Jakarta – About 2,500 Acehnese Thursday forced their way into the parliament complex here to demand a referendum on self-determination in their province.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – The Indonesian President, Mr Addurrahman Wahid, has ruled out a referendum on independence for Aceh, raising fears of more violence in the resource-rich province at the tip of the island of Sumatra.

Jakarta – The Indonesian military threatened Thursday to take action against rebels in the restive province of Aceh if they lower the national flag on the December 4 separatist anniversary there, a report said.

On a November 22, US Ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Holbrooke, visited Dili, the capital of East Timor, and Atambua, an area in West Timor which hosts substantial numbers of displaced persons who have not been able to return to their homes in East Timor.

Lincoln Wright – Secret defence documents on East Timor show the Howard Government was well-informed about how the Indonesian armed forces were fomenting militia violence in the run-up to the independence ballot.

Canberra – Australia received information from a wide variety of sources on developments in East Timor but could have done nothing more than it did to pressure Indonesia to rein in militia violence, Prime Minister John Howard said today.

Mr Howard said Australia made 120 separate representations to Indonesia from the start of the year to the time of the East Timor ballot.

Sonny Inbaraj, Dili – All's not well in the urgent distribution of food and seeds in East Timor, before the heavy monsoon rains expected this week makes planting impossible and roads impassable.

Sydney – Former Indonesian military chief General Wiranto orchestrated the post-referendum militia violence in East Timor to back his own political ambitions, an Australian magazine said Wednesday.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) claims a report by state investigators that confirmed the military orchestrated recent atrocities in East Timor was clearly biased.

TNI Commander Admiral Widodo Adisutjipto yesterday told parliament the military will meet with the investigators to "clarify" the findings before following up the report.

Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) has announced that it will shortly summon General Wiranto, Minister-Coordinator for Political and Security Affairs to explain the involvement of the military (TNI and the police) in the violence and human rights abuses perpetrated in East Timor from January this year.

Marina Carman and Chris Latham, Jakarta – On November 9, we met with activists from Forkap (Women's Communication and Action Forum) at the University of Indonesia.

Margaret Allum – The federal minister for immigration, Philip Ruddock, announced on November 19 that the government has dropped its appeal against the Federal Court's September 1998 decision in the test case of Kon Tji Lay, an East Timorese seeking refugee status in Australia.

Jon Land – United Nations officials have come under heavy criticism from leaders of the National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT). In a move to reduce tension between CNRT and the United Nations Administration in East Timor, the head of UNTAET, Sergio Vieira de Mello, held "informal" talks with CNRT leader Xanana Gusmao in the town of Aileu on November 17.

Chris Latham, Jakarta – Despite torrential rain, thousands of students participated in protests here to commemorate the first anniversary on November 13 of the Semangi tragedy, named after the Semangi bridge where six students were shot dead by the military during the mass protests against the special session of the People's Consultative Assembly.

Jakarta – A catalogue of killings, torture and rape in the Indonesian province of Aceh was outlined to parliament Wednesday as an independent inquiry said it had found 5,000 cases of rights abuses.

Thousands of pro-independence West Papuans held a "birthday celebration" for leader Theys Eluay in the Sentani subdistrict of the capital, Jayapura, on November 12. Local residents say that between 3000 and 5000 people participated; Indonesian police claimed it was just 300.

Louise Williams – A key Australian intelligence source in East Timor warned more than a year ahead of September's carnage that Indonesian-backed militia units would fight a bloody "scorched earth" battle if independence was won, but his confidential reports were dismissed as "alarmist and irrelevant".

Shoeb Kagda, Jakarta – International investor confidence is slowly returning to Indonesia, with upscale commercial properties and companies in export-oriented businesses fast-becoming prime acquisition targets, sources told BT.

Jakarta – The Indonesian parliament will reject a proposal by the government to gradually lift fuel subsidies, saying it would be a burden on the nation's poor, a report said Tuesday.

Vaudine England (Jakarta) and Associated Press (Banda Aceh) – As President Abdurrahman Wahid left yesterday on another foreign trip – this time to Kuwait – Acehnese activists and investigators in Jakarta were increasingly impatient at his "inaction".

Jakarta – Tensions were running high in the strife-torn Indonesian islands of Maluku Monday with troops placed on alert after sectarian clashes left six dead and 24 injured, officials and the Antara news agency said.

Four more people were injured late Sunday when a clash broke out in the Christian-dominated Mardika district in downtown Ambon, Antara said.

Richard Holbrooke is heading to Dili as a representative of the UN, but he's carrying the baggage of a shameful past of covering up for Indonesian human rights abuses.

The irony of US Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke's visit to East Timor in the coming week will not be lost on any East Timorese whose memories go back to the 1970s.

Jakarta – Indonesia's lower house has backed President Abdurrahman Wahid's vow to pardon former strongman Suharto but only after he has been tried by a court for allegations of graft, a report said Monday.

With East Timor in a mess, what will become of the natural resources off its coast? It depends, writes Bernard Lane, on which country you speak to.

Between Australia and the former Indonesian province of East Timor there is no single maritime boundary.

Dili – Indonesia's top military brass plotted the systematic destruction of East Timor and the murder of all independence leaders should the territory vote to break from Jakarta, the country's own human rights investigators said Saturday.

Karen Polglaze, Jakarta – Rex Rumakiek knew the ballot would be rigged when the Indonesian administrators abolished the local parliament after it had approved a one man, one vote system.

It wasn't only the Indonesians. It appeared that the rest of the world was also prepared to sacrifice the rights of the West Papuan people for its own geostrategic interests.

Jakarta – A barrage of criticism was raised on Thursday in response to the Indonesian Military and National Police's proposal to impose limited martial law in Aceh, warning such a move could lead to further human rights violations.

Basilio Araujo is subdued. Over breakfast in a modest hotel in south Jakarta, the former spokesman of the East Timorese pro-integration forces is less than his usual talkative self as he contemplates the future for the defeated militias.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government on Thursday rejected a UN commission to arrive here soon to probe post-ballot human rights violations in East Timor but pledged to bring justice to anyone found responsible for the violence.

Richard Borsuk and Puspa Madani, Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid came under strong criticism in an historic parliamentary session Thursday, but he signaled that he has no plans to change his controversial policies on Aceh and other issues – and no intention of cutting back on his provocative statements.

Malcolm Brown – The Federal Government was accused yesterday of obstructing efforts by the International Commission of Jurists to obtain evidence from East Timorese evacuees in Australia about atrocities committed in their country.

Jeremy Wagstaff, Lhokseumawe – Hundreds of Indonesian migrants to Aceh have fled the province in recent days because of a terror campaign apparently conducted by the armed Free Aceh Movement.

Jakarta – Some 200 people seeking independence for Irian Jaya marched into the parliament complex Thursday as President Abdurrahman Wahid renewed his support for a referendum in Aceh province, witnesses said.

The demonstrators, both men and women, got into the complex in central Jakarta while the house was in session, but did not enter the chamber itself.

Jakarta – Scores of Indonesian students picketed the defense ministry Thursday to demand the prosecution of top officials they accuse of human rights abuses in the restive province of Aceh.

Allen Myers – "John Passant's Requiem for the Left" is the title of a peculiar article in the November issue of Workers Online, the internet magazine of the NSW Labor Council.

Passant, who describes himself as an "antiwar socialist", writes that the left has "capitulated" on the question of East Timor:

James Dunn – As horrifying details emerged about the TNI-backed militia rampage which followed the East Timor independence referendum demands have grown from within and outside the United Nations for an international investigation.

Jakarta – The House of Representatives' 11 factions have unanimously approved President Abdurrahman Wahid's request to grant amnesty and absolution to some 85 political detainees and prisoners.

Greg Torode, Washington – President Abdurrahman Wahid may have sought to cosy back up to the United States during his mission over the past three days, but Washington will be "sleeping with one eye open" in the months ahead, officials said.

Joanne Collins, Dili – East Timor spiritual leader Bishop Carlos Belo on Monday condemned UN slowness over an inquiry into abuses in the territory, saying evidence had long gone.

Jakarta – The spread of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in the country remains unknown after 12 years of efforts to trace people infected with the deadly virus, a health official said on Monday.

Joanne Collins, Manatutu – East Timorese independence leader Xanana Gusmao has launched another attack on the international effort to rebuild the ravaged territory, saying aid organisations were not co-operating with Timorese officials.

United Nations – Despite objections from Indonesia and nine other countries, the UN Economic and Social Council on Monday endorsed the call for an international commission to gather information on possible human rights violations in East Timor.

Jakarta – At least 1,000 students from various universities gathered at the Atma Jaya University campus on Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta on Saturday, commemorating the November 13 shooting incident at the nearby Semanggi cloverleaf, which killed 14 people including eight university students.

Thomas Fuller – Calls for a referendum on independence are growing louder in Indonesia's restive province of Aceh, where a demonstration last week drew hundreds of thousands of people.

Dili – Thousands of East Timorese refugees poured across the border to their homes Monday after talks among UN agencies, the Indonesian military and pro-Indonesian militia, the United Nations said here.

Jakarta – The Indonesian army's legal chief said rape and killing should not be classified as human rights violations and is calling for soldiers accused of rights abuses to be tried in military courts, according to reports here Saturday.

Amy Chew of Reuters in Jakarta – The odds on Indonesia holding on to Aceh are no better than even, and a political solution must be found to stop separatist pressure breaking the country apart, the Regional Autonomy Minister said.

Ryaas Rasyid said separatists had been mounting an effective campaign for a referendum on independence.

Dili – UN-appointed rapporteurs investigating human rights abuses in East Timor Monday described the situation as devastating and are likely to recommend an international tribunal.

Cameron W. Barr – Members of an Indonesian military unit known as Battalion 745 are the leading suspects in the execution-style murder of Monitor contributor Sander Thoenes, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

Jakarta – Demands for an East Timor-style referendum on self-determination are on the rise in the staunchly Muslim Indonesian province of Aceh after decades of violence involving soldiers, civilians and armed separatist rebels. Here are some facts about the province:

Population: 5,114,850.