Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri publicly asked on Saturday for forgiveness from all Acehnese for past mistakes of the government.

Jakarta – Political analysts have hailed the increase in the defense budget in the 2002 draft state budget amid rising speculation that the 18 percent hike was to gain support from the

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Pressure is building on Indonesia to return 124 East Timorese children taken from their parents in West Timor refugee camps following East Timor's 1999 indepe

Tomi Soetjipto, Banda Aceh – Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri made an emotional apology to the people of rebellious Aceh on Saturday over their suffering under past government

Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla said on Friday that the central government would assist certain regional administrations that were unable to pay teacher

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Combatants in Aceh's separatist war like to use visits by Jakarta dignitaries to make brutal political points – and President Megawati Sukarnoputri's trip to

Tomi Soetjipto, Banda Aceh – Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri flew into rebellious Aceh on Saturday on a fleeting trip aimed at bringing peace to this war-torn province.

Jakarta – Legislators questioned on Friday President Megawati Soekarnoputri's policy for increasing the 2002 defense budget by 18 percent.

Mark Dodd, Dili – What's in a word? Quite a bit if you are considering running for president of East Timor.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – There is a palpable mood of relief in East Timor this week after the election in which the country voted overwhelmingly in favor of the leftist nationalist party F

Susan Long, Jakarta - You know surrealism is a way of life here when your mobile phone begins trilling as you peer into the smoky cauldron of the active volcano Bromo in East Java.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Australia has rejected an Indonesian plea to fast-track people assessed to be genuine refugees from Indonesia, despite pressuring the Government in Jakarta to

Train crashes, crumbling schools, power blackouts and children begging on crowded intersections – these are legacies of Indonesia's budget crunch in recent years.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Each week, as a Toyota landcruiser roams the streets of Jakarta consuming half a tank or 50 litres of petrol, the Indonesian government is subsiding its rela

Jakarta – Thousands of public-school teachers in several regions continued their strikes on Thursday as their demands for six-months' back pay got the cold shoulder from regional admini

Banda Aceh – State Syiah Kuala University rector Dayan Dawood, 54, was shot dead by unidentified people on his way home from campus here on Thursday, just two days ahead of President Me

Jakarta – An avalanche of red tape caused by Indonesia's attempts to devolve power to the local authorities has left business leaders fuming.

• Total Votes Cast: 384,248
• Total Valid Votes: 363,501
• Invalid Votes: 20,747

National Ballot

Joanne Collins, Jakarta – Indonesia's new government handed down its 2002 budget on Friday, walking a tightrope between fiscal prudence and stimulating growth in a bid to keep the debt-

Jakarta – Most factions in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) turned down on Thursday the proposal advanced by NGOs for the establishment of an independent constitutional commissi

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia is already hard-pressed to meet asset-sale targets of over 33.5 trillion rupiah (S$6.7 billion) this year, but President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Budget pr

Jakarta – A human rights worker was Friday found shot dead and eight alleged rebels were reported killed in Indonesia's troubled province of Aceh on the eve of a visit by President Mega

Jakarta – High expectations by the public of a thoroughgoing eradication of corruption have turned into strong criticism of the Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN), due to

Mark Dodd, Dili – Fretilin, the party that led East Timor's 24-year struggle for independence from Indonesia, has won the fledgling nation's first democratic election.

Jakarta - The National Police are reviving investigation of several defamation cases against former president Abdurrahman Wahid.

Jakarta – National Police chief Gen.

Results of last week's elections in East Timor indicate that the territory's new 88-seat Constituent Assembly will have a total of 24 women members.

Dili – The Chief Electoral Officer of the East Timor's Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), Carlos Valenzuela, today presented the full and final results of the 30 August Constituent

Despite its decision to contest the election process, East Timor's UDT party congratulated Thursday the Fretilin party for its victory in last week's voting for the 88-member Constituen

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – With the police and military leaders repeatedly labelling him an agent of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), Mr Nasir Djamil knows it is no longer safe to

Lindsay Murdoch – The smugglers' plan went like clockwork.

Jakarta – Millions of Indonesia's poorest are among the worst hit by corruption since they feel powerless to stand up to greedy local officials and policemen, according to a high-level

Jakarta – The police physically abused two student activists arrested during a demonstration protesting the recent fuel price hike, their lawyer told a court here on Wednesday.

For Fretilin [East Timor Revolutionary Front] – the party most likely to win the recent Timor Lorosae (TL) elections – there are three main things which need to be maintained [from 1975

Jonathan Thatcher, Jakarta – A senior Indonesian official said the government wanted to change controversial laws giving greater autonomy to its provinces, warning that hurried legislat

Joanne Collins, Jakarta – Indonesia will unveil on Friday a draft budget constrained by a mountain of debt that has left President Megawati Sukarnoputri's government with barren coffers

Jakarta – There is increasing concern that Saudi billionaire Osama bin Laden and his terrorist organisation are looking to Indonesia as a potential springboard for their operations.

The Deputy President of the Dili District Court Rui Pereira dos Santoas stressed that the Timor Lorosae Judiciary will continue using Bahasa Indonesia and Tetun in all proceedings for a

The leader of East Timor's ASDT party, Fransico Xavier do Amaral, told Lusa Wednesday in Dili that he would not be a future candidate for president.

Jakarta – The gap between transparency and accountability within Indonesia's public sector is a major challenge to its economic reform program, according to Mark Baird, World Bank count

Jakarta – Minister of Manpower Jacob Nuwa Wea here on Monday criticized an International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention which permits as few as 10 employees to establish their own

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Millions of poor Indonesians are among the hardest-hit by corruption, as various unofficial levies charged by low-level officials are eating into their meagre e

Xanana's interview with Tempo magazine:

Tempo: At first you dithered on being nominated as president. But you changed your mind later. Why?

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – They are valuable for criminals on the run; handy for men who want to take a second wife, and indispensable for people with little tolerance and time for the In

East Timor's Defense Force would be willing to accept Indonesian military aid if the offer was made by Jakarta, the force's commander said on Monday.

Jose Ramos Horta said Monday in Dili he was "profoundly sad" about the "unhappy", "lamentable" and "incendiary" criticism of the East Timorese election process leveled by the leader of

Dili – The winners of last week's historic election in East Timor must listen to the people when drafting a constitution as a prelude to independence, two watchdog groups said Monday.

Lincoln Wright – Two star witnesses behind the allegation that Defence knew beforehand of the murder of five Australian journalists at Balibo in 1975 now maintain they never saw an inte

Banda Aceh – Ships using the Malacca Strait – one of the world's busiest sea lanes – should "seek permission" from separatist guerrillas in Indonesia's Aceh province, a rebel leader sai

Banda Aceh, – A provincial legislator and five other civilians have been killed in the restive Indonesian province of Aceh, police and residents said Sunday.