Robyn Waite, Dili – During April 14-16, an empty block opposite the Australian embassy in Dili became a fervent and colourful site of protest, as more than 1500 people mobilised to oppo

Jon Lamb – Human rights and solidarity organisations are deeply concerned by the Golkar party's nomination of General Wiranto for president of Indonesia.

Federal Labor today supported a lawyer who wrote a damning report on Australia's intelligence services and who now claims the government has been involved in a shabby cover-up.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Coordinating minister for political and security affairs ad interim Hari Sabarno chaired a closed-door coordination meeting at the Indonesian Military (TNI) on

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Lisbon – East Timor's president lashed out at Australia, saying in an interview published Tuesday that Canberra had snatched oil reserves that belong to his country.

Bob Burton, Canberra – Australia's effort to block East Timor from billions of dollars of oil resources – by refusing to agree to a maritime boundary between the two countries – will be

Robert Go, Jakarta – One reading of the election aftermath has the old guard and the Suharto clan making a comeback.

Andreas Harsono and Jim Lobe, Jakarta – In mid-May 1998, as rioters were ransacking business areas and looting properties owned by Chinese-Indonesians in Jakarta, General Wiranto, then

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – A mob burned down two public minibuses and vandalized eight others, following a traffic accident in which a motorcyclist was killed instantly at the scene in Kali

Woro Swasti, Jakarta – Two years after it was disbanded, Laskar Jihad is ready to be sent back to Ambon if the government cannot overcome the situation there.

Ambon – Snipers killed one policeman and wounded two in Indonesia's strife-torn Ambon on Tuesday as police and soldiers patrolled the streets to restore order, officials and witnesses s

An Islamic militant accused of involvement in bombing Bali nightclubs and Jakarta's Marriott hotel went on trial in the Indonesian capital and could face the death sentence if found gui

The legal dispute over a land swap deal dating back to 2000 between the government and developer PT Tata Disantara, owned by former manpower minister Abdul Latief, has yet to be resolve

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Ubud, Bali – The malnutrition rate in the country has reached alarming levels since the economic crisis, sending a signal to the government to pay more attention t

Jakarta – Researcher George Aditjondro blamed on Monday Acehnese activists for fleeing their homeland and failing to provide the press with information on what was really happening in t

Astrid Felicia Lim, Jakarta – Actions rejecting militarism and the New Order [regime of former President Suharto] continue to be organised.

Jakarta – Urban voters in the April 5 legislative election had chosen political parties known to have a commitment to eradicating corruption and zero tolerance for crooked politicians,

Kurniawan Hari and Indra Harsaputra, Jakarta/Surabaya – The Golkar Party agreed on Monday to devote its energies to forging a coalition with the National Awakening Party (PKB) to win th

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The power behind the throne has now retreated even more into the shadows.

Jakarta – Indonesia's top economics minister said on Tuesday that a controversial bankruptcy ruling against the local unit of Britain's Prudential Life insurance company will hurt forei

Jakarta – Opposition to presidential candidates originating from the military is continuing.

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Khairul, Banda Aceh – When contact by Fpdra.com by phone, the general chairperson of the Acehnese Democratic Women's Organisation (Oraganisasi Perempauan Aceh Demokratik, ORPAD), Raihan

Kurniawan Hari and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Once again, it's a case of everyone wanting the presidency and no one wanting to be No.

Alisa P., Jakarta – Hundreds of demonstrators from Aceh Papua Solidarity (Solidaritas Aceh Papua, SAP) held a demonstration at the offices of the National Elections Commission (KPU) on

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Endy M. Bayuni, Cambridge, Massachusetts – First Golkar won the April 5 general election.

Ambon – Twenty-two people have been killed and scores badly injured in a major outbreak of Muslim-Christian violence in the eastern Indonesian city of Ambon, medical staff said on Monda

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – Since the establishment of a special desk to handle cases of violence against women at the Jakarta Police headquarters in 1999, the number of reports filed have b

It is tempting to shrug off the decision by Golkar, the Indonesian party that did best in this month's general election, to choose General Wiranto as its candidate for the presidential

Imran Rusli and Apriadi Gunawan, Padang/Medan – Local residents blamed on Sunday illegal logging as the main cause of Friday's landslide in Pasaman regency, West Sumatra, that buried a

ID Nugroho, Surabaya – The government's controversial plan for a mega nuclear power plant (PLTN) on Madura island, East Java, has been thrust back into the spotlight by a group of stude

Indonesian police postponed plans to question jailed Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir as a terrorism suspect after he and his lawyers complained that the summons was legally flawed.

One of Indonesia's most senior Muslim scholars has warned that a failure to release jailed cleric Abu Bakar Bashir could result in an Islamic backlash.

Melbourne – East Timor would work with former military chief General Wiranto if he is elected Indonesian president despite his alleged war crimes, the fledgling state's first lady said

James Irwin, Singapore – Some cracks are appearing in Australia's refusal to renegotiate the Timor Sea Treaty with East Timor – the latest being the emergence of past testimony from a k

By anyone's standards, it's been a long day. The flight to Australia, the burden of intermittent media commitments, the trip to Sydney's Taronga Zoo with two screaming toddlers.

Alan Ramsey – Five years ago a brilliant man hanged himself. Five weeks ago a distinguished army officer put his career on the line in an extraordinary letter to the Prime Minister.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The two generals who will run in July's presidential election both have strong leadership skills, but the question is – are they both good for business in Indonesia

Alan Boyd, Sydney – Benefactor or bully? Australia has been portrayed as both in its protracted standoff with tiny East Timor over US$30 billion worth of deep-sea oil and gas reserves.

Sydney – Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer accused East Timor of trying to stir up sympathy over its claims for a greater share of oil and gas revenues from the Timor Sea oil

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Almost three years after he was impeached by parliament, Indonesia's nearly blind and erratic former president, Abdurrahman Wahid, insists he still has a sho

Sian Powell – Despite enduring 32 years of brutal military rule, Indonesia has not lost its respect for gold braid and epaulettes.

Jakarta – Senjata Kartini (Sekar), a women's non-government organisation, is opposed to presidential candidates from military circles.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Devastated by her party's defeat in the legislative polls, President Megawati Sukarnoputri is getting ready to work the ground.

Teuku Agam Muzakir, Lhokseumawe – Around 2,000 people here staged a rally on Thursday, demanding that martial law, which was strongly opposed by a number of human rights groups, be furt

Andreas Harsono, Jakarta – In mid-May 1998, as rioters were ransacking business areas and looting properties owned by Chinese Indonesians in Jakarta, Gen Wiranto, then Indonesia's milit

Indonesia has joined the race to build the world's tallest tower. Work has begun on the Jakarta Tower in Kemayoran, the site of the city's airport.

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – Aceh is not just about the bloody prolonged fighting between separatist rebels and the Indonesian Military, with all of the unrecorded brutalities and countles