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Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told the Acehnese on Friday that special autonomy was the best way to resolve the Aceh conflict, signaling that there would

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court's recent ruling on Papua should prompt a revision to Law No.

Semarang, Cairo – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is considering embracing separatist groups in Aceh and Papua (Irian Jaya) in order to collectively develop the Unitary State of the

Oct. 4, 1999: Law No. 45/1999 issued to establish West Irian Jaya and Central Irian Jaya provinces, the regencies of Paniai, Mimika and Puncak Jaya, and the Sorong mayoralty. Jan.

Indonesia's Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is taking-on one of the toughest problems of his presidency – the long-running separatist conflicts in Aceh and Papua.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Papuans have called on president-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to enforce the Special Autonomy Law for Papua to resolve the prolonged issues in the provin

Jakarta – The next government has been told to revise the Law No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy and Law No.

There are claims that the Indonesian military and police have been extorting bribes from Acehnese asylum seekers and selling them into slavery.

Jakarta – Indonesian troops have killed more than 230 alleged separatist guerrillas in Aceh province since martial law was lifted two months ago.

Banda Aceh – Injustice is at the root of a separatist movement in Indonesia's Aceh, presidential hopeful Amien Rais said on Saturday during the first visit by a candidate to the trouble

Rendi A.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Clarity of functions between the central and local governments, and the yawning disparity between poor and rich regencies have posed a real threat to re

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A seminar featuring respected intellectuals, analysts and religious leaders has urged the government to lift Presidential Instruction No.

Jakarta – Home Affairs Minister Hari Sabarno stated that so far the government did not have any plans to raise the status of civil order in Papua formerly Irian Jaya to civil emergency.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Despite progress over the past three years, the implementation of regional autonomy in some parts of the country has fallen short of what had originally been h

Yogyakarta – Muslim scholar and presidential hopeful Nurcholish Madjid held a closed-door meeting with Sultan Hamengkubuwono X late on Tuesday night.

Peter King – Ever since East Timor was "lost" in September 1999 the Indonesian military (TNI) have shown strong determination to hold the line against what they see as the next most cre

Tim Johnston, Jakarta – A report from an American university has accused Indonesia of crimes against humanity for its actions in the troubled eastern province of Papua, and has suggeste

Zakki Hakim, Jakarta – The government has wasted a golden opportunity to resolve the secession issue in Aceh and Papua by failing to show goodwill to the people of the two resource-rich

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – A court-martial here sentenced two soldiers on Thursday to up to 14 months in jail for their roles in events connected with a weapons raid last April on a

Jakarta – Supporters and opponents of the creation of Central Irian Jaya province barbecued two pigs in a traditional ceremony on Thursday in the town of Timika, Papua province, to mark

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, New York – President Megawati Soekarnoputri says foreigners have been helping rebels in troubled provinces Papua and Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam to fight for indepen

Dr Laurence Sullivan is a British lawyer who's been working on Indonesia's current Special Autonomy Law for the restive, but resource-rich province of Papua.

Robert Go – Decentralisation has resulted in dubious enterprises in Kutai Kartanegara and strange regulations in various parts of the archipelago.

Jakarta – A pro-independence activist Saturday denounced a government plan to quell separatist sentiment in Indonesia's easternmost province by setting up a local legislature, saying th

Kurniawan Hari and Syaiful Amin, Jakarta/Yogyakarta – The controversial division of Papua, which sparked deadly violence in Mimika regency last week, has been blamed on the political el

The premature declaration of Central Irian Jaya province by six regents together with the speaker of the regional parliament on Saturday has given rise to suspicion that the division of

Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – In the aftermath of the violent clashes between Papua citizens as a result of the creation of the new province of Central Irian Jaya, Papua students in Yog

Papua/Jakarta – Police in Timika, Papua have detained as a suspect, a man identified only as LS and questioned seven others for alleged roles in bloody clashes over the controversial cr

Muridan S. Widjojo, Jakarta – The public has again apparently been taken by surprise by the popular uprising in Papua, this time in Timika.

Jakarta/Papua/Denpasar – Experts have finally begun to step up criticism of the government for violating its own laws on Papua, saying that it would only spark further legal uncertainty

Neles Tebay, Pontifical University of Urbaniana, Rome – The controversial plan to divide Papua into three provinces was delayed on the heels of the fatal clashes following the announcem

The death toll in several days of clashes in Indonesia's Papua province has risen to four, police said after the unrest prompted the central government to shelve controversial plans to

Jakarta – Chief of the National Defence Force (TNI) General Endriartono Sutarto has said his side will not yet launch a military operation in anticipation of possible security disturban

Police reinforcements were being flown to the town of Timika in Indonesia's Papua province following three days of street clashes in which three people died and dozens were injured.

Jayapura/Jakarta – Pressure mounted on Tuesday for the administration of President Megawati Soekarnoputri to retract its decision to partition Papua into three provinces, following dead

The death toll from three days of clashes in Indonesia's Papua province has risen to three and more than 50 have been injured, hospital staff said.

Jakarta – Following fatal clashes between opponents and supporters of the establishment of Central Irian Jaya province, the government has come under pressure for its decision to partit

Jakarta – The Indonesian government has cited the armed separatist movement in Papua as one of three threats against the perpetuation of the nation's existence within the Unitary State

Timika – Two people have been killed and 18 wounded as rivals clashed with arrows and stones over the creation of a new province on Indonesia's remote Papua island, witnesses and police

Kornelius Purba, Jakarta – People in Papua and Aceh need to learn from Americans about the proper way of "reading" their leaders' lips.

Buried somewhere in the lengthy, state-of-the-nation speech by the President, made on August 15 to the House of Representatives, was a casual reference to the situation in Papua.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The central government moved closer to creating a West Irian Jaya province in Papua on Monday, despite lingering controversies over the plan to split the

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Unlike the conflict-plagued province of Aceh, the central government does not have any immediate plans to impose martial law to wipe out the independence

Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Security and Political Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono reiterated here on Wednesday that there is no place for separatist movements in the country –

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) has found strong indications of the involvement of its own members in a recent burglary at the Wamena military district's arsenal

Dean Yates, Jakarta – A decision by Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri to split restive Papua into three provinces has created serious tension and could spark violence, a respec

Jakarta – The Indonesian provinces of Aceh and Papua, as well as Ambon city in Maluku province, are still closed to foreign researchers for security reasons, an official said on Friday.