Khairul Ikhwan/HD & HY, Medan – Around 5,000 people from the Anti-Communist Front Across Indonesia (Faksi) staged a rally at Benteng field, Medan, north Sumatra, Thursday. In the rally, attended by North Sumatra governor T Rizal Nurdin, they demanded the People's Democratic Party (PRD) be dissolved because it has legalised Marxism and Leninism in Indonesia.

Pip Hinman – The Indonesian government's "limited" military operation, currently underway, is not just against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), but against the majority of Acehnese who want an end to the violence and a referendum on self-determination.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's Parliament and government are close to splitting control of the Central Bank and unravelling the bank's politically independent status, a move that is set to bring a head-on collision with the International Monetary Fund.

Canberra – Australia and East Timor representatives are scheduled to resume negotiations in May on a new treaty covering the share of economic benefits from petroleum production in the so-called Timor Gap area, a spokesman for Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Wednesday.

John Gauci Sydney – On April 6, 140 people gathered in the Resistance Centre to hear speakers discuss the political crisis in Indonesia. The event was organised by Action in Solidarity

with Indonesia and East Timor. "In May 1998, Indonesian dictator Suharto was forced out but the tremendous suffering continues", said Max Lane, ASIET national chairperson told the meeting.

Jakarta – Rector of the Jayapura Institute of Science and Technology (ISTJ) Tuesday threatened to close down the school following student protests demanding his resignation.

Rector Moh. Ali Kastella said the school might be closed if students continued their protests and threat to kill the lecturers.

Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Jakarta – The 22 people suspected by the Indonesian government of orchestrating the wave of violence after East Timor voted for independence could escape conviction for crimes against humanity because the attorney general's office has missed a legal deadline for bringing the cases to trial, according to several Indonesian legal specialists and Western diplomats

Vaudine England, Jakarta – In the style of ancient Javanese royalty, Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri is refusing to say whether she would like to be president, while watching power come to her.

Jakarta – A former Indonesian economics minister under ex-president Suharto on Tuesday took the attorney general's office to court for his alleged unlawful arrest and an illegal probe.

Lawyers of Ginanjar Kartasasmita, 60, who served in several cabinet posts under both Suharto and his successor B.J. Habibie, read out their pre-trial complaints to the South Jakarta court.

Budi Sugiharto/FW & HY, Sidoarjo – Around 600 workers of PT Prima Aloi Steel, a company producing wheel rims, at Sidoarjo, East Java staged a peaceful rally at Sidorajo Municipality Legislative Council, Tuesday, asking the councillors to facilitate talks with their employer regarding annual leave and recreation funds.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Mr Andi runs a small stall selling Muslim caps on the edge of one of Jakarta's most notorious markets, Tanah Abang. Every stallholder around him is forced to pay protection money to various preman gangs, who visit their stalls on a regular basis.

Hestiana Dharmastuti/FW & HY, Jakarta – The People's Democratic Party (PRD) says the arrest of former minister of mines and energy, Ginandjar Kartasasmita for fraud by the Attorney General office, was seen as a means to threaten the Golkar party and political concession of the erratic President Abdurrahman 'Gus Dur' Wahid.

Jakarta – Indonesia's second-largest party in parliament said on Tuesday it would support Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri if she were to take over from the embattled incumbent and serve out his term.

Lindsay Jakarta – After months of indecision amid a damaging power struggle in Jakarta, Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri has finally set conditions for taking over from the besieged President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid said on Monday that the Indonesian Military (TNI) must remain vigilant and refuse to succumb to the tribulations faced as a result of the embargoes it is facing.

Sampit – The East Kotawaringin regency capital of Sampit turned into a battlefield again on Monday afternoon as police clashed with hundreds of Dayak protesters who demanded total withdrawal of Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) troops from the area.

Jakarta – The trial of last year's bombing of the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) building, which claimed 10 lives, began on Monday at the South Jakarta District Court.

Ron Moreau – Soldiers dressed in combat fatigues and black hoods would normally inspire fear in an Acehnese village. But not these commandos. As nearly a dozen fighters approach the edges of a hamlet some 30 kilometers southwest of the town of Bireun, their hoods are revealed to be jilbab-the Muslim head scarves worn by women.

Jakarta – East Timorese refugees are dying from a rapidly spreading diarrhoea epidemic in fetid camps in Indonesian-ruled West Timor, a Catholic aid group said Monday.

Dili – Manuel Carrascalao, a veteran of East Timor's 24-year struggle for freedom, was elected to head the territory's transitional legislature following last month's surprise resignation of independence leader Xanana Gusmao.

He was named speaker of the National Council after rival candidate, Nobel Peace laureate Jose Ramos Horta, withdrew from the ballot.

Enrique Soriano – The bleak panorama that unfolds on the drive from Lhokseumawe, the main town in North Aceh, to Medan is punctuated only by the dozens of armed checkpoints manned by the Indonesian army and the police.

Banda Aceh – Land transportation from Banda Aceh capital of Aceh province to Meulaboh in West Aceh has been interrupted over the last three days as unknown parties placed felled trees along the roads of the province's south and west coastal areas.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid blasted the United States Monday for its embargo on weapons sales to Indonesia and said the military would procure arms elsewhere to deal with the multiple crises threatening the country's unity.

Kusrini, Yogyakarta – Steadfast and unyielding in the face of ordeals – these are the two qualities one can find in Mardiyem, a former jugun ianfu, or comfort woman, a euphemism for a sex slave during the Japanese occupation.

Jakarta – Three policemen and six locals were killed in a clash during a police sweep for weapons in Indonesian Borneo, national Police Chief Surojo Bimantoro told reporters on Saturday.

Jakarta - A human rights commission has formally accused ten police officials in Irian Jaya are suspected of involvement in human rights abuses that took place after the Abepura incident on December 6 last year.

Jakarta – Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said on Thursday data processing was an obstacle in investigating alleged corruption cases involving conglomerates.

"There are no legal obstacles, only problems in processing data because there is so much data spread across so many institutions," Marzuki said.

Surabaya – Pledges to defend President Abdurrahman Wahid to the death continued to pour in here on Thursday, with claims that over 20,000 people were ready to die for the President in a holy war.

Palembang, South Sumatra – The provinces of South Sumatra and neighboring Jambi are urging the Ministry of Forestry and Plantations to hand over reforestation funds amounting to more than Rp 15 trillion (some US$15 billion).

Robert Go, Jakarta – The Indonesian government will step up tax-collection efforts, including the targeting of foreigners now living in the country, to boost revenues and control a mounting budget deficit.

Jakarta – Violence marred an anti-Soeharto protest held by the City Forum (Forkot) group in Central Jakarta yesterday. Police had to disperse the protesters with tear gas. Four protesters were wounded after being beaten by the police.

Stephen Romei, New York – At the risk of exposing himself to political parody, Xanana Gusmao has a simple message for the international community: Read my lips, I will not run for the presidency of East Timor.

Jakarta – An 18-year-old migrant worker said on Thursday that she had been taken hostage by a labor export company for a month because she failed to pay the compensation demanded by the firm after she was sent home by her dissatisfied employer.

Reuters in United Nations – Xanana Gusmao, the popular East Timorese resistance leader, said overnight he would not be a candidate for president when the former Portuguese colony achieves independence next year.

Jakarta – At least four people have been killed in the latest violence in Aceh, a report said Thursday, a day after the latest peace initiative in the troubled Indonesian province collapsed.

The bodies of two civilians, both with gunshot wounds, were found in separate locations in Langsa, East Aceh, on Wednesday, the province's main daily, Serambi, reported.

Sydney – East Timorese independence leader Xanana Gusmao will inevitably become his country's first president, even though he says he does not want the job, Nobel laureate Jose Ramos Horta said.

Jakarta – The government must shoulder its share of the blame for any consequences of a military deployment in restive Aceh province, a general has said quoted Thursday.

Civil disturbances in East Timor, the forthcoming elections and the resignation of Xanana Gusmco as president of the National Council dominated discussions in the Security Council today as members heard a briefing by a top United Nations peacekeeping official.

Palu – Police fired warning shots Thursday as a stone-throwing Muslim mob outside a court house where three Christians were sentenced to death for inciting a massacre and other religious violence that killed hundreds.

New York – Asking the international community to try those involved in criminal actions in East Timor is not a priority to the East Timorese at the moment, East Timorese Resistance Council's (CNRT) former president, Xanana Gusmao, said here Tuesday night.

Vaudine England – The politicians presiding over Jakarta's latest political crisis, currency tumble and perhaps national disintegration are doing so from lavish homes and luxury cars. Many attend self-promoting seminars in designer batik and shoes, sign deals with gold-tipped pens, clock up VIP jaunts to Mecca, toying with excess food and mistresses all the time.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid yesterday cast doubt on Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri's ability to run Indonesia as he fought to hold on to power.

Jakarta – The third-largest faction in Indonesia's national assembly yesterday did an about-face and called on President Abdurrahman Wahid to consider resigning if this would help to solve the country's political stalemate.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – The Marine Corps is to investigate the death of one of its own in a shootout in central Jakarta which arose after East Javanese supporters of President Abdurrahman Wahid were involved in a dispute over payment of hotel bills.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Clerics supporting Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid will decide today whether it is justifiable under Islamic law to kill those who have been attacking his presidency and attempting to unseat him.

Dili – New violence broke out along East Timor's border with Indonesia when unidentified gunmen threw grenades and fired shots at UN peacekeepers and villages in five separate clashes, officials said Tuesday.

No peacekeepers were injured in Monday's incidents. However, an East Timorese woman was wounded when attackers fired at her house.

Jakarta – Indonesia's major creditors have agreed to roll over the country's debt repayment based on an agreement in the Paris Club of official creditors, a report said on Tuesday.

Finance Minister Prijadi Praptosuhardjo said that in addition to Japan, Australia, Canada and the United States have also agreed to reschedule Indonesian debts.

Jakarta – Indonesia has admitted failure in meeting forestry protection commitments to its key donor group, the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI), weeks before a CGI meeting in Jakarta, a report said Tuesday.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Aceh could split from Indonesia within a year if the Indonesian armed forces (TNI) does not step up operations to crush the rebel movement in the restive province, a top security official said yesterday.

Indonesia's Bank Restructuring Agency (Ibra) yesterday rejected a local newspaper report that key officials, including the agency's chief, planned to resign.