Jakarta – More groups in the archipelago joined North Sulawesi's move on Friday to reject the newly endorsed education bill by filing a petition for a judicial review with the Supreme C

Bernie K.

Lhokseumawe – At least 10,000 people fled their homes in nine villages across Juli district in Bireuen regency on Friday to escape intense firefights between government troops and Free

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) has allocated US$1 million (Rp 8.2 billion) to help cope with the high infant mortality rate and spread of HIV

Jakarta – Three people have been arrested for an attack on two foreign bosses at an Indonesian dealer for Swedish truckmaker Volvo, police said yesterday.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) said on Friday that its team sent to Aceh had verified the May 21 incident at Matang Mamplan vill

Greg Sheridan – Indonesia has no plans to ban foreign journalists from the troubled province of Aceh, according to Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Hasan Wirayudah.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Golkar will give its chairman Akbar Tandjung a chance to contest the national convention, which will elect the party's presidential candidate to run in the 200

Lhokseumawe – People in Bireuen regency flocked to their respective district offices on Wednesday and Thursday to apply for new ID cards, in one of the first places in war-torn Aceh whe

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – East Timor has called on Indonesians to invest in the country, saying there are a number of business opportunities open to investors.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Forum on the Environment (Walhi) said on Thursday it would file a lawsuit against 20 companies and seven local governments in Riau later this week over forest f

Zakki Hakim and Fifi Yulianti, Jakarta – City officials, accompanied by police and security personnel, Thursday barged into homes in a densely populated Jakarta residential neighborhood

Lhokseumawe – The military's biggest setback during three weeks of the offensive to crush the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has prompted Army Chief of Staff Gen.

Indonesian troops fired artillery and moved hundreds of villagers from their homes during an attack on a suspected separatist rebel base, a local resident said.

Suwarjono, Jakarta – Two members of the Aceh regional parliament (DPRD) are reported to be involved with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and are being investigated by police.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – State-owned social security company PT Jamsostek is encouraging employees to check their participation in the social security schemes as many employers wer

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's top bureaucrat has launched a stinging attack on the very team under his leadership.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Indonesia's National Assembly Speaker and presidential hopeful Amien Rais has unveiled a star-studded list of potential running mates for next year's elections.

Jakarta – Indonesian businessmen have expressed hope that a business figure will be elected as the next president, so that the prolonged economic crisis in the country would end.

Jakarta – The popularity of the large political in the lead-up to the 2004 general elections is continuing to decline in the eyes of the public.

Nana Rukmana, Indramayu, West Java – Over 45,000 hectares of rice plants in the Indramayu and Cirebon regencies, known as the rice belt of West Java, have withered following the early a

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The House of Representatives endorsed the controversial education bill on Wednesday despite the absence of the largest faction, the Indonesian Democratic Party

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for People' Welfare Jusuf Kalla insisted on Wednesday that the martial law administrator in Aceh would issue a new measure soon, t

Jayapura – Trikora Military Commander Maj. Gen.

Jakarta – Six activists in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua are facing up to 18 months in jail for holding a protest against the authorities, a report said Thursday.

Prangtip Daorueng, Jakarta – The Indonesian government is once again using nationalistic propaganda and media censorship to gain public support for its military offensive in Aceh, but j

Jakarta – The Indonesian military said Thursday it will check reports from the country's national human rights commission that a mass grave has been discovered in Aceh province.

Lhokseumawe – A military tribunal on Thursday found three low-ranking soldiers guilty of beating villagers unconscious during the military's offensive against separatist rebels in Aceh

Banda Aceh – All of Aceh's 67,000 civil servants will be re-registered and asked to attend roll-calls to affirm their loyalty to the country, a regional administration spokesman said on

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – The Indonesian Government is planning new regulations to restrict foreign access to the war-torn Aceh province, as evidence emerges that the Indonesian army has

Jakarta – East Timor's prime minister, Mari Alkatiri, called Thursday for an amnesty for prisoners currently serving sentences in Timorese jails for crimes committed around the time of

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – East Timor foreign minister Jose Ramos Horta reiterated here on Wednesday that his government did not intend to pursue an international tribunal against

Frida Berrigan – Far from the spotlight and far from Baghdad, another shock and awe campaign is underway.

Khairul Ikhwan, Medan – There are indications that a number of civil servants in the Aceh provincial government are involved in the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), although none have so far b

Jakarta – The Aceh provincial administration's plan to screen 67,000 civil servants and "severely punish" those found to support the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has sparked criticism.

Luhur Hertanto, Jakarta – The government will soon conduct a special investigations (Litsus) of state civil servants in Aceh.

Berni K.

Indonesian troops and separatist rebels have fought their fiercest battle since a campaign was launched last month to crush the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the military said.

Moch. N.

James Balowski, Jakarta – Although coverage of Indonesia's brutal war in its northern-most province of Aceh has all but disappeared from the international media, it is still front-page

James Balowski – At around 9pm on June 4, two German tourists camping out near Lueng Gayo beach in the sub-district of Teunom in West Aceh were fired on by Indonesian troops (TNI).

Banda Aceh – Indonesia's Red Cross said on Wednesday it had taken 151 bodies to hospitals and morgues in Aceh since a fresh military offensive against rebels began, adding all victims h

Gillian Davey – Immigration minister Philip Ruddock's June 3 decision to grant 379 East Timorese asylum seekers permanent residency in Australia is a decision that all supporters of ref

Vannessa Hearman, Melbourne – Fernando de Araujo heads the Democratic Party (PD) in East Timor, the second-largest party in the country's parliament.

Jill Jolliffe, Darwin – East Timor Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri is aiming to turn former bitter enemies into best friends and neighbours during his first official visit to Indonesia sin

Jakarta – Top level government delegations from East Timor and Indonesia signed an agreement Wednesday to control border traffic between the two halves of Timor island.

Jill Joliff – East Timor's prime minister drew fire from Jakarta yesterday after resuming his call for an international tribunal to try Indonesian officers for alleged human rights abus

Andrew Burrell – Four Indonesian state electricity workers arrived in the small village of Bendo in central Java last week on a routine job to replace some power cables.

Jakarta – About 10,000 youth, mostly high school students, rallied outside parliament yesterday, urging legislators to pass a controversial Bill to regulate religious teaching in privat

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – The government is reviewing a presidential decree on public procurements to reduce corruption, but the effort has met with stiff resistance from various sides