There are many sound reasons why the United States – and Australia – should resist wading back into the moral quagmire which military co-operation with the Indonesian armed forces repre

Craig Skehan – East Timor has made a claim for all of the $30 billion Greater Sunrise gas field in the Timor Sea as part of a bid to pressure Australia into sensitive negotiations on ma

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Amid mounting controversy over its political role, the Indonesian Military (TNI) said on Monday that it wanted to remain in the legislature until 2009, until it

Dili – Three Indonesian ministers made a three hour visit to East Timor on Saturday, in an effort to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

Bukit Meranti – In Aceh, the northernmost, natural gas-rich province of Indonesia, the guerrilla war by separatist guerrillas of the Free Aceh Movement has ebbed and flowed since 1976.

Shefali Rekhi – Two visiting Indonesian lawmakers dismissed the problem of militancy and terrorism in their country as "not a big deal" yesterday.

Agus Maryono, Purwokerto – The Cilacap plant of the country's third largest cement producer PT Semen Cibinong recently dismissed 600 of its 900 temporary workers in the name of efficien

Despite peace negotiations held in Geneva last month, the Indonesian armed forces (TNI) is continuing its offensive against the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in the north of Sumat

Jane Perlezm Bukit Meranti – On a Friday, just before noon prayers in the simple wooden mosque, soldiers stormed into the village of Bukit Meranti, herded the people together and, accor

Banda Aceh – At least six people, including two alleged members of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), were killed in separate incidents in the restive province of Nanggroe Aceh Da

Sydney – Australia and East Timor pledged to continue their close friendship Monday during East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao's first official visit abroad since his country became i

East Timor considers the creation of the International Criminal Court a priority and will soon sign the UN convention establishing the tribunal, Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta said M

Jakarta – Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) chairwoman Wardah Hafidz said on Saturday that the number of poor people without ID cards in the city could be five times greater than the 100,000

Nani Farida, Sabang Island Aceh – Amiruddin sits idly on a bench, casting his sight at the open sea in front of Sabang harbor.

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – A Lampung-based corruption watchdog has revealed a conspiracy between the Lampung provincial legislative council and a real estate developer in the con

Canberra – Militiamen responsible for violence when East Timor voted for independence could not expect reconciliation without first facing justice, President Xanana Gusmao said on his f

[East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao has made clear for the first time that former militia leaders returning from exile in West Timor will not be granted amnesty for their role in t

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – East Timorese leaders acceded on Friday to demands by former prointegration militia commander Joao da Silva Tavares and thousands of his followers, paving the

[The Timor Sea Agreement between Dili and Canberra, is due to be ratified by the East Timorese parliament soon.

Jakarta – Local exporting companies are mostly optimistic that their export sales to the Asia-Pacific region and Europe will increase over the next 12 months, but they are somewhat less

Gay Alcorn, Washington – The White House is now confident that Congress will approve the resumption of military ties with Indonesia, according to a leading adviser to the Bush Administr

Dili – Thirty-one officials from Indonesia met East Timorese leaders yesterday to push its former province to compensate Jakarta for assets left behind when it pulled out amid bloodshed

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Despite his unpopularity and lacklustre performance, Jakarta's Governor Sutiyoso is likely to be picked by Parliament to head the city administration for a seco

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Indonesia and East Timor have identified a number of residual problems that they will attempt to resolve following the new country's independence which

Two Indonesian legislators have criticized Attorney General Muhammad Abdurachman for organizing a lavish wedding reception for his daughter while the country was combatting corruption a

Banda Aceh – Security uncertainty in the NanggroeAceh Darussalam province has taken its victim again with anotherprovincial councillor of the United Development Party (PPP), Nasri Zamza

Five more people, including two separatist rebels, have been killed in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province, the military and residents said.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Police in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, have detained five Acehnese people, allegedly members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), for having falsified identity card

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Indonesia's potential ambassadors perceive the job as a chance for a vacation and have little idea of how to promote the country overseas, a parliamentary co

Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta – Analysts predict that less than 10 political parties will be eligible to contest the 2004 general election should the proposed bill on general elections be ena

Don Greenlees, Jakarta – Indonesia is sending a delegation of three ministers to East Timor in a signal that it wants a co-operative relationship with its former possession, declared in

[Deliverance: The Inside Story of East Timor's Fight for Freedom. By Don Greenlees and Robert Garran, Allen & Unwin, 375pp, $35.]

Clare Black, Oslo – East Timor, a brand new nation barely one month old, hopes that the rebirth of its legendary gourmet coffee will bring some much-needed income to its people who are

Jakarta/Ambon – Skepticism loomed on Friday over the neutrality and capability of the newly established team to investigate human rights abuses in Maluku because it is run by the govern

Jakarta – The International Financial Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, warned on Friday that the country's weak legal system was scaring away badly needed foreig

Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Poverty remains a major problem in Jakarta because the city administration's programs fail to address its underlying causes, accordi

Kupang – Senior Indonesian government officials on Saturday expressed willingness to allow East Timorese policemen and officials to pursue higher education in Indonesia.

Jill Jolliffe – An incursion by Indonesian warships into East Timorese waters last month was a ploy by military hardliners to prevent President Megawati Sukarnoputri attending independe

Oslo – East Timorese Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta said on Friday the doors of his newly-independent country were open to pro-Jakarta militia members, now living in exile in Indones

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Mayor Abdillah of Medan, the North Sumatra capital, introduced new fares for public minivans on Thursday following a protest by hundreds of minivan drivers grou

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao has put the new country's politicians on notice to lift their performance, in a free-wheeling attack on the Government just 23

Sanur – The Indonesian government is expected to complete the repatriation process of 10,000 families of refugees back to East Timor by August this year, in a bid to resolve thecomplex

Banda Aceh – Two Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel, two alleged members of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and three civilians died in armed conflict here on Wednesday and Thu

Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta – The bill on general elections, which provides that members of the military will be able to vote and be elected in the 2004 general election, is a good start bu

Jakarta – A fight broke on Thursday between North Jakarta public order officers and around 200 becak (pedicab) drivers in Sungai Bambu subdistrict in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Is that a rice cooker or a bomb in the shopping bag?

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – There are many theories to explain why the government's various programs to eliminate poverty have been futile.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Imagine a squalid three-by-four-meter house under a large water pipe on the Western Flood Canal in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.

Bernie K.

Jakarta – Indonesian prosecutors dropped their investigation into the killing of a Dutch journalist in East Timor that took place in 1999, a spokesman said Thursday.