Huw Watkin – Residents in East Timor's capital are turning to the Catholic Church for relief as supplies of rice and other essential foodstuffs continue to dwindle amid fears of escalating civil unrest.

Sander Thoenes, Jakarta – Madeleine Albright, US secretary of state, is expected today to offer a resumption of US military aid to Indonesia if the armed forces halt human rights abuses in East Timor and other parts of the archipelago, diplomats said.

33 students from several universities are still being held at police headquarters in Jakarta after taking part in a demonstration outside the ABA-ABI (Indonesian and foreign languages colleges) campus in East Jakarta.

A journalist from Pos Kota, Totok Irianto, 36, was injured when he was struck by a hard object. He is still under treatment in hospital.

Jenny Grant, Jakarta – Muslim students demonstrated in Jakarta yesterday demanding a holy war against Christians in Ambon. About 2,000 students massed in a central square shouting "jihad" and accusing the military and Christians of ethnic cleansing in Ambon.

Scott Burchill - President Soeharto's sudden fall from power in May last year and East Timor's impending independence together constitute Australia's greatest post-war diplomatic failure. Neither event was anticipated by Canberra: the former came as a complete surprise, the latter has been strenuously opposed for more than two decades.

Louise Williams – In a city littered with the bodies of the dead and mutilated, where the markets have been burnt to the ground, where soldiers hire out their protection services for cash, and where Christians and Muslims live barricaded behind gangs of wild, armed young men, Donny Lufki no longer believes in the law.

Jonathan Wright, Jakarta – Indonesia told the United States on Thursday it was arming and training local militias but had no interest in inciting conflict in East Timor between supporters and opponents of independence.

Jakarta – The Commission on Elections (P3KPU), popularly known as the Team of Eleven, announced on Thursday that it is recommending 48 political parties to contest in the June 7 general election.

Sander Thoenes, Jakarta – The leaders of the Justice Party put their money where their mouth is. The soft-drink cooler at party headquarters in Jakarta is unlocked, relying instead on a Koranic verse to admonish members to pay for what they take: "If you pay the exact amount you already did justice," a sign reads. "Do justice, since justice is closer to piety."

Robert Karniol – The East Timorese resistance is quietly developing a coherent policy on security during pre-and post-independence periods that could devolve from a tentative agreement reached last month by Indonesia and Portugal.

Rick Mercier – A recent wave of killings in East Timor, coinciding with a propaganda offensive proclaiming the imminence of civil war, indicates that the Indonesian military has discovered the usefulness of paramilitaries in suppressing dissent while still presenting a humane face to the world.

On February 21 Green Left Weekly's SAM KING Spoke with MARCOS DA CRUZ, the chairperson of Renetil (National Resistance of East Timor Students) Yogyakarta.

Jakarta – Troops and police fought pitched battles in the streets of Jakarta Thursday, after the security forces tried to block a march by some 2,000 students calling for Indonesian President B.J. Habibie to step down.

[The following is a preliminary transcript of an Interview with Xanana Gusmao Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now, prepared by the East Timor Action Network/US.]

Allan Nairn: Can you tell us who has created these militia groups, these paramilitaries that are now attacking civilians in East Timor?

Jakarta – The independent Team of Eleven revealed on Monday only around 60 of the 104 political parties it was examining were expected to pass screening to contest the June 7 general election.

Jakarta – The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is to focus its assistance on three poll monitoring networks considered among the most prepared in their programs.

UNDP advisor Erna Witoelar identified them on Monday as the Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP), the University Network for Free and Fair Elections (Unfrel) and the Rectors Forum.

Peter Cole-Adams – Hundreds of Australians may be involved in monitoring, administrative support and policing in East Timor within months as part of a United Nations-sponsored international effort.

Robert Garran – Australian troops, police and civilians are likely to be sent to East Timor early next year as the backbone of a UN peacekeeping force up to 2000-strong.

Jakarta – Two people were killed and a house torched in fresh violence between two ethnic groups in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan, police said Tuesday.

"Two people were killed yesterday [Monday] in Pemangkat subdistrict 30 kilometers north of Sambas at three in the morning," Sergeant Major Pranoto of Singkawang district police in Sambas told AFP.

Ambon – The riot-torn Indonesian city of Ambon was gripped by tension Tuesday, with troops posted at key trouble spots amid rumours Moslems were gearing up for a protest and the discovery of the bodies of a man and a woman stabbed to death.

Jakarta – Police arrested some 35 students taking part in demonstrations here Monday to demand a faster investigation of former president Suharto.

In one demonstration outside the forestry ministry, next to the parliament building, 35 students from the Protesting People's Action Alliance (Alarm) called for Suharto to face trial.

Christine T. Tjandraningsih, Jakarta – The Indonesian House of Representatives on Monday revoked a much-criticized law made by former President Suharto, that has been a barrier for more than a decade to amending the country's 1945 Constitution.

Jakarta – The UN secretary general's special envoy on East Timor, Jamsheed Marker, Monday said he felt fears of a civil war erupting in East Timor over an independence offer from Indonesia were ill-founded.

Jakarta – The leader of Indonesia's largest Moslem group Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) has ordered his followers to vote for the group's political party in the June election, local newspapers reported on Monday.

Jakarta – A mob of loyalists to popular Indonesian opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputi's beat up the chief of a rival state backed party which she used to lead, reports said Monday.

Jakarta – Indonesia will send 1,000 more troops to Ambon and neighbouring islands in Maluku province where more than 150 people have died in Moslem-Christian violence since mid-January, reports said Monday.

"They will reach here in a short time," Colonel Karel Ralahalu, chief of the Pattimura military command overseeing Ambon, was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Post.

Special UN troops are likely to be sent to East Timor in March to disarm pro-integration and anti-integration civilian groups. It is evident that as long as arms are in the hands of civilan groups, shooting and killings will continue.

Jakarta – Former Indonesian president Suharto is to sue popular reform politician Amien Rais and two other people for defamation, a report said Saturday

"Pak Harto (a popular appelation for Suharto) can no longer stand it, being insulted by those figures," Suharto lawyer Muhammad Assegaf was quoted by the Media Indonesia daily as saying.

Jakarta – The political party founded by independent labor leader Muchtar Pakpahan yesterday announced it will nominate opposition figurehead Megawati Soekarnoputri for the presidency.

After nearly 25 years of violent friction between Jakarta and East Timor freedom fighters, the suddenly frank dialogue between the rival sides in recent days has been remarkable. It started when President B.J. Habibie commented in late January that he would recommend to Indonesia's next legislature that East Timor be granted independence if an offer of autonomy was rejected.

Jakarta – The Indonesian authorities registered 141 Indonesian political parties in the first stage of filtering down numbers for the country's key June 7 national election, reports said Friday.

Jakarta – Community leaders from the far-eastern Indonesian province of Irian Jaya met President B.J. Habibie on Friday, some asking for independence for the resource-rich western half of New Guinea island.

But the 100-strong delegation was split, with some members instead pushing for autonomy within Indonesia instead.

Geoffrey Barker, Bali – "We have crossed the Rubicon. We are relaxed ... We have put every card on the table. There has been a sea change in the Indonesian position. We are not afraid."

Dili – Several thousand pro-independence supporters marched solemnly Thursday in East Timor's capital of Dili with the bodies of two activists who were slain in a clash.

Violence between rival groups has escalated in the former Portuguese colony since Indonesia offered last month to consider independence for the territory if the East Timorese reject an autonomy offer.

Ambon – About 700 people Friday held protests against security shootings on civilians here as Moslem-Christian violence that has so far claimed at least 18 lives entered its fourth day.

Ambon – Boats carrying hundreds of refugees left a riot-torn Indonesian town today after deadly fighting between Muslims and Christians. At least 24 people have died in unrest in the region this week, a newspaper reported.

Jakarta – After a meeting between three [government] bodies on Wednesday afternoon (24/2), the State Intelligence Coordinating Body (Bakin), the Department of Justice Political Party Registration Council (Depkeh) and the Political General Directorate of the Department of Home Affairs (Depdagri), the People's Democratic Party (PRD), has been officially registered as a political party

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Pressure is mounting on President B.J. Habibie to clarify the substance of an alleged telephone conversation with his Attorney-General over investigations into former leader Suharto's wealth, as a senior opposition figure called for a parliamentary probe which could lead to impeachment proceedings.

Karen Polglaze, Jakarta – Australia and Indonesia now shared policy positions on the troubled territory of East Timor, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said in Jakarta today.

Jakarta – Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he discussed with East Timorese leader Xanana Gusmao ways to reduce the violence in the province.

Dili – After being dogged by waves of conflict, East Timorese figures from both the pro-integration and pro-independence sides yesterday signed the Peace Declaration of the East Timorese for Peace Association (KOTBD) in Dili, witnessed by Tamrad Samuel, representing the UN Secretary-General's special envoy for East Timor, Jamsheed Marker.

Jakarta – Two pro-Indonesian East Timorese militia leaders Thursday sent a blunt warning to Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer threatening the lives of Australian diplomats and journalists.

[The following is a statement by Nobel Peace Laureate, Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta, on Indonesia orchestrated violence in East Timor.]

On 28 January 1999, Parliament adopted three laws to replace the five political laws promulgated in 1985. The laws are about the elections, political parties and the composition of the parliament, the people's consultative assembly and the regional assemblies.

[The following is a statement by the President of the CNRT, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao, Commander of Falintil on Indonesia orchestrated violence in East Timor.]

Jakarta – Once again we are being forced to shed tears of blood, but each drop of blood must motivate us to fight for peace!

Jakarta – It is truly difficult to differentiate the Suharto New Order with the Habibie "Reform" Order.

Jakarta – Shoot-on-sight orders were issued to police as the death toll in fresh violence between two ethnic groups in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan rose to five when a mob attacked a police post, reports and police said Wednesday.

Jakarta – East Timorese guerrilla leader Xanana Gusmao will be allowed to leave the Jakarta residence where he is kept under house arrest for talks on the future of his bloodied homeland, an Indonesian official said on Wednesday.

Jakarta – Minister of Defense/Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto said on Tuesday he would summon Lt. Gen. (ret.) Prabowo Subianto, former chief of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad), to question' him about a meeting at Kostrad headquarters one day after violent rioting in the capital.

Yusuf Puteh, the chair of the East Aceh Human Rights Forum (FP-HAM Aceh Timur) said his organisation believes that dozens of bodies are still lying at the bottom of Arakundo River, victims of the killings in Idi Cut on 3 February.