Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Nationalist politicians back a proposed civil emergency and a likely tougher military action in conflict-ridden Aceh, but legislators from the province oppos

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The hard line taken by the government will dash any hope for a peaceful solution to end the decades-long strife in Aceh, official and activists alike sa

Aceh separatist rebels slammed a statement by an Indonesian minister branding them terrorists as an "irresponsible and desperate" attempt to discredit the movement.

Jakarta – Over a hundred young supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) united on Thursday to reject the nominatio

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – The government said on Thursday that doors were open for a United Nations legal expert who has been assigned to assess Indon

Geneva – East Timor's Health Minister, Rui Maria de Araujo, warned Friday that his newly-independent country was in danger of an AIDS epidemic, saying its low official figures were "jus

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri is riding roughshod over her party and sidelining many of her allies as she veers towards the military and the corruption-tai

[Achieving justice in East Timor for the victims of the violence after the 1999 independence vote, is not proving to be an easy task.

Apriadi Gunawan, Jakarta – Approximately 20 percent of the forest in Mount Leuser National Park in North Sumatra had been illegally felled by the year 2000, local officials have announc

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Workers from dozens of hospitals in the capital organized a media conference on Thursday to protest their employers' move to halt their plan to establish wo

Thousands of endangered birds from Maluku and Papua provinces are caught and transported by the Indonesian military for sale at illegal markets, animal activists and officials allege.

Debbie A.

Jakarta – Indonesian air force officials have revealed that more than half their front-line aircraft have been grounded and a third of their radar stations are inoperable due to a lack

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Maj. Gen.

Amy Chew, Jakarta – Indonesia's once mighty military – which saw its powers reduced by democratic reforms following the ousting of former President Suharto – is expected to regain lost

Banda Aceh – Apparently niggled by the continuing violence in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province, the government sent a strong signal on Thursday that the military operation in the resti

Geoffrey Barker – Sixty influential Chinese business association leaders arrived in Dili from Macau last week to talk to East Timorese leaders about investing in the impoverished new na

Separatist rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province have released 18 civilians they abducted late last month, a source involved in arranging the release said.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – A bloody battle between security forces and rebels in Aceh looks imminent as the Indonesian government yesterday announced plans to declare a state of emergenc

The Indonesian Government has denied reports that the extremist Islamic Laskar Jihad army is operating in it's province of Papua, formerly known as Irian Jaya.

Mark Dodd, Dili – At just four weeks old East Timor may be the world's newest nation, but its first big problem is how to deal with its past.

Police are awaiting a court's approval to question Tommy Suharto in prison over his claims that members of the security forces protected him while he was a fugitive last year.

Raymond Bonner, Jakarta – The Bush administration's effort to re-establish military ties with Indonesia, which has been curtailed for nearly a decade because of its army's widespread hu

Muklis Ali, Jakarta – Indonesia's government on Thursday branded the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) a terrorist group for the first time, and hinted it may impose a civil emergency in the pro

Jakarta – Indonesia and East Timor on Tuesday agreed to seek the best way of settling the issue of assets the former had left behind in what used to be its 27th province.

Bernie K.

When East Timor President Xanana Gusmao began his official visit in Indonesia on Tuesday, he was received with a red carpet welcome and full military honors fitting for all visiting hea

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Just four years ago, Mr Xanana Gusmao was Indonesia's most prized rebel prisoner.

Kupang – East Timorese refugees living in various camps in West Timor continued with their protests on Tuesday, demanding aid from the government for some 20,000 refugee families, or so

Robert Go, Jakarta – It's a tale of two "sisters", and of how their abilities to "keep it together" over the next two years would affect the rest of Asean.

Max Lane, Jakarta – The debate between minister Kwik Kian Gie, who is in charge of the National Economic Planning Board, and the other ministers in President Megawati Sukarnoputri's cab

Jakarta – Five armed people, allegedly members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), were killed when security officers launched an attack in Bayeuen district, East Aceh, some 460 kilometers

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Indonesian navy chief Bernard Kent Sondakh has said that the navy's 113 ships are fit to sail but not fight – a startling revelation that throws into doubt its

Richard Norton-Taylor and John Aglionby, Jakarta – The Foreign Office was urgently investigating reports last night that British Hawk jets had been deployed by the Indonesian airforce i

Jakarta – PT Indomobil Sukses Internasional, the country's second largest automaker, had planned to hire some 2,000 new workers this year in response to growing demand at home for autom

East Timor's foreign minister said Wednesday that he regretted the decision of the United States to withdraw its military observers from the newly independent nation over fears of possi

Lincoln Wright – Defence Minister Robert Hill has rejected claims from a whistleblower that the Defence Signals Directorate spied on journalists to discover who was leaking sensitive in

Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Wednesday instructed Iskandar Muda military Commander Maj. Gen. Djali Yusuf to sternly punish the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

An explosion which damaged a parking lot of a shopping mall in the Indonesian capital was caused by a large firecracker, police said.

Jakarta – The government will evaluate the viability of the current security policy in Aceh before issuing a presidential decree to change the current status of civilian order in the tr

Indonesia's military said it was mobilising all available troops in a hunt for Aceh separatist rebels blamed for the abduction of nine crewmen servicing the offshore oil industry.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Parliament has rejected a motion to set up a special committee to investigate a graft scandal involving House speaker Akbar Tandjung.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Four photographers and dozens of student activists were injured in a clash between protesting students and police officers during a demonstration at the front

A new book on politics in post-Suharto Indonesia says the chances of an Islamic Government taking power are stronger than ever.

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Governor Sutiyoso claimed on Monday that the Indonesia Military (TNI) had settled its dispute with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle over a bloody att

Edith Hartanto and Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – We are back to square one. Democracy is backpedaling to what it was during the Soeharto regime, experts said here on Saturday.

Concerns are being raised that Indonesia's military is once again in the political driver's seat.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto has overseen the first major reshuffle of the armed forces since taking over last month.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The army is back in the driving seat in Indonesia four years after the fall of Suharto, flexing its muscles against separatist insurgencies and pulling the str

Beijing – China supports the building of an East Timor army and will work toward friendly ties with it, state media quoted China's defense minister saying Tuesday.