.59 billion of taxpayer money in late February from Mayor Iswara Natanegara and distributed the money

Richel Langit, Jakarta – The harmonious relations developed before and during the invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies seem destined to be short-lived for Muslims and Ch