Jakarta – Lawyers for the Indonesian armed forces said Monday they have agreed to settle their dispute with the Washington Post over a report that implicated senior officers in plans fo

Kanis Dursin, Jayapura – The decision to split up Papua into three provinces has eroded what little trust the Papuans had developed toward the government since the implementation of the

Robert Go, Jakarta – As war clouds loom nearer and the prospects for more mass demonstrations against a United States-led invasion against Iraq grow in Indonesia, at least one man is re

Jakarta – Although the wave of protests and street actions have raised strategic issues, the government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri and Vice-President Hamzah Haz has yet to be sh

Hestiana Dharmastuti, Jakarta – Threats by the Minister of Labour and Transmigration, Jacob Nuwa Wea, in which he called for demonstrators to end their actions, if not they will face In

Dili – Anti-independence militias have launched a "terrorist strategy" to undermine Timor Leste's government before the planned United Nations withdrawal from the country next year, a t

Dili – Unidentified gunmen killed one person and seriously injured two pregnant women in an attack Monday on a minibus in East Timor, officials said.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The government has been preparing a controversial bill giving authority to the Indonesian military commander to deploy military personnel in an emergency withou

Shepard Forman, New York – Even as the United Nations focuses like a laser on Iraq, it must not lose sight of its other commitments.

The Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) released investment figures for the month of January late last week revealing a steep fall in foreign direct investment (FDI) approvals but an u

Jakarta – PT Sony Electronics Indonesia (SEI) is preparing to lay off 884 employees after the closure of its Indonesian branch next month.

On Thursday, Army Chief of Staff Gen.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – With Indonesia facing a new round of instability if war goes ahead in Iraq, the country's top political and military leaders say the army will not "return to barrack

Kuala Lumpur – Saying the US government deserves more credit for its Iraq policy, East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta on Saturday criticized what he called "illogical anti-Am

Marian Wilkinson, Washington – The police chief who led the Bali bombing investigation has pleaded for training assistance from the US for a controversial Indonesian police unit accused

Robert Go, Jakarta – The turf battle between Indonesia's police and the military (TNI) over who should be in charge of Indonesia's domestic security showed signs of flaring again this w

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Gang Macan (Tiger Lane), a densely populated alleyway in North Jakarta, was notorious for its tiny brothels and deadly fights between vicious gangs.

Bandung – Chairman of the fatwa (legal advice) commission of the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) said here on Friday that the erotic stage act of dangdut singer Inul Andarista could be

Jakarta – Villagers demanding road improvementshave ended a blockade of an oil field owned by US company PT Caltex in Riau after police mediated in the dispute, AP reported.

The police have blamed easily obtained police and military uniforms and badges and a lack of regulation governing the trade on the emergence of bogus police officers extorting people ar

Yuliansyah, Banjarmasin – Fearing the legal consequences, some South Kalimantan legislative councillors say they are planning to return a "reward" given to them by the local government

The election bill passed by the parliament last week, with its demand for a 2% electoral threshold, predictably created dissatisfaction and disappointment among small political parties.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The State Intelligence Agency (BIN) demanded on Friday that it be given extra powers that would enable it to carry out crucial tasks to prevent terrorist attac

Banda Aceh – Twelve days have passed since the crucial "demilitarisation" phase of the Aceh agreement but separatist rebels have not started placing weapons in arms dumps and Indonesian

Bukittinggi – Scores of students from the West Sumatra branch of the Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front (KAMMI) rallied here on Friday to protest the privatization of state enterpr

The United States ambassador to Jakarta has said that Indonesia must make better progress in holding its military to account for human rights abuses before the US fully normalises relat

East Timor's foreign minister Jose Ramos Horta, in New Zealand this week on a private visit, once had 10 brothers and sisters. Now he has six.

Deborah Snow – Charges are understood to have been laid against a former senior soldier in the Special Air Service after a long investigation into allegations of serious misconduct by m

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – In an apparent attempt to elude unwanted public interest in the February 3 bomb blast in the National Police's Wisma Bhayangkari building, the police issued on

Rachel Harvey, Jakarta – The Indonesian parliament this week passed measures designed to reform the electoral system, but regular street protests may be a sign that many people are stil

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Top leaders of Indonesia's ruling Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) yesterday called on one of their own ministers to resign after he charged that th

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Trying to ease the mounting controversy over its decision to split Papua into three provinces, the government is said to be seeking a formula to ensure

Jakarta – A lawyer for the jailed youngest son of former Indonesian president Suharto will soon face charges of bribing a witness at his trial, a prosecutor said yesterday.

Women's groups in Indonesia have welcomed a new law that paves the way for more women to enter parliament.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Urban activists criticized the city administration's plan to evict Angke river squatters in North and West Jakarta, warning that it could spark social unres

Port Vila – On Tuesday, 18 February, approximately 1300 non-Papuans traveled in convoy from Abepura to Jayapura in support of the recent presidential decree ordering the partition of Pa

Richel Dursin, Bekasi – "We're Indonesians. Why do we have to get a citizenship certificate proving that we're Indonesians?" asked Tjiong Tjoei Liong, 70.

Linda Mottram: A West Papuan human rights campaigner says that ongoing unrest in the Indonesian province is being caused by the violently radical Islamic group, Laskar Jihad, which was

Over the past week in Aceh, Indonesia has repeatedly violated the December 10 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA), arresting civil movement activists and carrying out military off

Jakarta – Six student protesters were in police detention after police cracked down on an anti-government demonstration involving about 60 students overnight Tuesday.

M.

Jakarta – Indonesia has won universal praise for the nimble footwork its police have shown in investigating the Bali bombings and arresting nearly 30 suspects.

Australia's Immigration Minister Phillip Ruddock has been asked to establish a special visa category in a bid to allow a group of East Timorese to stay in the country.

As hopes grow that a US war with Iraq may be averted, much attention is being paid to the Justice Party (Partai Keadilan, PK), which has demonstrated strong grass roots support during t

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Golkar, Indonesia's second-largest party which once ruled the country's politics for thirty years, is preparing to strike back after nearly a year of adversity.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Noted religious leaders grouped in the National Moral Movement (GMN) called on the government to halt the East Timor human rights trials, claiming that they wer

John Martinkus, Jakarta – On December 28 last year a car carrying the wife and daughter of a prominent Papuan human rights activist was ambushed by unidentified gunmen between the borde

Jakarta – Former foreign minister Ali Alatas said on Wednesday that the offer of secession from Indonesia to the East Timorese in the UN-organized ballot in August 1999 was a "premature

Timothy Mapes, Jakarta – Just as Indonesia is beginning to bring its most serious armed rebellion under control, separatist tension is flaring again in another province that is home to

Jakarta – Delays in planting some 413,343 hectares of rice in a number of areas have resulted in a drain of farmers' income sources.