Tiarma Siboro and Zakki P.

Muhammad Nur Hayid, Jakarta – Ex-Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members who are granted amnesties but persist in seeking independence must be destroyed by the government immediately.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) and the United States Pacific Command are holding a joint military training operation in the waters off Tanjung Priok.

The attacks and forced closures of churches throughout the country in the last four years have reached an alarming level for Indonesian Christians, both Protestant and Catholic.

Jakarta – The rupiah's recent slide was attributed in part to declining market confidence in the prospects for the economy, with persistent conflicting signals from the government exace

Fitraya Ramadhanny, Jakarta – After recent calls that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono reshuffle his economic ministers, these calls are now being directed towards the chief of the TN

Jakarta – Contradicting earlier comments by a Cabinet minister, the Vice President promised on Monday that firm action would be taken against Muslim hard-liners who forcibly closed down

Zakki P.

Mark Forbes, Jakarta – Another big terrorist attack is imminent in Indonesia, its President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has warned.

Harry Bhaskara, Jakarta – One of life's ironies is the incongruity between what a man works for and what he gets.

Simon Montlake, Jakarta – Nearly six years after its troops and civilian militia laid waste to tiny East Timor, triggering worldwide outrage, Indonesia has begun to repair its military

After years of slumping, foreign direct investment in Indonesia has started to gain ground amid an improved confidence in doing business in the country.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – The first confirmed cross-fire involving Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) guerrillas broke out on Sunday, putting a peace deal i

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Shopping malls are booming.

Jakarta – Indonesian Vice President Yusuf Kalla has dismissed calls by parliamentarians for Aceh rebels to swear an oath of allegiance to the government as a precondition for an amnesty

Jakarta – A leading human rights group on Sunday condemned as "insane" an Islamic court's caning of two unmarried couples in Aceh province for drinking alcohol and being alone together

Syaiful Amin, Jakarta – Former army chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu says the potential for Aceh and Papua to succeed from the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) is signif

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Indonesia's military will be looking to reap even more riches from rebellious Papua province now that it has been forced to withdraw thousands of troops from

Fabio Scarpello, Jakarta – As the historic Aceh peace deal, signed two weeks ago in Helsinki, enters the delicate, implementation phase analysts worry that the wording is vague and that

Kalinga Seneviratne, Jakarta – Ever since Indonesia's highest Islamic authority, the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI), issued 11 fatwas or edicts against liberal Islam, a fierce debate ha

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – A week after investors were promised a better deal, including lower taxes, surging world oil prices are dealing Indonesia's economy a double whammy, battering the

Robin Perry and Eleanor Taylor-Nicholson – On August 11, the governments of Indonesia and East Timor formally launched the joint Truth and Friendship Commission at its headquarters on t

Veena Siddharth, New York – When the Indonesian government and the armed separatists of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) signed their peace agreement this week, they demonstrated that even

M.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Despite laws banning people from taking the law into their own hands and recognizing freedom of religion, police in West Java have admitted to helping Muslim

Jakarta – The Indonesian army will send an additional three battalions of troops to Papua.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Independent legislative watchdog Teliti said the House of Representatives continued to disappoint despite being filled with younger and better educated mem

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – While at first it was attributed mainly to a run-of-the-mill supply and demand imbalance, the rupiah's continued slump has now been blamed on another factor t

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Criticism is gathering against the powerful Aceh Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) two months after it began the massive project of rebuilding the

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A working group of military, legal and political analysts has completed the draft of a new bill on intelligence aimed at restoring the badly tarnished imag

Jakarta – The military may be held accountable for alleged atrocities committed during a three-decade separatist war in Aceh province, Indonesia's justice minister said Wednesday, denyi

Desra Percaya, New York – Following seven months of talks mediated by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in Helsinki on Aug.

Six years ago this month the Indonesian military unleashed its militia killers on East Timor, creating carnage that shocked the world and saw Australia intervene to drive them out.

Remember early January 1998 when the rupiah crashed through the 10,000-to-the-dollar barrier two days after then president Soeharto unveiled his draft 1998-1999 budget?

Nethy Dharma Somba and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – A member of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) has raised her concern over the alleged arrival of troops in the trouble

Tomi Soetjipto, Jakarta – The outbreak of polio in Indonesia could spread to other countries in the region, but a plan to vaccinate 24 million children next week should halt its progres

Ati Nurbaiti, Jakarta – A young East Timorese once inquired, "Do you people also experience atrocities?" I said, "What? Of course not." Where did she get such an idea?

Rendi A.

Banda Aceh – At least 60 separatist guerrillas have left their rebel stronghold in Indonesia's Aceh province after a peace pact was signed last week.

Jakarta – Indonesia has made scant progress in changing the outlook of government officials who remain indifferent to providing public service and continue to engage in corruption, the

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – After the Helsinki peace deal that brought peace to Aceh, the central government has been urged to focus more on resolving the problems in Papua.

Carmel Budiardjo, London – The historic agreement concluded this week between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has been widely welcomed, both in Indonesia and

Ambon – More troops were withdrawn from Maluku in response to the prevailing peace in the formerly riot-torn province.

Miswar, Banda Aceh – Indonesian negotiator Sofyan Djalil who is also the minister of information and communication, has started to manipulate the text of the memorandum of understanding

Banda Aceh – Civilians who lost family and friends during a three-decade separatist war in Indonesia's Aceh province deserve justice, rebels said Sunday, days after an agreement was sig

Jakarta – The government should immediately issue a regulation requiring occupational safety and health (OSH) programs in small enterprises and home industries to avoid unnecessary acci

Jakarta – Criticism about the contents of the peace accord between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) continued on Friday, with legislators questioning the role of the fore

Jakarta – The granting of sentence remissions to some 103,000 prisoners in observance of Independence Day has come under fire, with observers noting the recipients included high-profile

Protests colored the closing day of the West Java Infrastructure Summit on Friday when about 500 people from Jatigede, Sumedang regency, staged a rally outside the venue at the Savoy Ho

Evi Mariani, Sumba Island, East Nusa Tenggara – While people in big cities begin to take up food combining, complete with the complicated calculations of daily consumed nutrition, most