Denpasar – Muhammadiyah, the second largest Muslim organization in the country, is certain to play a more active role in mediating and moderating the current political and social proble

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – A Melbourne-educated Indonesian lawyer has been appointed to judge crimes committed in East Timor in 1999 despite having represented former armed forces chief

Rita A.

Jakarta – The proposed formation of a Riau Islands province has stirred strong discord pitting the central government and the islands' inhabitants – some of whom oppose the idea – again

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – State-run oil and gas company Pertamina revealed on Friday how it misled the public about the price of kerosene.

Jakarta – Two Indonesian national parks, homes to the endangered Komodo dragon and Javanese rhinoceros, have been earmarked by the United Nations for a million dollar ecotourism project

Rendi A.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Two top separatist leaders in Indonesia's Papua and Aceh provinces have been killed in the last three months, raising suspicions that the Indonesian government

Jakarta – An Indonesian general predicted a long war against separatist rebels in Aceh despite the killing of their military leader.

Mark Baker in Manila and Lindsay Murdoch in Jakarta – The Indonesian Government is under mounting pressure to crack down on the fundamentalist Jemaah Islamiah movement after new evidenc

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – West Java, a large province closest to the capital, Jakarta, has hidden its decade-long teacher crisis behind its achievements in the field of education.

Jakarta – A man at the center of a bribery claim involving ex-Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid and the son of former dictator Suharto has spent part of the money on gold and his h

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – A key Indonesian parliamentary committee has demanded that the Government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri consider cancelling the Prime Minister's planned

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Owing to the rising costs of fuel and spare parts, the city administration has said that it will soon increase city bus fares by between 10 and 20 percent.

Annastashya Emmanuelle, Jakarta – The Health Ministry secured Rp 500 billion (US$48 million) this year from the state's fuel subsidy reduction to provide medical services for the countr

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – As a governor, Sutiyoso should abide by the law.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – A group of dissidents has accused the governing Fretilin party of trying to usurp democracy and remain in power for five years beyond its elected mandate.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda yesterday described Australia as the archipelago's "backyard" and said the government had no choice but to get along with Canberra.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The death of Free Aceh Movement (GAM) Commander Tengku Abdullah Syafi'ie, has solidified the separatist movement and increased the guerrillas' will to figh

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – To avoid more bloodshed following the killing of military commander of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) Tengku Abdullah Syafi'ie, the House of Representatives (DPR

Even though it has been almost two and a half years since an eruption of violence in East Timor, not a single Indonesian military and police officer responsible for security in the terr

Jakarta – Separatist rebels in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province said on Friday they were still open to peace talks with Jakarta despite the shooting of its top military chiefs by secu

Berni K.

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – City councillors have expressed regret at the violence and repression used by some Jakarta administration officials during its controversial identification card

Jakarta – Three cars were set ablaze and a man was shot by police when a riot broke out Thursday in an Indonesian town over an attempt to extort money from returning migrant workers, of

Jakarta – Mass rioting erupted when locals clashed with police in the West Java town of Purwakarta on Thursday, leaving at least two people shot and three vehicles, including two police

Jakarta – An international labour body has strongly criticised Indonesian manufacturers for refusing to pay the new minimum wage, saying world retailers were unwilling to buy from "dirt

Singapore – East Timor's Nobel Peace Prize-winning foreign minister said Friday he was confident Indonesia would be able to crack down on suspected members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida

Jakarta – Five suspected members of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network arrived in Indonesia from Yemen last July with a plan to blow up the United States Embassy in Jakarta, a high-rank

Annastashya Emmanuelle, Jakarta – State Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim has said the construction of both the toll road, which leads to the Soekarno-Hatta airport and the Pan

Dili – East Timor has started preparing for its first presidential elections but with full independence to follow soon after, time is of the essence.

Oyos Saroso HN, Bandarlampung – Activists and the Lampung provincial legislative council clashed on Wednesday after the activists said the province's 2002 draft budget allocated more fo

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday celebrated her 55th birthday with hundreds of orphans and homeless children in a modest gathering at her party headqua

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – City councillors are again spending millions of rupiah of public money by conducting a two-day meeting with city officials at the Horison Hotel in North Jakarta

Annastashya Emmanuelle, Jakarta – The United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCHR) stepped up its pressure on Wednesday for Indonesia to act swiftly against militiamen and o

Jakarta – Only 49 of 500 Indonesian legislators showed up on time for a plenary meeting to debate the setting up of an inquiry team to investigate Golkar chairman Akbar Tanjung, clearly

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Indonesia's armed forces claimed a major victory yesterday with the killing of the commander of the Acehnese separatist rebels, Abdullah Syafei.

Jakarta – Amid mounting concern over the negative impact of its fuel price hike policy, the government said the poor should not be affected as it had allocated to them sufficient compen

Riyadi Suparno, Jakarta – The Salim Group is lurking behind the scenes, ready to grab its former jewel in the crown, Bank Central Asia.

Rendi A.

Primastuti Handayani, Jakarta – Critics condemned the Jakarta administration for continuing its controversial door-to-door ID card raids Wednesday, saying the policy violated human righ

Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia, which has temporarily halted the recruitment of Indonesian workers after a riot, Thursday deported 22 textile workers, raising to 91 the total of those sent hom

Yogita Tahil Ramani, Jakarta – Long working hours and working without a day's rest may soon be a thing of the past for Indonesia's housemaids, if campaigns demanding greater respect for

Deddy Sinaga, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons & Victims of Violence (Kontras) says the death of Tengku Abdullah Syafi'ie, the commander of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM)

Jakarta – Separatist guerrillas in Aceh will press on with their 25-year-long revolt against Indonesian rule despite the killing of their military commander, Abdullah Syafii, analysts s

Jakarta – Religious leaders in Irian Jaya have nominated a number of activists and experts to be included in the planned national commission to carry out an independent investigation in

Jakarta – Aceh separatist rebels accused Indonesian authorities of tracking their slain military commander by inserting a microchip into an invitation letter for peace talks.

Agus Maryono, Purwokerto – The soaring prices of basic commodities caused by fuel price increases have forced people to try to reduce their expenses.

Jakarta – The United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCHR) has set a deadline of March 18 for Indonesia to begin trials of suspects accused of gross human rights violations

Jakarta – The city administration started its controversial door-to-door ID card raids in the five mayoralties on Tuesday, arbitrarily arresting 1,763 people, even though many of them h