Vaudine England, Jakarta – Exuberant party politics is assumed to be a feature of post-Suharto Indonesia, making Parliament's censure of President Abdurrahman Wahid a heartening display of democracy in action. But a closer look at Mr Wahid's opponents suggests there are few new ideas in politics.

Jakarta – Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto on Friday maintained the Indonesian Military's (TNI) stance in responding to the ongoing political turmoil, saying that the military will not pledge its support for the President, but will only protect him.

Jakarta – Persistent opponents of President Abdurrahman Wahid seemed to keep their word on Friday to continue rallying until their demand – that the President steps down – is fulfilled.

Ambon – One policeman was killed and 17 police and marine personnel injured during overnight gunfights between the two groups, an officer said on Friday.

Vaudine England – Indonesia's politicians are eager to give the appearance that they are acting properly in following a process that could lead to the impeachment of the President. The problem is that the constitution is vague about how to go about it.

Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Jakarta – When he took office in October 1999, President Abdurrahman Wahid of Indonesia described his relationship with Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri as like an "older brother and younger sister." They squabbled. He playfully taunted her. And they patched up their differences.

Banda Aceh – Truck drivers who use the Banda Aceh-Medan road have staged a strike since last Thursday in protest against rampant illegal levies along their routes, paralyzing the local economy and distribution of food into and out of the province.

Jill Jolliffe – United Nations investigators have sought international warrants to arrest three men – including a former Indonesian Government minister – for the murders of five Australian-based journalists in East Timor more than 25 years ago.

Jakarta – Braving heavy rain, thousands of protesters swarmed the streets around the House of Representatives (DPR) on Thursday to apply pressure on President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid to resign over alleged involvement in two financial scandals.

[The following are excerpts from an interview with sociologist George Junus Aditjondro with The Jakarta Post's Ati Nurbaiti, following his one-week visit to East Timor in early January. He lectures at Newcastle University in Australia and is a long-time researcher on East Timor and other areas with pro-independence movements.]

Timothy Mapes, Jakarta – Indonesia's political crisis deepened as Parliament demanded that President Abdurrahman Wahid respond to allegations that he was involved in two multimillion-dollar corruption scandals.

Shoeb Kagda, Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid's chances of staying in power appeared bleak yesterday after the country's Parliament voted overwhelmingly to accept a special commission's report that implicated him in two financial scandals.

Mark Dodd, Aileu – The Falintil guerilla force yesterday became the world's newest internationally recognised army – the East Timor Defence Force.

Mark Riley, New York – The United Nations Security Council will consider withdrawing troops from East Timor in four months if the security situation continues to improve.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid's future looked bleak last night after Parliament's decision to censure him over corruption allegations, a vote that leaves him with few options.

Jakarta – As most factions of the House of Representatives (DPR) accepted on Thursday the recommendations of the special committee on the Bulog and Brunei scandals, thousands of supporters and opponents of President Abdurrahman Wahid took to the streets in various cities for the fourth time since Monday.

Ambon – A gunfight between disputed security personnel took place on Thursday in two villages, Lateri and Passo in Teluk Ambon Baguala district some 12 kilometers east of Ambon, forcing hundreds of residents to flee the area, an official said.

Mark Dodd, Dili – An argument over a traffic infringement sparked an ugly brawl between East Timorese university students and Portuguese riot police yesterday, underscoring growing resentment at the United Nations mission and heavy-handed police tactics.

Jakarta – Thousands of people, supporters and opponents of President Abdurrahman Wahid, are almost certain to flock to the House of Representatives building on Thursday when the House plenary session is scheduled to discuss two scandals linked to the President.

Ambon – The second round of troop withdrawal from Maluku was held on Wednesday with Battalion 403 of the Central Java's Diponegoro Regional Military Command leaving Halong Naval base, some six kilometers east of Ambon, in a ceremony led by Pattimura military chief of staff Col. Syarifuddin Sumah.

Jakarta – A number of test holes drilled in the vicinity of the home of Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra have confirmed suspicions of more underground bunkers located under the fugitive's residence, the National Police said on Tuesday.

Jakarta – H. Wartono Karyo Utomo, the father of Budiman Sudjatmiko, chairperson of the People's Democratic Party (PRD), was accused of being an ex-member of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in relation to Budiman's activities in the PRD.

From behind the bars of his prison cell, as he awaits his trial for anti-state activities, mild-mannered Aceh independence activist Muhammad Nazar is still a man Jakarta fears.

Banda Aceh – Detained chief of the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) Muhammad Nazar rejected on Wednesday the proposal to move the trial against him to Medan, capital of neighboring North Sumatra province. The activist insisted that the case be tried in Aceh.

Chaidir Anwar Tanjung/Fitri & GB, Pekanbaru – Around 300 residents of Bangun Sar village, Kampar Kiri sub district, Kampar regency, Pekanbaru, Riau province, rallied at PT Uni Seraya Group, Thursday. They claimed the company with extensive forestry concession rights in their village had failed to hand over one half of its rubber plantation to locals as previously promised.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – The conclusion from a day of rumours and threats was clear. There is nothing approaching a presidential crisis yet in Indonesia but the ground has been laid for continuing destabilisation by various groups with differing agendas.

Ben Bohane – The Free Papua Movement's spokesman in Australia, John Otto Oondawami, has outlined a new leadership structure for the guerilla movement following the arrest last week by Papua New Guinea police of one of the OPM's senior commanders, Matthias Wenda.

Max Lane – On January 23, Budiman Sujatmiko, chairperson of the People's Democratic Party (PRD) led a delegation to meet the leadership of the Nahdatul Ulama (NU), the religious organisation which Abdurrahman Wahid led before his election as president of Indonesia.

Jakarta – Military observers called on Tuesday for gradual removal of the Indonesian Military (TNI) territorial commands and demanded TNI quit its interference in the civil government's decision-making policy.

Max Lane – In an end of year "state of the nation" report, the central leadership council of the Peoples Democratic Party (PRD) described economic developments during 2000 under the government of President Abdurrahman Wahid and Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri as the subjugation of Indonesia to the neo-liberal policy dictates of the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Student demonstrators seem to be changing from a force that called the shots and pulled politicians into line into a force manipulated and supported by the same politicians whom they would have previously objected to.

Semarang – Groups of students staged rallies here on Tuesday in support of and in opposition to President Abdurrahman Wahid. The demonstrators marched along the city's streets with dozens of police officers separating them. No clashes were reported.

Jakarta – Thousands of students across the country took to the streets on Monday with divided calls but a unified claim to uphold the reform movement. No clashes were reported in the first massive head-to-head meeting between anti-Abdurrahman protesters and his supporters.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid said on Monday that Indonesia should learn from Nigeria's initiative to reduce its reliance on funding from international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Dan Murphy, Dili – Almost trembling as he awaits a decision, Joao Fernandes, barely literate and desperately poor, looked nothing like the cold-blooded killer described in the indictment against him.

Mark Dod, Maliana – A community radio station is being used to counter propaganda from pro-Indonesia militia groups and convince thousands of refugees who fled East Timor or were deported after the 1999 independence vote to return home.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Fed up with Indonesia's political paralysis and craving more stability, foreign investors are not only staying away from the country, but have also started taking their operations to other Asian countries and elsewhere.

Jakarta – Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung on Tuesday dismissed calls to dissolve the party saying that it is a lawful organization and has the right to exist in the country.

Vaudine England – After a peaceful celebration of the Lunar New Year in much of Indonesia, President Abdurrahman Wahid has further burnished his tolerance credentials by promising a greater respect of Confucianism as a religion.

Lukmanul Hakim/GB, Jakarta – Monday has seen the reemergence of mass action as a force in Indonesia's political development.

Ananda Ismail/Fitri & GB, Jakarta – A recent survey by the Public Interest Research and Advocacy Center (PIRAC) apparently reinforces the findings of other surveys: that if President Abdurrahman Wahid got a report card as if he was a student, he would not have passed.

Dili – Hundreds of UN workers in East Timor signed a petition Monday against cuts to their daily living allowances.

[The following is a compilation of four reports by Detik on the pro- and anti-Wahid demonstrations in Jakarta on Monday. Some sections of the text were edited for readability.]

Jayapura – Willem Onde, leader of the Merauke-based separatist Free Papua Organization (OPM) released on Sunday afternoon 13 of 16 hostages who were abducted by his men on January 16.

Three hostages, including two Korean nationals, were not released as Onde wanted a guarantee that his request to meet with President Abdurrahman Wahid is granted.

Christina Sagat's physical wounds have healed but this 32-year-old woman is left with the deep pain of unresolved sorrow and humiliation. There is also the pain of betrayal – how could her neighbors, with whom she had lived in harmony, turn on her, and lead her to a cruel ordeal?

Lindsay Murdoch, Ambon – Hundreds of Christians, including children and pregnant women, have been forcibly circumcised as part of a campaign by extremists to spread Islam through Indonesia's war-ravaged Maluku Islands. Victims have told The Age of multiple cuttings with the same knives and razors that left many with infections.

Jakarta – A local resident was killed and two others severely injured when a bomb went off in a crowd of residents and security personnel milling about in front of the Betoamberi district office on Friday afternoon in Baubau, Buton regency, Southeast Sulawesi.

Jakarta – The government has eased immigration regulations for Chinese travelers, who during the Soeharto regime faced discriminatory and complicated procedures.

Jakarta – Lobbying by factions inside the House of Representatives intensified on Friday, as Monday's deadline for the submission of the report of the special committee investigating the Bulog and Brunei scandals looms.

Jakarta – Anti and pro-government rallies continued on Friday ahead of the House of Representatives plenary session next Monday that will mark the delivery of the House special committee's findings concerning two financial scandals allegedly involving President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid.