Vaudine England – Near Jember, deep in East Java, is the Meru Betiri National Park, home to near-extinct panthers and one of the last great rainforests.

Susan Sim, Jakarta – A son-in-law of former President Suharto, retired Lt-General Prabowo Subianto, has made legal history in the United States as the first person to be denied entry un

Chris McCall, Jakarta – Church investigators have detailed a catalogue of horrors perpetrated on Christians by Islamic militias in the Maluku Islands.

Vaudine England – The Government will keep control of foreign, defence, monetary, judicial and religious policy but devolve many other powers to legislatures at the district level under

Susan Sim, Jakarta – As the architect of the regional autonomy laws that take effect throughout Indonesia today, Professor Ryaas Rasyid used to tell district officials that if he believ

Jakarta – Indonesia on Monday began an unprecedented devolution of power to its regions in a momentous move aimed at keeping the vast archipelago – already fraying at the edges – togeth

Banda Aceh – At least 17 people have been killed during the Muslim Eid Al-Fitr holiday in Indonesia's troubled province of Aceh, police and human rights workers said Sunday.

Jakarta – Defense Minister Mahfud MD yesterday brushed off suggestions he would step down, which came from local legislator and ex Finance Minister, Fuad Bawazier, "Unless it is request

Compatriots! Timorese!

Jake Lloyd-Smith – The Defence Minister has accused supporters of former president Suharto over the wave of church bombings that hit the country on Christmas Eve killing 16 people.

Bandung – Wawan Wahidin bin Engkos, whom police have described as a key witness in the wave of Christmas eve bombings, died here on Friday morning, raising the death toll in the bloody

Chris McCall, Jakarta – A new separatist front in Indonesia's troubled Spice Islands is demanding that Jakarta "restore" the sovereignty of the Christian-dominated south.

Jakarta – The government plans to restructure the national intelligence system, the Jakarta Post reported, quoting defence Minister Muhammad Mahfud.

Jake Lloyd-Smith and Reuters in Jakarta – The fugitive son of ex-president Suharto was caught by police after two months on the run – but escaped custody by jumping out of a window, Pre

Bandar Lampung – Indonesia's human development index has continued to decline over the past two years to reach 109 out of 180 countries.

Jake Lloyd-Smith, Jakarta – Indonesia's main intelligence agency is warning that the country is set for a tumultuous year ahead with a rise in separatist pressures and civil disturbance

Indonesia commemorated Women's Day on December 22.

Lely T. Djuhari, Banda Aceh – Tired of daily jeers and insults, Natalia Dewi has done what she never thought she would – she has started wearing a headscarf.

Sadanand Dhume, Jakarta – Sitting in a corner of a crowded South Jakarta cafi in jeans and a T-shirt, Nazaruddin Abdul Ghani is surprisingly calm for a 22-year-old who's fleeing for his

Louise Williams – Sydney, you can't rebuild East Timor with teddies and thongs.

Mark Dodd, Dili – Somewhere in Indonesian West Timor, in a camp controlled by some of the most notorious militia thugs who fled East Timor after its people voted for independence in Aug

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – It would seem that Indonesia 's economy is now far from the intensive-care ward where it spent the whole of 1998 on economic life support.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Senior Indonesian military officials yesterday blamed Muslim fundamentalists for the murderous wave of explosions across the archipelago on Christmas Eve.

Louise Williams – Four years ago, the then Islamic leader Abdurrahman Wahid publicly begged for forgiveness on behalf of Muslim mobs who had burned every church to the ground in the eas

Jakarta – Just days after Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid vowed to prevent the secession of the country's easternmost province, media reports said Wednesday that rebels in Irian

Dan Murphy, Jakarta – Shortly after Monitor contributor Sander Thoenes was killed in East Timor last year, it seemed as if justice would be served in his case.

Jakarta – At least 15 people were killed and dozens others injured when bombs exploded almost simultaneously in or outside churches in various towns on Sunday night, as Indonesia's mino

Vaudine England – The bombing of more than a dozen Christian churches across Indonesia on Christmas Eve was known about in advance by military intelligence, but politics precluded any p

Vaudine England – Christians in Jakarta have come to know December as a time when their faith, commitment and tolerance will be tested.

Vaudine England – It is well-known that the armed forces of Indonesia have played a murky and repressive role at each vital moment in the country's modern history.

Jakarta – Hundreds of workers of the five-star Shangri-La Hotel continued their strike for the third day yesterday, forcing the management to temporarily close their business activities

Andreas Harsono, Jakarta – Hendra Putra said a final prayer at a Christmas vigil Mass on Sunday evening and offered a friend a ride home.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid has left independence leaders in Indonesia's Irian Jaya province off the schedule of a two-day visit there which started Monday, a member of the pr

Kuala Lumpur – One-thousand-two-hundred illegal Indonesian workers boarded an Indonesian warship for deportation back to their country, Malaysia's national news agency Bernama and news

Jakarta – The Indonesian government has officially announced an average hike of 33.5 per cent in the monthly minimum wage in 24 provinces which is expected to become effective on Januar

Marianne Kearney, Wamena – Mr Yesaya Oagai, sitting cross-legged before a group of men from nearby villages in the lush Baliem valley, wins a chorus of agreement when he holds forth on

Louise Williams and agencies – The forced conversion of Christians to Islam in the violence-racked province of Maluku is part of a wider effort by the Indonesian military to discredit P

Jakarta – The Catholic church in Indonesia's embattled Maluku islands has appealed to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for foreign troops to help contain the bloody two-year conflict bet

Haidir Anwar Tanjung/BI & GB, Pekan Baru – When the 'Laskar Jihad', or Jihad Warriors, of Riau on Sumatra island burned down 100 properties belonging to people they claimed were inv

Jakarta – The Indonesian government has postponed the registration of some 100,000 East Timorese refugees still langishing in squalid camps in Indonesian West Timor, the state Antara ne

Jakarta – Hundreds of Muslims burned Israeli and US flags in a spate of pro-Palestinian protests in six Indonesian cities including the capital yesterday, witnesses and the state Antara

Jakarta – Authorities have canceled the passport of the fugitive son of former President Suharto to prevent him from fleeing Indonesia, officials said Friday.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid has failed to fulfil his promise to protect human rights and re mains hobbled by a reactionary old guard left over from the disgra

Hestiana Dharmastuti/Fitri & BI, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid's end year report card is apparently full of bad marks.

Mark Dodd, Dili – Christmas brings out the best in the East Timorese.

Warren Caragata, Jakarta – Syahril Sabirin is back at work after six months away, and there's something of a celebration on.

Jakarta – Indonesian shares, which dropped 1.7 percent in value in the last trading week of the year and around 35 percent for the year, will need a strong breakthrough and sound govern

Jakarta – Managers and owners of major cafes and entertainment venues in the Indonesian capital have hired guards to safeguard their businesses on New Year's Eve in anticipation of poss

Chris McCall, Jakarta – Detained independence activist Muhammad Nazar has a simple message for Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid: turn up the heat on Aceh and you may stir up a war

Jakarta – A soldier was mobbed to death in the remote town of Tiom, Irian Jaya, some 80 kilometers south of Wamena, following a dispute between officers and locals over the pulling down