Jakarta – Three generals, allegedly involved in quashing a 1984 riot in Jakarta when scores of Muslim militants died, have been identified by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas Ham) and will be summoned for questioning.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) – a watchdog body that monitors abuses involving corruption, collusion, and nepotism (KKN) – commented that President Wahid has not yet significantly combatted corruption in Indonesia.

Jakarta – An armed mob yesterday torched a market in Jayapura, the capital of Indonesia's eastern province of Irian Jaya, after a youth was stabbed by migrant traders, police said.

"The Entrop market was burned to the ground this morning but the fire has now been put out," said Sergeant Major Bahar from the Irian Jaya police headquarters.

Michael Richardson, Jakarta – After sidelining the military and consolidating democracy in Indonesia, a country long used to authoritarian rule, the government of President Abdurrahman Wahid is under increasing pressure to speed economic reform efforts or risk losing the fragile gains in stability it has achieved.

Jakarta – Police found the remains of at least 34 foetuses yesterday at a burial site on the southern outskirts of Jakarta.

Police forensic expert Mun-Iem Idris said the foetuses, between three and seven months old, were believed to have been buried not far below ground-level in the past few months by a team of illegal abortionists working in the area.

Jakarta – Three hundred East Timorese crossed the border to return home from West Timor yesterday, a week before Jakarta cuts off all assistance to the tens of thousands of refugees still holed-up in camps in West Timor, an official said.

Jakarta – Indonesia's General Elections Commission (KPU), plagued by allegations of corruption, has elected a presidium to replace its chairman, retired General Rudini, who resigned recently for health reasons.

Jakarta – The people of Aceh are planning to hold an all-Aceh congress next month to seek a peaceful settlement to the problems of the troubled Indonesian province, organisers said on Wednesday.

Jakarta – Thirty years after the military dealt with a communist threat, the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) – the country's highest authority on Islam – is pressing the government to maintain the 34-year-old ban on the ideology and its teachings.

Makassar – President Abdurrahman Wahid yesterday said he supported a plan for the construction of three new naval bases – in Sorong, Sumatra and Java – to better assure security in this archipelago nation.

Jakarta – Ex-president Soeharto's children were under siege yesterday as son Bambang Trihatmodjo was questioned by state prosecutors while a company controlled by daughter Siti 'Tutut' Hardiyanti Rukmana faced a lawsuit filed by state toll road operator PT Jasa Marga.

Jose Manuel Tesoro, Jakarta – "Indonesian politics these days is like a Chinese movie," says a disgruntled Indonesian former civil servant. If one imagines vengeful Chinese martial artists in combat, each threatening retribution on the other's descendants, one does indeed approach the petty vindictiveness and vicious skirmishes that now dominate Jakarta's elite politics.

Melbourne – Prime Minister John Howard today responded to overtures from Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid by praising Mr Wahid's leadership and democratic principles.

"I admire the courage that he's displayed in the time that he's been the president," Mr Howard said, after Mr Wahid reportedly spoke of a desire "not to leave him [Mr Howard] out in the cold".

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – In a stunning reversal, Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid has praised the Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, for his "strength" in sticking to his controversial views on Asia and offered to build a new relationship with Australia.

Jakarta – Indonesian share prices, which fell 1.6 percent this week, are expected to remain flat next week due to a lack of positive sentiment and the market's disappointment with the announcement of the winner of PT Astra International's bid, analysts said Friday.

Jakarta – Calls for President Abdurrahman Wahid not to ratify the controversial state security bill continued on Thursday with the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) officially sending a letter requesting a review of the bill.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – The Indonesian government's attempts to negotiate Acehnese demands for independence or autonomy will be fruitless unless violence in the province decreases, say human-rights groups.

Banda Aceh – Unidentified groups burned 11 school buildings in North Kluet in South Aceh in early hours on Wednesday, leaving Rp 1.8 billion in losses, police said.

United Nations – The United States, Britain and other Security Council members have urged Indonesia to keep its pledge to disarm militias that continue to attack East Timor and to end army support for the militia.

Karen Polglaze, Jakarta – A team to be set up to pursue the investigation of massive human rights violations in East Timor last year has already drawn criticism over its composition and focus.

Banda Aceh – At least six civilians have been killed or found dead this week in the Indonesian province of Aceh which has been wracked by fighting between separatists and soldiers, police and hospital sources said Wednesday.

Andrew Marshall, Jakarta – Indonesia's plans to give regions more control over their finances are at the heart of the country's efforts to hold its disparate provinces together. But wrongly handled, they could blow its economy apart.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid has ordered a shake-up of the country's official news agency, Antara, removing its editor-in-chief and demanding it be more independent.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government said it would investigate the alleged embezzlement of some 117 billion rupiah (S$23.4 million) by the General Elections Commission (KPU) during last year's polls.

Dili – The success of East Timor's struggle to become an independent country is crucial in promoting stability throughout neighboring Indonesia, a visiting senior US official said Tuesday.

Dili – The small, unassuming office of the CPD-RDTL (Council in Defence of the Democratic Republic of East Timor) in Balide belies the debate that is brewing over the restoration of the independence which was declared by Fretilin on November 28, 1975.

Vanya Tanaja, Dili – Frustration and discontent spilt over into another demonstration here on March 7 as 300 job seekers gathered outside the offices of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor. The job seekers alleged collusion and nepotism in the appointment of local UNTAET workers, an allegation strenuously denied by the UNTAET human resources department.

Jon Land – The recent spate of pro-integration militia incursions along the western border of East Timor highlights the failure and unwillingness of the Indonesian government to disarm its militia gangs in West Timor.

Associated Press in Jakarta – Fresh violence broke out between Christians and Muslims in North Maluku killing five people and injuring dozens more, news reports said on Wednesday.

May Sari, Surabaya – One thousand five hundred workers at PT Surabaya Meka Box in East Java, Indonesia, began a strike on February 21 to protest against the dismissal of three colleagues who were representing workers in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.

Pip Hinman – Since his election five months ago, the new president of Indonesia, Abdurrahman Wahid, has managed to create the impression that his is a people-friendly government. But how true is this?

The following is abridged from a statement by MUHAMMAD NAZAR, chairperson of the presidium board of the Aceh Referendum Information Centre (SIRA), to Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid, dated March 5. Violence and human rights violations by the state, through its military, are still in progress in Aceh.

Pip Hinman – Roger Smith, an Australian who works for the American Centre for International Labor Solidarity, which is funded by the US government and the AFL-CIO, has been threatened with deportation from Indonesia. His "crime" was to liaise with and report labour movement activities there.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Many cite law enforcement as the key to structuring a better way of life in Indonesia. But Indonesia's judicial system, one of the backbones of law enforcement, has yet to show any signs of change. Too often people claim that money, not the law, is the determining factor in legal decisions.

Susan Sim, Jakarta – The crew of a Dutch-owned vessel with links to the Habibie family is expected to go on trial in Batam today for allegedly smuggling sand out of the Indonesian island for a multi-million-dollar reclamation project in Singapore.

Lincoln Wright – The United States freighted state-of-the-art intelligence equipment directly to Canberra during the East Timor crisis, providing Australia with vital information about the Indonesian army and the militia groups that opposed independence.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – The chairman of Indonesia's National Business Development Council, Mr Sofyan Wanandi, has the task of harnessing business to invest in Indonesia, but concedes that conditions are not yet ideal.

Vaudine England – President Abdurrahman Wahid's latest salvo in his battle to keep rebellious Aceh as part of Indonesia is a pledge to investigate the alleged beating of 20 villagers last Friday, just one day after a ground-breaking attempt for peace talks.

Jakarta – Finance minister Bambang Sudibyo said on Monday that 120 state-owned companies suffered combined financial losses of Rp 47.65 trillion (US$6.39 billion) last year.

Associated Press in Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid said on Tuesday that fighters of the separatist Free Aceh Movement group (GAM) could join the Indonesian military following a peaceful settlement of the civil war in the oil-rich region.

Jakarta – Some 100 airport employees went on strike at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Monday demanding national flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia restore their status as government employees within the airline.

The move did not disrupt Garuda's flight schedules. The strike began at 4am, the beginning of the company's first working shift of the day.

Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Dili – UN peacekeepers have concluded that the Indonesian military has been involved in a recent spate of attacks by paramilitary units across the increasingly tense border separating newly independent East Timor from Indonesian- controlled western Timor.

Mark Dodd – Five ex-militiamen who crossed into East Timor from Indonesia have been arrested by New Zealand United Nations peacekeepers and face murder charges related to last year's post-ballot violence.

Jakarta – The government has scrapped the controversial retroactive clause from the human rights bill and proposed that past human rights violations be tried in an ad hoc tribunal.

Terry McCarthy, Dili – The woman in black is waiting for him. Xanana Gusmao, East Timor's poet-revolutionary and de facto leader, is working his way through a crowd of admirers. When he reaches her, she throws her arms around him and sobs uncontrollably on his shoulder.

Xanana Gusmmo, East Timor's de facto leader, discusses the past and looks to the future. John Stanmeyer/Saba for Time. An enthralled crowd greets Xanana Gusmao, making his first visit to Oecussi, a remote East Timorese enclave.

Jakarta – Political observers here are speculating that rogue elements inside the military are behind the recent wave of "political terror" launched against the nation's legislators.

Vaudine England – History is becoming one of the hottest topics in Indonesia, with President Abdurrahman Wahid paying visits to former presidents, dissidents and alleged communists while the national human rights body opens inquiries into a range of recent traumas.

Jakarta – Some 10,000 East Timorese repatriated by international agencies have returned to refugee camps in Indonesia because of uncertainties at home, including food shortages, a minister has said in Jakarta.

Jakarta – Several foreign investors and buyers may pull out of contracts with Indonesian plywood producers over escalating conflicts between timber companies and local people in Kalimantan, a report said yesterday.