Jakarta – An East Timorese farmer testified Wednesday that he saw Indonesian soldiers fire on a pro-independence leader's house during the violence that engulfed the territory in 1999.

Pip Hinman – US military ties with Jakarta have been restricted since the 1990s because of the Indonesian military's (TNI) human rights abuses in East Timor.

East Timor formally joined the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Tuesday, with Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri describing the event in Washington as "an important day for us, a hi

Berni K.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – The result of the UN fact-finding mission on how pathetic the country's administration of justice and the judiciary have become has not come as a surp

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Indonesia's legal system has taken a severe knock with a United Nations official describing it as one of the worst he has seen.

Jakarta – Haze resulting from bush and forest fires continues to prevail in Riau and Central Kalimantan, as the effects of prolonged drought hit farmers in other parts of the country.

Berni K.

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri completed a year in power as newspapers in the world's fourth most populous nation gave her a less than flattering report card.

Jakarta – Indonesia's justice minister lashed out on Tuesday at a UN investigator examining the country's judiciary for branding the legal system as among the worst he had seen.

Yemris Fointuna, Atambua – As many as 1,175 East Timorese refugees, or 335 families, including 35 Indonesian soldiers and civil servants, left East Nusa Tenggara on Monday for their new

Debbie A.

Jakarta – East Timor's army on Tuesday replaced United Nations peacekeepers in one district of the new nation – the first step in a 20-month handover which will see the blue berets bow

On 22 July more than a thousand East Timor refugees set off on their journey to cross the border from West Timor and return home.

All international calls to a human rights group in the Indonesian province of Papua have been blocked by Telecom Indonesia.

Jean Philippe Chauzy (Extract) – Yesterday some 1,100 East Timorese refugees returned home to East Timor from the towns of Soe and Atambua in West Timor.

The Indonesian commander of West Timor said Tuesday there were "one or two people" among his forces who "continued efforts" to derail the repatriation of East Timorese refugees, actions

Edith Hartanto and Yogita Tahilramani, Lhokseumawe – Local community members have joined the Aceh administration in opposing the central government's plan to impose a state of emergency

Lesley McCulloch, Banda Aceh – He speaks in barely a whisper, his mind frozen in the moments of horror when he thought he would die.

Jill Jolliffe, Darwin – Three Australian soldiers are being investigated over an alleged assault on a United Nations employee outside a bar at a military barracks in the East Timorese c

Jakarta – The exiled former commander of militias in East Timor said Tuesday he and his followers are prepared to face justice after they return home, but only following a period of rea

An Indonesian general admitted on Monday that some soldiers and civilians have been trying to discourage the tens of thousands of East Timorese refugees in Indonesian West Timor from re

Jakarta – Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea now admits that labor militancy has reached such a fever pitch that it is discouraging investors and undermining the ove

Darlis M, Palu – The forest damage in Lore Lindu National Park (TNLL), Central Sulawesi, has worsened, according to Indonesian Environment Katopassa Foundation deputy director Ir. Muh.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Indonesia's two leading Muslim groups – the Muhammadiyah and the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) – have vowed to distance themselves from local politicking and instead

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Ningsih, who is only 11 months old, cannot yet speak, but her eyes, which continually brim with tears, and her loud cry if her mother stops breastfeeding her,

Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri has rejected domestic and international criticism of a government amnesty and sentence reduction bill under discussion in the East Timorese legislature, say

The number of street children here has increased in the past few years. They can be found at every intersection in the city.

Jakarta – The armed forces Monday welcomed a move by the US Congress to reinstate military ties with Indonesia, but human rights groups are calling it an endorsement of an abusive and u

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandar Lampung – Following a violent clash with security personnel on Thursday, hundreds of striking workers from a PT Budi Dharma Godam Perkasa (BDGP)-owned oil palm

Kurniawan Hari and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The decision by the United States Senate Appropriations Committee to endorse the allocation of US$400,000 for the training of the Indonesian

Washington – East Timor, the world's youngest nation, was due to join the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank on Tuesday, the lending institutions said.

Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Amien Rais says the government should not hesitate to take drastic measures against "troublemakers" in Aceh rebellious Aceh province.

Yogita Tahilramani and Edith Hartanto, Jakarta – Those living in strife-torn Aceh, particularly outside the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, have known fear all of their lives.

Jakarta – Jakarta police said yesterday they were following up a report that a man said to be carrying US$12 million in bogus cheques and with possible links to the Al-Qaeda terrorist n

Malcolm Maiden – Towards the end of 2000, Mark Carnegie, John Wylie and friends, including John Singleton's media group, STW, placed a large bet on the Indonesian television industry.

Arifin Asydhad, Jakarta – The Chairperson of the Achenese Women's Democratic Organisation (ORPAD), Reihan Diany, has been detained by the Aceh Besar district police since Sunday.

Yogita Tahilramani and Edith Hartanto, Mojokerto – Rising at dawn everyday, 60-year-old grandfather Hardjo prays long and hard before he prepares himself for work in the dry, rock-hard

Edith Hartanto and Yogita Tahilramani, Banda Aceh – Thousands of refugees in Aceh will completely lose access to aid and food supplies due to blocked lines of transportation if, as expe

Jakarta – Governor Sutiyoso tried to sidestep blame for his administration's handling of Jakarta's problems by blaming poor public discipline in his accountability speech.

Max Lane – Two recent developments in the political scene underline clearly how the reformasi sector of society has become disenfranchised from the political process.

The Indonesian military says it has killed four separatist rebels in troubled Aceh province.

The US has eased restrictions on military aid to Indonesia, much to the dismay of human rights activists and at least one US senator, who say the Indonesian Army has shown no signs of r

Banda Aceh/Jakarta – Acehnese expressed disbelief on Friday over the government's insistence on imposing a state of emergency in the restive province, stressing that all social layers i

Jacqueline Koch – Jakarta has again raised the stakes for the resource-rich and restive province of Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra, where Indonesia faces an entrenched independenc

Blontank Poer, Semarang – Calls for compensation are being voiced, nearly two decades after the construction project of a reservoir in the Central Java district of Kedungombo.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The House of Representatives (DPR) ended its session on Friday with House Speaker Akbar Tandjung blaming the public for its legislative shortcomings.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Indonesia's highest Islamic body is insisting that foster parents must be of the same faith as their adopted children to prevent forced religious conversions.

Jakarta – State Minister of Administrative Reforms Feisal Tamin has criticized the civil service, saying some 60 percent, or 3,000,000, of its five million staff are unproductive, unpro

Poor countries should spend less money on weapons and seek to resolve their internal differences or differences with their neighbours via dialogue, says East Timor's President Kay Rala