Matthew Davies – Publicity about the tsunami relief effort in Indonesia's Aceh province has mostly depicted Indonesia's military (TNI) in an unprecedented favourable light.

[This letter was sent to Green Left Weekly for publication by Zely Ariane, the international affairs spokesperson of the Aceh solidarity group SEGERA.

Sunariah, Jakarta – Armed forces (TNI) chief General Endriartono Sutarto has question the desire by the leadership of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) for self-government, one of the pre-co

Palembang (South Sumatra) – Dozens of Palembang students protested on Tuesday against the central government's plan to raise fuel prices in the near future.

Gunawan Mashar, Jakarta – For the umpteenth time, on Wednesday February 23 students from the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar have again hijacked fuel tankers.

[West Papua and Indonesia since Suharto – Independence, Autonomy or Chaos? By Professor Peter King. University of NSW Press, 2004. 240 pages, $40 (pb).]

A survey of 1,305 businesses and top managers of local and multinational firms here named Jakarta as the most corrupt city in the country.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – A number of international human rights observers have expressed their pessimism that offering amnesty for human rights violators would be effective in revealing

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – As Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhyono and several of his ministers were wooing investors in Singapore last week, the Indonesian affiliate of French oil

Rendi A.

The Bush administration is trying to convince the American Congress to restore some US military assistance to Indonesia.

Jakarta – An inter-ministerial work group is now investigating the existence of military businesses.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Outgoing Air Force Chief of Staff Marshall Chappy Hakim has suggested that the President consider a high ranking Air Force officer as the next commander in chie

Rescuers sifting through the debris of a garbage landslide in Indonesia say that any of the more than 100 missing who have not suffocated or been crushed to death have probably died of

Rendi A. Witular and Eva C.

Dili – East Timor will ask the United Nations Security Council to extend its peacekeeping mission in the fledgling nation, Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta said Tuesday.

The December 26 earthquake and tsunami disaster that devastated Indonesia's restive province of Aceh, killing 123,071 people, has strengthened the Acehnese people's sense of Indonesian

Jayapura – The number of people living with HIV/AIDS has reached an alarming level in the nation's easternmost province of Papua.

Indonesian prosecutors accused Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir of failing to prevent militants allegedly under his leadership from carrying out terror attacks, including the Bali bombing

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – International experts on truth and reconciliation commissions have expressed concerns about Indonesia's recently passed law on the establishment of such a commis

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Two days of heavy rain forced over 50,000 residents in south Bandung to flee to safety on Monday as their houses were inundated by floodwaters up to three me

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono denied on Monday reports that the government would again combine the Indonesia Military (TNI) and the National Police in an effort to boost

Jakarta – Indonesia's top intellectual and a longtime contender for the Nobel Literature prize believes that the influx of foreigners and aid money into tsunami-devastated Aceh could br

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Just like government officials, corruption watchdogs showed no surprise on Friday at the results of a survey placing Jakarta as the most corrupt city in the

Banda Aceh – Separatist rebels in tsunami-ravaged Aceh province exchanged gunfire with Indonesian soldiers escorting an aid convoy over the weekend, but no relief workers were injured,

Separatists from tsunami-hit Aceh province will demand a full withdrawal of the 50,000 Indonesian security forces from the region as part of a negotiated settlement to end the long-runn

Shawn Donnan, Calang (Aceh) – Almost two months after the Asian tsunamis, survivors in some of the hardest hit areas of Indonesia's Aceh province have begun rebuilding, turning to scave

A survey by Transparency International Indonesia (TII) has ranked Jakarta as the nation's most corrupt city.

The president is the supreme commander of the Indonesian armed forces. The 1945 Constitution – both in its amended and original forms – clearly stipulates such.

John Mcbeth (Straits Times, Asia News Network), Singapore – The recent oil strike by Australian-owned Santos off the coast of East Java and major untapped oil and gas deposits in ExxonM

Eva C.

Imanuddin Razak, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto's term in office has been extended twice.

Vaudine England – The lonely mosque, the last thing standing in the once-thriving seaside community of Lampuuk just west of Banda Aceh, now plays host to a huddle of tents.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Minister of Forestry Malam Sambat Kaban said on Friday he planned to meet with Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo

"This is a smuggler... ha... ha... He is a mafia [member]... ha... ha...," an unidentified man told undercover investigators.

"I don't care," has apparently become a catchphrase among government officials, following President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's example.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Indonesia imported about 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of processed fuel last year to meet domestic demand for the oil-based commodity, according to the

Ivy Susanti, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has welcomed the US government's gesture to restore full military training ties with Indonesia, which was downgraded 13 years ago.

Yogyakarta – The replacement of three Indonesian armed forces (TNI) chiefs of staff which took place yesterday (18/2) is believed by a political observer from the Gajah Mada University

On average, 10 people with dengue fever are admitted to city-owned hospitals every day, bringing the total of dengue cases since the beginning of this year to nearly 2,000.

Jakarta – Prior to its fuel price hike plan in April, which will eventually reduce budget expenditures for the fuel subsidy, the government has been preparing an additional Rp 10.5 tril

Environmental investigators said Thursday they had uncovered massive timber smuggling from Indonesia's Papua province to China in what they described as the world's largest logging rack

Tangerang – Cable thieves disrupted trains services between Tangerang and Jakarta for the second time in a month on Friday.

Shaunak Mazumder, Jakarta – "You are late for class," my English teacher said, "Sorry, Miss.

Kupang – Hundreds of residents staged a protest on Friday outside the East Nusa Tenggara council building, demanding the release of a local youth leader allegedly detained by soldiers.

Palu (Central Sulawesi) – Central Sulawesi Police named as suspects on Friday 19 councillors for their alleged involvement in the embezzlement of Rp 2.9 billion (US$322,222) in Buol reg

Jambi – A lecturer said here on Friday that some student groups have hidden agendas for staging protests in the province ahead of the direct elections of regional administrations.

John Aglionby – Environmental activists have exposed what they claim to be the world's biggest timber smuggling racket, the supply of the luxurious dark hardwood, merbau, from Indonesia

Tom Noble – In a small hospital in East Timor a father smiles. His once-blind son has seen the light, literally, after an operation by Australian doctors. It's a small miracle.

David Loyn, East Timor – Aprecio Guterres will be the last person to be tried by the war crimes court set up in East Timor.