Jakarta – Leaders of the pro-independence movement in Indonesia's easternmost province of Irian Jaya said Wednesday that President Abdurrahman Wahid had not objected to their bid for independence.

Jakarta – Controversy over recent comments by President Abdurrahman Wahid that certain political figures stirring trouble to destabilise his presidency will be detained has rounded off today with some denials, some confirmations and yet more fodder for denials and confirmations.

Jakarta – The publication in Gatra magazine this week of a list of prominent figures from NGOs, business and past and current governments who have allegedly sought to discredit the President and destabilise his presidency has stirred up immense interest, not least from those on it.

Jakarta – Recent comments by the President that he will soon detain certain politicians who are fanning the flames of national disintegration in order to destabilise his presidency have created considerable confusion and controversy.

Dili – United Nations police have opened investigations into three more recent discoveries of human remains in East Timor, likely linked to anti-independence violence last year, a spokesman said Monday in Dili.

Associated Press in Manado – An intensive search yesterday failed to find any more survivors of a ferry disaster, as the few who were rescued described the ship's final moments.

Terry McCarthy, Jakarta – When President Abdurrahman Wahid moved into the presidential palace last October, his spirits and those of the country were riding high. After 32 years of Suharto's dictatorship and 18 months of interim rule by Suharto's former deputy B.J.

Jakarta – Three Indonesian policemen and a separatist rebel were killed when gunmen attacked a police truck in the restive province of Aceh, reports said Monday.

Andrew Marshall, Jakarta – The Newmont Minahasa Raya gold mine on Indonesia's Sulawesi island has restarted operations after protesting locals were persuaded to end a blockade of the site, Newmont said on Monday.

Vaudine England – Reza Pahlevi's shiny namecard describes him as the head of Laskar, or the Front to Defend Islam (FPI). That means he is mentor to and organiser of thousands of young Muslim men who, fired by a militant vision of Islam, have in recent months shown an increasing readiness to demonstrate, pressure and even attack enemies of the faith.

[The following is an excerpt from an interview with Revrisond Baswir, an expert on political economy at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. He shared his views on reforms in the Indonesian Military (TNI) with The Jakarta Post's Agus Asip Hasani last week.]

New York – Stressing that a climate of fear is still a reality in the East Timorese refugee camps in West Timor, US Ambassador Richard Holbrooke questioned Indonesia's ability to control the pro-Jakarta militia.

East Timorese independence leader Xanana Gusmao's new Australian wife played a "fundamental and key" role over the past decade in the resistance to Indonesian occupation, Portugal's ambassador to Jakarta said Monday in Dili.

Kupang – Angry over a spate of recent attacks, hundreds of villagers blockaded a road in Indonesian-controlled West Timor demanding that thousands of East Timorese refugees be sent home.

Jakarta – Police in Jakarta will deploy trained marksmen in a bid to combat rising crime in the Indonesian capital, a spokesman said yesterday.

"The move is show that the police are serious in fighting crime and to make people feel psychologically safe," said police spokesman Colonel Zainuri Lubis.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Denpasar – A gathering of prominent national figures made a strong call here on Saturday for the nation to recommit to the ideals of reform by recommending an absolute break from antidemocratic institutions and practices of the past, including putting former president Soeharto and his cronies on trial.

Jonathan Head, Jakarta – After 18 months, there is still no end in sight to the conflict between Christian and Muslim communities in the Moluccas. If anything, the outbreaks of fighting are becoming more destructive, with the increasing use of modern weapons.

Jakarta – Indonesia's leading politicans sat together on the island of Bali for two days last week dissecting the pros and cons of supporting Abdurrahman Wahid, their controversial president of eight months.

Irna G.W/SWA & LM, Jakarta – The high profile gathering of academics, community leaders and politicians taking part in the National Discussion Forum (FRN), currently being held at the Kartika Plaza Hotel, Denpasar, Bali were surprised by tens of students who staged a noisy protest.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – The Indonesian police have taken another significant step towards their long awaited split from the military – restructuring their ranks and replacing their military ranks with British style ranks.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Bargaining over property and compensation claims between Indonesia and East Timor has begun in what is already proving to be a complex and sensitive process.

Dili – Rigid UN practices coupled by delays in distribution of World Bank funds are hampering progress on the reconstruction of East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello has told the UN Security Council.

Joanna Jolly, Ternate – "Before we go to the holy war field, we are trained magically. If our magic is strong and we have a true contact with God, we will not be killed or wounded," says Abubakar Wahid, the leader of Laskar Jihad, touching the row of sword cuts on his arms that, he says, prove that he is invincible.

Jakarta – Occasional sniper fire and explosions punctuated a tense calm in the riot-torn eastern Indonesian city of Ambon Friday ahead of a midnight deadline for all Indonesian troops there to report to base, residents said.

Djoko Tjiptono/FW & Lyndal Meehan, Jakarta – After the Police handed in the findings of their investigations into the 27 July 1996 attack on the offices of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), the House decided to set up a special "connectivity trial".

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid disclosed yesterday that a few days before former president Soeharto resigned on May 21, 1998, he had instructed the withdrawal of Rp70 trillion (US$8 billion) from foreign banks.

Yeoh En-Lai, Bintan – About 100 villagers resumed their protest over the takeover of their land outside the main land entrance to the Bintan Beach International Resort yesterday morning, nearly six months after 91 were arrested for blockading it.

Jakarta – At least 87 pharmaceutical factories in Indonesia have stopped operation since the crisis began to jolt the country in the second half of 1997.

Carolyn Robinson, Belu – They fled only to become refugees. Now they almost live here as inmates. In the camps that dot the countryside of this impoverished Indonesian province, about 100,000 refugees now live alongside the same militias who went on a killing and burning rampage in East Timor last September following a referendum on independence.

Richel Dursin, Bandung – In a classroom full of senior high school students, Budhi Setiawan was giving a lecture on reproductive health when a 16-year-old girl raised her hand and asked: Does kissing cause pregnancy?

Richard Borsuk, Porsea – When Suharto was president of Indonesia, corporate big shots visiting their factories in the provinces were routinely welcomed by festive banners strung above the highway.

Andrew Marshall, Jakarta – Canada's Newmont Mining Corp. said on Thursday it had evacuated women, children and non-essential staff from its gold mine in north Sulawesi after intimidation by protesting locals who have blockaded the site.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government Thursday unveiled a blueprint and timetable for a sell-off of state assets this year, including the communication giants, Telkom and Indosat.

Lindsay Murdoch, Poso – Bodies are rotting by the road or floating down rivers. Nearly all have had their heads cut off, their hands tied behind their backs. Mosques and churches are destroyed. Houses and shops are burnt to the ground. Entire villages are packing up or have already left for makeshift refugee camps, the future unknown.

Nuruddin Lazuardi/FW & LM, Jakarta – The disgraced "Timber King" Bob Hasan has reportedly amassed US$263 million from an aerial mapping project conducted by his company, PT Mapindo Parama.

[This is an opinion piece from Thursday's Asian Wall Street Journal. Mr. Van Zorge is principal and co-founder of Van Zorge, Heffernan & Associates, a political risk and government relations firm based in Jakarta.]

Jakarta – Indonesia's state audit agency said yesterday that despite government efforts to tackle graft, millions of dollars had been wasted through corruption at major state companies and agencies in the fiscal year to end-March.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Troops in the Maluku Islands are to be replaced because they are taking sides in the sectarian strife there, military spokesmen said yesterday as a night curfew was imposed. The action came a day after the declaration of a state of civil emergency in Maluku – one step short of martial law.

A Andri/SWA & LM, Jakarta – The offices of the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI) on Jl. Yos Sudarso St Km 6.8, Medan, North Sumatra, were attacked today by a mob of assailants wearing vests marked with the emblem of the Indonesian Workers Union Federation (FSPSI).

Max Lane – The 10 years to 1998 was a decade of escalating mass protest in Indonesia, climaxing in the 1998 mobilisations of hundreds of thousands of people across the archipelago which toppled the aging dictator, Suharto. But that decade will be nothing as compared to what is down the line during the next one.

Santi Soekanto – A truly democratic negotiation for solutions in Aceh should include different elements including women groups, says Jacqueline Aquino Siapno from the Philippines.

Jakarta – The World Bank country director for Indonesia, Mark Baird, has apparently taken sides with President Abdurrahman Wahid over growing criticism against the government's economic policy.

Jakarta – The government urged on Monday the police to take tougher actions against protesters to protect the operations of coal mining company PT Kaltim Prima Coal in East Kalimantan and gold mining company PT Newmont Minahasa Raya in North Sulawesi.

Dili – The United Nations has ruled out sharing executive power with East Timorese leader Xanana Gusmao in the lead-up to full independence for the UN-administered territory, according to a document obtained Tuesday.

Dili – Catholic Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, East Timor's spiritual leader, has written to the UN administration and foreign health aid groups demanding a stop to the use of "artificial" family planning methods in the territory.

Darwin – East Timor wanted a maritime boundary with Australia at the midpoint between the two countries, putting key petroleum projects in East Timorese waters, spokesman on Timor Gap issues for the National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT) Mari Alkatiri said on Monday.

Peter Alford – "The criticism of us has been varied and I would say only partly justified ... at no time in history has a country been totally rebuilt in six months or a year," so Jean Cady, deputy chief of the UN Transitional Authority in East Timor (UNTAET), dryly notes.

A Andri/Swastika & LM, Jakarta – Representatives of Batak Toba tribe in North Sumatra have urged the government to immediately close down PT Inti Indorayon Utama to avoid further conflict with local people.

Vaudine England – Her father helped found the country and remains a symbol of freedom to many. After a childhood of privilege she chose to enter politics, daring to stand up to the dictatorial whims of her father's successor.

Maryadi/Swastika & LM, Jakarta – Accused of corruption, incompetence and of being a remnant of the old regime, West Kalimantan Govenor, Aspar Aswin, only has to wait till 28 June when the provincial legislature will decide whether to accept his annual accountability speech.