Jakarta – Army chief Ryamrizard Ryacudu says that the TNI (armed forces) will continue to take a defensive position with regard to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in spite of the fact that

Desperate positivism.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Responding to public pressure for justice, the House of Representatives said on Monday it would reopen the Trisakti and Semanggi cases, which allegedly involve

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – While other regions across the country are gearing up to hold the first direct regional elections in June, five regencies in Aceh will have to postpon

Hera Diani, Jakarta – A report released on Monday by a human rights watchdog said that human rights abuses perpetrated by the state continued to be widespread over the past year, with t

Indra Harsaputra, Surabaya – The trade of protected animals is still flourishing in the country, despite warnings from environmentalists that certain species could become extinct due to

Jakarta – After a rigorous debate between the President and lawmakers over the replacement of the Indonesian Military (TNI) chief, a Presidential aide disclosed on Monday that a reshuff

Murray Hiebert in Washington and Timothy Mapes in Jakarta – The administration of US President George W.

Jerry Norton and Jim Loney, Jakarta – Talks to end a decades-long conflict in Indonesia's tsunami-stricken Aceh province could be on a fast track to nowhere unless there are changes in

Acehnese rebels have said they are willing to put their demand for secession on hold if Indonesia accepts a "face-saving" formula that would allow the tsunami-hit province to hold an in

Jakarta – Negotiators from the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) wound up two days of talks in Helsinki on Saturday without a concrete result on how to end the deca

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The appointment of Army Special Forces (Kopassus) commander Maj. Gen.

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – The Tangerang regency council is summoning two developers to answer allegations their coastal reclamation projects have irrevocably damaged the environment and

Indra Harsaputra, Surabaya – Most coastal areas in East Java, similar to tsunami-hit coastal regions in Aceh and North Sumatra, are susceptible to disasters like tsunami, warns an offic

Natural gas reserves in Indonesia have risen by 7.45 trillion standard cubic feet (TCF), thanks to new reserves found in either new sites or existing fields, the Ministry of Energy and

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – After winning the largest number of seats in the House of Representatives in the 2004 legislative election, the Golkar Party is preparing its mammoth

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Gobble ... gobble ... gobble ... is the onomatopoeic phrase often used in cartoon stories whenever characters eat their food in a hurry.

Ambon, Maluku – A communal clash between two gangs of warring youths reignited in Central Maluku late on Saturday, leaving five buildings damaged and one totally destroyed.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) announced on Saturday its first major reshuffle in a year, affecting 42 high-ranking officers, including Commander of the Army's S

East Timor's charismatic president Xanana Gusmao today made an emotional visit to the Indonesian prison where he was held for four years as a rebel before his country was granted indepe

Outrageous is one word to describe a beating Indonesian soldiers meted out to anticorruption activist Farid Faqih in Banda Aceh, an outspoken critic of the military, who now faces charg

Jakarta – The Aceh military authorities have detained an army officer for questioning after he allegedly assaulted an anticorruption activist accused of stealing relief aid from the air

Shirley Shackleton – I have studied the TNI (the Indonesian military) for 30 years and what is happening in Aceh has striking similarities to what happened in East Timor.

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar – History will judge the cataclysmic earthquake and tsunami that devastated Aceh last month as the defining event of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's first 100 days as

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, struggling to cope with the tsunami disaster as he completes 100 days in office, has apologised to Indonesians for failing to fulfil a ran

Jakarta – Dozens of journalists protested on Friday against a House of Representatives Commission, which summoned three editors after its members were questioned by journalists about a

Pekanbaru – Hundreds of students from different universities took to the streets on Thursday to protest at what they claimed were extravagant allowances and payments for Pekanbaru city

Semarang – Tayu police station in Pati regency, Central Java was attacked and wrecked by a crowd of about one hundred people late on Thursday following the death of two motorcyclists wh

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Global acknowledgement of the country's macroeconomic stability, as evident in the recent upgrading of Indonesia's debt rating, would boost positive sentiment in

M.

Banda Aceh – A lawyer Saturday demanded the release of an anti-corruption activist who was allegedly beaten while in detention after being accused of stealing aid in the tsunami-hit Ace

M.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Today marks the 100th day of the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Jakarta – Improving the economic welfare of communities living in forested areas would do little to reduce the widespread illegal logging across the country, environmentalists say.

Although the Jakarta administration has continued to carry out measures to fight flooding, dredging 13 rivers, maintaining sluice gates and setting up early warning systems and emergenc

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Hundreds of Punclut residents, environmentalists and artists protested on the streets of Bandung on Thursday, rejecting the planned construction of a hotel a

Ray Rangkuti, executive director of the Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP):

Jakarta – Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who is being tried on charges of involvement in acts of terror, and his lawyers walked out of the courtroom on Wednesday in protest against the judges' dec

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Tsunami-devastated Aceh, which only a month ago was a war zone, has now become the testing ground for a concerted push to persuade the separatist Free Aceh Moveme

Jakarta – The House of Representatives' Commission II for home and regional affairs has recommended the government delay the direct elections of local executive heads in tsunami-ravaged

Jakarta – East Timor President Xanana Gusmao in a three-day visit here Friday sought to mend bilateral ties with Indonesia, hand humanitarian assistance to tsunami victims and express o

Jakarta – Indonesia and Timor Leste (East Timor) have agreed to establish a permanent border crossing (PLB) for traditional communities that live on the border between the two countries

Astrid Felicia Lim, Jakarta – The Timor Leste (East Timor) government has promised to lobby the US government in its congress, in February 2005 about withdrawing the embargo on Indonesi

Chitra Ramaswamy – Human rights activists and church organisations predict that, without international attention and intervention, West Papua is in danger of becoming the next East Timo

Jayapura – Papua police have arrested seven suspected Papuan rebels in the past five days in Tolikara regency, some 700 kilometers southwest of Jayapura, the Papuan capital.

Jakarta – Indonesian workers are unprepared for competition in regional labor markets among Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, a business expert says.

Julian Lee – The organisers of an advertising campaign that ambushed the Australian Open to highlight disputed maritime boundaries in the Timor Sea have pledged to dog John Howard at pu

M.

Wellington – New Zealand said on Thursday it will ask Indonesia to investigate claims that its military officers have been accepting bribes to place wealthy people on refugee flights ou

Jakarta – Indonesia's president on Thursday offered concessions to separatist rebels in tsunami-devastated Aceh province if they agree to a cease-fire in upcoming peace talks.