Community and business leaders on the Indonesian island of Bali have asked their local parliament to seek greater autonomy within Indonesia.
The Indonesian Observer newspaper said the proposal, citing Bali's religion and its status as a tourist magnet, was made at a meeting of the leaders of the local parliament's representative faction.
Severin Carrell – Tony Blair is to resume the sale of Hawk jets and other arms to Indonesia by lifting a Europe-wide embargo imposed during the East Timor crisis. Whitehall sources say the Prime Minister and Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary, are expected to vote to allow renewed arms sales to Indonesia at a Council of Ministers meeting in Brussels next week.
Daniel Cooney, Jakarta – Indonesia's president ordered a major shake-up of the military and bureaucracy Thursday, replacing an armed forces' spokesman who had challenged his authority and appointing a new head of military intelligence.
The bureaucratic shake-up in Jakarta included the firing of the chief spokesman for the armed forces, Maj. Gen. Sudradjat.
Rin Hindryati – Indonesian ad agencies say their business is heating up, thanks to improving consumer demand and a strong holiday season. And foreign multinationals are among the big spenders.
Jakarta – Over 400 East Timorese who fled their violence-ravaged homeland following the August 30 self-determination ballot have died from various diseases in their refugee camps throughout West Timor in Indonesia.
Peter Symonds – Continued intense fighting between Christian and Muslim groups in the Indonesian provinces of Maluku and North Maluku is fueling religious antagonisms in other parts of the archipelago and threatens to open up divisions within the fragile "national unity" government of President Abdurrahman Wahid.
Michael Shari, Jakarta – Indonesia is preparing to take stern measures to regulate its debt-plagued financial system. The new government of President Abdurrahman Wahid plans to audit large military expenditures, punish violators of toughened regulations, and raise capital targets for state banks, according to a confidential government document obtained by Business Week Online.
Reuters in Jakarta – Separatist leader Thom Beanal says Indonesia's eastern Irian Jaya province could be independent by 2003 but freedom may have a bloody price, as it did in East Timor.
Mr Beanal said yesterday separatists planned to convene a congress later this year to map out a strategy for independence, which they want to achieve through dialogue with Jakarta.
Jakarta – Thousands of people attended a ceremony to hoist the separatist Free West Papua flag in a town in Indonesia's easternmost province of Irian Jaya, a report said here Tuesday.
Agence France Presse, Jakarta – The central bank may have violated procedures relating to US$11 billion worth of emergency liquidity for debt-ridden banks during the Asian financial crisis, according to an audit report.
Associated Press, Baucau – Gang warfare has broken out in East Timor's second largest city leaving several people injured, UN officials said on Tuesday.
For the past two weeks, gangs of youths have fought pitched battles in Baucau, 110km west of the capital, Dili, vying for control of city's streets, said Sergey Lashin, chief of the UN's police force in East Timor.
Dili – A piece of cardboard torn from a Tiger beer carton covers the small beef satays (kebabs) to help them smoke on Emilio Gomes' grill.
They used to sell for 300 rupiah (40 cents) each stick but a 66 percent price hike has pushed the cost to 500 rupiah a skewer.
John Martinkus, Kupang – Exiled pro-Indonesian militia leader Eurico Gutteres who was widely blamed for the destruction of Dili wants to negotiate a return to East Timor for himself and his men.
"I want to return but it's not that easy," Gutteres told AAP from a safe house in Kupang, West Timor, where the leader of the feared Aitarak militia is planning his next move.
Vaudine England, Jakarta – Hundreds of charred and rotting Muslim corpses are being bulldozed into mass graves on the North Maluku island of Halmahera, say aid workers, police and military sources. "It is difficult to count the bodies ... they were torched and burnt by unidentified people," said Mursal Amal Tomagola of Medical Emergency, a Muslim aid group.
Andrew West – An Australian Federal Police officer could face charges after revealing the truth about the bloodbath in East Timor to Australia's Parliament.
Carmel Egan, Dili – Murder, rape and torture erupted on the East Timorese capital's streets as soon as the historic referendum was declared a victory for independence on September 4, and the killing and looting continued even after Australian-led Interfet troops arrived on September 20.
Marianne Kearney – A week after the East Timorese voted overwhelmingly for independence and hundreds of journalists and observers fled, one thing was obvious. The violence engulfing this half-island wasn't just the work of a ragtag group of pro- Indonesian militia, but rather reflected a highly organized campaign.
Associated Press in Jakarta – At least six people were seriously injured in a gun battle between security forces and separatist rebels in the strife-torn Aceh province, witnesses said on Monday.
A local journalist said soldiers opened fire on a group of rebels in the town of Lhoksukon in north Aceh, about 1,750km northwest of Jakarta on Sunday.
Jakarta – The office of Indonesia's Minister for State Enterprises said fertiliser company PT Pupuk Kaltim, coal mining company PT Bukit Asam and plantation operators PTPN II and IV are among the state companies to be privatized this year.
David Lamb, Banda Aceh – Emboldened by East Timor's breakaway, the people of Aceh have embarked on a dangerous journey that could determine the fate of Indonesia itself. It is a passage, born of the collective memory of military abuses and broken promises, that is leading this bloodied province to one of three extremes: war, autonomy or independence.
Chris McCall, Jakarta – Mounting violence between Christians and Moslems in Indonesia's eastern spice islands threatens to set off a chain of religious unrest nationwide unless handled with utmost urgency.
But the shaky government in Jakarta seems unable to take the firm steps needed to stop the violence, political analysts say.
Nancy-Amelia Collins and Agencies in Jakarta – Tens of thousands of Muslims demonstrated in Jakarta yesterday to demand a holy war against Christians in the violence-torn Maluku Islands.
Tim Dodd, Jakarta – Mr Soeharto's son-in-law and former army general Mr Prabowo Subianto has returned to Indonesia openly for the first time since he left Indonesia in disgrace in 1998.
Retno Heriwati, Sumberkerto – Deep in the remote jungles of Indonesia's East Java a mysterious spate of ninja-style murders has prompted a local Moslem group to take the law into its own hands.
Annie White: A top East Timorese official has accused Australian aid groups and businesses of profiteering in East Timor. The secretary-general of Timor's socialist party Avelino De Silva sits alongside Xanana Gusmao and Jose Ramos Horta at the National Consultative Council, Timor's de facto government.
Shoeb Kagda, Jakarta – Whichever way one looks at the issue, Indonesia's new leadership is in no-man's land when trying to deal with the massive energy and gas contracts endorsed by the former Suharto government.
Sam de Silva, Dili – About 400 people marched Wednesday from the office of protest organsier, the Socialist Party of Timor (PST) to the gates of the UNTAET headquarters to protest for the rights of the East Timorese people. The PST are linked to and supported by the Australian-based Democratic Socialist Party.
Joanne Collins, Dili – East Timor is likely to count Indonesia, its old and often brutal master, as its top trade partner as the devastated fledgling nation strives to rebuild, the United Nations and World Bank say.
Jakarta – The country's property sector is predicted to show a healthy growth in 2001 if the economy continues to be on the right track to recovery.
Property observer Panangian Simanjutak said the property sector would grow 4.5% this year and 7% in 2001. Last year the sector still suffer a contraction of 10%.
Agencies in Jakarta and Ambon – Muslim students yesterday threatened a holy war against Christians unless the Government stems sectarian clashes in the eastern Maluku islands that have left more than 700 dead in two weeks.
Jakarta – Some 600 students grouped in the Indonesian Muslim Student Action Union (KAMMI) protested outside the vice presidential palace on Wednesday, demanding Megawati Soekarnoputri be held responsible for the prolonged sectarian unrest in Maluku.
They accused the Vice President of being sluggish in her attempts to solve the strife which began a year ago.
Jakarta – A local Muslim group has accused an Australian gold mining company of involvement in the Muslim-Christian bloodshed in eastern Indonesia's North Maluku islands, the state Antara news agency said Thursday.
Tim Dodd, Jakarta – How long can the general stay on top? From the Soeharto era, which ended in May 1998, through to the beginning of the Wahid presidency, General Wiranto is the only one of Indonesia's political players to continuously maintain a senior role in the Indonesian Government.
Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid installed on Wednesday two veteran government critics, who are also close associates of his, as top aides, amid mounting criticism of the effectiveness of his government.
Abdurrahman installed Marsilam Simajuntak as Cabinet secretary and Bondan Gunawan as secretary of government supervision in a brief ceremony at the State Palace.
Jakarta – The Indonesian Government's internal auditor has accused former President Soeharto and other government officials of receiving bribes from a consortium run by United States and Japanese companies to allow the construction of a power plant at an inflated cost.
Singapore – A noted Southeast Asian political scientist warned Thursday that Indonesia's military may overthrow the democratically-elected government of President Abdurrahman Wahid if he stumbled on the future of strife-torn Aceh province.
Dili – In the first serious protest against the UN administration running East Timor, some 200 unemployed laborers demonstrated Wednesday against the use of Indonesian workers by companies contracted by the world body.
Jakarta – Human rights activists have slammed the latest testimony made by Major General Zacky Anwar Makarim on the violence that destroyed about 70% of East Timor's infrastructure last year after the territory in August voted overwhelmingly to split from Indonesia.
Keith B. Richburg, Dili – At one of the two new floating hotels in Dili last week, it was standing room only at the upper-deck bar.
Agencies in Jakarta and Dili – A senior Indonesian army general admitted yesterday that pro-Jakarta militias and some disgruntled Indonesian soldiers had committed murder and arson in East Timor.
Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) top brass tend to blame lower-ranking officers for the mayhem in the ravaged territory of East Timor after the August 30 self-determination ballot, a member of the government-sanctioned inquiry team said on Sunday.
John Martinkus, Memo – Local residents here on the East-West Timor border remain terrified of an Indonesian attack following this week's shooting incident between Indonesian troops and Australian Interfet soldiers.
David Lamb – After more than 50 years of unchecked power and widespread human rights abuse, the Indonesian military suddenly finds itself humiliated and on the defensive, besieged by a wrathful public demanding accountability for past misdeeds.
Jakarta – The military in Indonesia's Maluku islands, where more than 300 people have died in the past two weeks, has begun seizing weapons and arresting suspects in a fresh bid to pacify warring Muslims and Christians.
"The operation to seize weapons is continuing," Second Private Abidin of the Maluku military command told AFP on Monday from the main city of Ambon.
Jakarta – A year of bloody conflict between Muslims and Christians in Indonesia's Maluku islands has left 1,134 killed, and over 2,300 injured, according to security forces.
Terry Townsend – The streets of what is left of Dili, the capital of East Timor, were packed on October 31, 1999, as tens of thousands of people joined a procession led by Catholic Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo.
[Source: Sydney Morning Herald - January 2, 2000]
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Jakarta – Indonesia's trade surplus in November slid 7.8% to $2.35 billion from $2.55 billion in October, raising concerns that it may take some time to revive non-oil exports despite the improved domestic political climate after the October presidential election.
Dili – Several dozen Muslims who fled the recent violence in East Timor returned home to a protest by East Timorese who said they are not welcome, a UN official said Friday.
Jakarta – At least 265 people have been killed in clashes between Christians and Muslims on Halmahera island in North Maluku over the last three days.
The number of casualties brought the death toll in sporadic communal clashes across the spice islands of Maluku to nearly 330 since the new wave of violence broke out on Sunday, just after a peaceful Christmas.