Matthew Moore, Mike Seccombe and Marian Wilkinson – The Indonesian Government has flatly rejected a suggestion by Australia's Defence Minister, Robert Hill, that Australian troops could

Damon Kingsbury – Defence Minister Senator Robert Hill has said that in a bid to counter terrorism, Australia will restore its links with the Indonesian army's special forces, Kopassus,

[The following are excerpts pertaining to Indonesia by Deputy Secretary Of Defense Paul Wolfowitz to the Defense Forum Foundation meeting about the war on terrorism on October 18, 20

Australia's defence minister Robert Hill has confirmed Australia is considering resuming military links with Indonesia's notorious Kopassus special forces.

Alan Sipress, Jakarta – The Bush administration has warned Indonesian officials that it will withdraw some diplomats from the country unless police step up efforts to investigate a gren

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Indonesia and East Timor agreed on Tuesday to convert Indonesian assets in East Timor, mostly corporate assets, into equity investment in the newly born

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – On the eve of his return home, Australia's ambassador to Indonesia, Ric Smith, has sought to rebut a series of "myths" which he believes are straining the relat

Jakarta – The government is determined to scrap the visa-free facility accorded to nationals of 48 countries in an effort to prevent more of its misuse, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hass

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – A leader of East Timor's parliamentary opposition has described an agreement regulating conditions for US troops in the territory as "an affront to East Timorese s

Matthew Moore, Yogyakarta – A new regional group intended to strengthen Indonesia's brittle relations with its neighbours held its inaugural meeting at the weekend, and Australia's Fore

Jose Ramos Horta knows a thing or two about Indonesia, about suppression, and about independence.

East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao called Monday for Portugal to strengthen the "bridge" connecting his country and the European Union, adding that Lisbon's backing would be invaluab

Jakarta – East Timor said on Monday it wants its land border with Indonesia to be gradually de-militarised and hopes all frontier disputes with its former ruler can be solved by next ye

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Kornelius Purba, Yogyakarta – Indonesia, as the host, opened a two-day meeting of the Southwest Pacific Dialogue Forum here on Friday to seek reconfirmation of

East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao appealed to business leaders in the former colonial power Portugal Friday to invest in his war-battered country, recently admitted to the United Nat

Rod McGuirk – East Timorese private sector groups today urged the federal government not to ratify the new Timor Sea Treaty.

East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao prepared to head to Portugal Thursday after a "positive" round of meetings in Washington, including talks with President George Bush.

Catharine Munro, Jakarta – In a sign Papuan independence still strains relations between Indonesia and Australia, Canberra this week had to repeatedly deny suggestions it supported sece

East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao on 27 September marked his country's admission as the UN's 191st member with a defence of the right to independence of both the Palestinians and th

New York – On the eve of East Timor's joining the United Nations, the president of the former Indonesian-held territory said he would not advise other regions to use armed struggles as

[Indonesia is moving to settle its maritime border issues with East Timor and is keen to see Australia do the same, according to a senior government advisor.

Dili – East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta has said that despite his country's 24-year struggle for freedom from Indonesian rule, it would not support independence movements

Tim Dodd – Indonesia's Foreign Ministry has a message for Australia that it evidently wants to be heard loud and clear, rather than in the confines of normally discreet diplomatic commu

Rowan Callick – Indonesian Embassy in Canberra is investigating claims by the Institute of Public Affairs that "taxpayer-funded Australian non-government organisations are supporting in

Jakarta – People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais warned Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri to be alert to any pressure from the United States as it seeks suppo

Geoffrey Barker – East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao yesterday criticised the heavily armed Australian army presence in front of the Australian embassy in Dili and demanded that Aust

[The most senior Indonesian diplomat in Australia has warned that a war on Iraq will divide Indonesia – Australia's most important and populous neighbour.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government will host the 55th session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for South-East Asia Region on September 11-13, according to an o

Tom Wright, Jakarta – Indonesia's attempts to blame the weekend killing of two US citizens on Papuan separatists may be the first step in a military crackdown in the restive province th

Brendan Pereira, Kuala Lumpur – Malaysian politicians yesterday asked the Indonesian government to rein in troublemakers in Jakarta or face the prospect of a more trying period in bilat

East Timor Action Network/US (ETAN) said today that it was "deeply disturbed" by East Timor's decision to give US troops in the new nation immunity from prosecution by the International

Washington – The newly independent state of East Timor has signed an agreement exempting US military personnel from prosecution in the International Criminal Court, the US State Departm

Jacqueline Koch, Jakarta – Last week's acquittals of six army commanders accused of inciting terror in East Timor graphically illustrate the distance Indonesia still has to travel befor

East Timor government officials attending meetings at this week's Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji say they are not supporting the campaign by Papuan separatists.

Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia offered East Timor Monday assistance ranging from education to military training during a visit by the fledgling nation's Prime Minister, Mari Bim Amude Alkatiri

Ahmad Junaidi and Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta – The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Commission B asserted on Thursday that it was not seeking to terminate Indonesia's relationship wit

Atambua – The Belu district military command on Thursday succeeded in foiling an attempt to smuggle around 1.8 tons of kerosene to East Timor.

Atambua – Communities on both sides, namely the people of Turiskain, Haekesak sub-district, Belu district, West Nusa Tenggara and the people of East Timor, have been asked to refrain fr

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – At least 5,700 East Timorese who have chosen to stay in Indonesia threatened on Tuesday to snub the 2004 general election to protest the government's failure t

Mario Osava, Rio de Janeiro – Brazil will provide assistance in a wide range of areas to help rebuild East Timor, the world's newest nation and one of its poorest, whose first president

Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has ruled out immediate membership for East Timor, the world's newest country, officials said Tuesday.

Vietnam and East Timor have established diplomatic relations in a brief ceremony the eve of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers' annual meeting in Brunei.

Peter Kammerer – Relations with Indonesia are progressing strongly, with issues such as the return of refugees to be settled within months, Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta said yester

The head of the UN mission in East Timor met Friday with Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri for discussions aimed to "consolidate and intensify" relations between Dili and Jakar

Poor countries should spend less money on weapons and seek to resolve their internal differences or differences with their neighbours via dialogue, says East Timor's President Kay Rala

President Xanana Gusmao called Thursday to the nations of the North to grant debt relief to the countries in the South, who would, in their turn seek to implement "good governance" with

Jim Lobe – More than 50 human rights groups in Washington D.C.

The Indonesian military, until recently occupiers of East Timor, may soon begin training officers for Dili's fledgling defense force, the UN mission in the newly independent country sai

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Indonesia's offer to act as the honest broker between the two Koreas, made during North Korean number two leader Kim Yong Nam's first visit here, has been gr

Jill Jolliffe – An argument over who is to be East Timor's first ambassador to Australia could lead to a showdown between President Xanana Gusmao and Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.