Decisions about immigration policy must be made independently from concerns about our relationship with Indonesia.

Rendi Akhmad Witular, Jakarta – Despite the declared wide-ranging crackdown on corruption, Indonesia remains a haven for money launderers lured by rampant opportunities.

Weak law enforcement, a notoriously slack bureaucracy and the recent slowdown in the drive against money laundering have contributed to a rise in the number of suspicious financial transactions.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – The country's state-owned-enterprise (SOE) sector is still in poor shape, with its overall financial performance in 2005 only showing a slight improvement over the previous year.

Benget Simbolon Tnb., Jakarta – Most regencies and municipalities are still lagging in creating attractive investment conditions five years after the regional autonomy law gave them greater power to manage their economic affairs.

The World Bank, the coordinator of the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI), has again reminded the government of the vital importance of reform for the generating of sustainably high economic growth.

Jakarta – The House of Representatives should drop its deliberations of the controversial pornography bill because it is dividing the country, says a coalition of activists against the legislation.

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar – Last week was a rough one for jihadis in Indonesia. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration launched a long-overdue comprehensive campaign against violent Islamic extremists.

Rendi Akhmad Witular, Jakarta – The uncovering last year of suspicious financial transactions involving the bank accounts of 15 police officers is believed to be only the tip of a corruption iceberg of monumental proportions that is slowly sinking whatever credibility the national force retains.

Rendi Akhmad Witular, Jakarta – As a world heavyweight in corruption, Indonesia may be a haven for novice corruptors and white-collar criminals around the world to learn how to launder money derived from illicit sources.

Jakarta – The South Jakarta District Court ruled Monday that a decision to drop graft charges against former president Soeharto was invalid, and ordered the case reopened.

"I hereby declare that the decision of the Attorney General's Office in stopping the prosecution of the case against Haji Muhammad Soeharto on May 11 is illegitimate," Judge Andi Samsan Nganro decreed.

Makassar – Former president Megawati Soekarnoputri challenged critics Saturday to prove accusations that the political party she leads, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), had been infiltrated by communists.

M. Taufiqurrahman and Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Soccer fans glued to televisions, anxiously awaiting the opening match between Germany and Costa Rica received an unexpected shock Friday night, when former president Soeharto's daughter Titiek appeared as the show's host.

Jakarta – In a rally attended by thousands of people, religious leaders reaffirmed their allegiance to the state ideology Pancasila in a show of solidarity to counter a growing Islamic radicalism.

Natalie O'Brien – The scheduled release this week of Abu Bakar Bashir, alleged spiritual leader of the extremist group Jemaah Islamiah, could spark a fresh round of terror strikes.

Rohan Gunaratna, head of the International Centre for Terrorism and Political Violence Research, said the early release of Bashir on Wednesday would send a dangerous message to terror groups.

Jakarta – An Indonesian judge has ruled that the dropping of a long-running corruption case against former dictator Suharto was illegal and ordered the case reopened.

It is no secret that public trust toward police has been falling, and the recent threats and the version of terrorism carried out by groups claiming to represent certain ethnicities and religions have apparently made things worse.

A hero's welcome awaits Australia's nemesis, Abu Bakar Bashir, the cleric convicted for blessing the Bali bombing, when he is freed on Wednesday after 251/2 months in an Indonesian jail.

Sudimoro – Cramped in a single tent sheltering 41 people, survivors of last month's Indonesian earthquake at this hamlet complain they receive only one meal a day with assistance still slow to fully flow here two weeks after the disaster.

Veronica Kusuma, Jakarta – The United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva is scheduled to begin its session on June 19. This session will mark an important step in the human rights struggle around the world.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Most governors, mayors and regents who have come to power in direct regional elections across the country received less than 50 percent of the popular vote, a recent study says.

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Rendi Akhmad Witular, Jakarta – The government and legislators have agreed to revise the 1985 law on the freedom to organize to allow the disbanding of hard-line organizations deemed to have disrupted security and public order, the home minister said Friday.

Jakarta – Citing the 1979 Iranian Revolution as a model for change, a group of opposition politicians has launched a national movement to counter what it believes is increasing foreign influence in national politics.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The government has issued a warning to members of hard-line groups in the country: You will face the full weight of the law if you promote unruly radicalism or are involved in acts of terror.

RR Ariyani, Jakarta – It is estimated that the growth of the real sector will remain stagnant this year. In addition to the continuing high interest rate, there is not yet internal restructuring from the real sector itself.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Environmentalists say the removal of six billboards, which welcomed visitors to the "city of pollution", comes as a major setback for the Jakarta administration's clean air campaign.

Councillor Mukhayar, who is also deputy chairman of Commission D for environmental affairs, said he felt let down by the city administration.

Jakarta – The second edition of Indonesian Playboy, which hit the streets Wednesday, is not opposed by the nation's Press Council but hard-line Islamic groups are threatening street demonstrations until the magazine is shut down for good.

When the former prime minister Paul Keating produced a bilateral security treaty with Indonesia in 1995, his conservative opponents thought he had gone troppo.

Benget Simbolon Tnb., Jakarta – Businesspeople normally state that the quality of local governance and institutions is the principal factor that helps determine whether they will invest in a particular region.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Human rights activists called on the government Wednesday to publicly account for its six-month security operation in conflict-scarred Central Sulawesi, which will end this month.

Sri Wahyuni, Yogyakarta – Life was already difficult for residents of the two remote hamlets in the parched hills of Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta, but it took a turn for the worse on May 27.

Jakarta – Six billboards that welcomed visitors to the "city of pollution" were removed by officials Wednesday, just days after they were put up for World Environment Day on Monday.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – After 26 episodes of mocking and lampooning the country's political leaders, the groundbreaking political satire Republik Benar-Benar Mabok (Truly Drunken Republic) has been taken off the air. Monday night was the show's last episode.

Zakki Hakim, Jakarta – A second edition of Playboy hit the streets of Indonesia on Wednesday as the local publisher moved its offices to Bali island, two months after Islamic hard-liners threw rocks at its Jakarta offices following the magazine's debut.

Bandung – Thousands of people from 40 Muslim organizations grouped in the Alliance of Muslim Followers rallied in the West Java provincial capital Bandung on Tuesday in support of the controversial pornography bill.

James Balowski, Jakarta – The official death toll from the massive earthquake that struck densely populated Yogyakarta and parts of Central Java on May 27 now stands at more than 6200, with more than 46,000 people injured – 33,000 seriously.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Most Indonesians know little about the State Ministry for the Environment and about a fifth are unaware such an office even exists, a recent survey shows.

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) today urged Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to promote justice and reform, not the Indonesian military, when he visits Jakarta Tuesday.

Paul Eckert, Jakarta – Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld hailed restored US military ties with Indonesia, but was told that America was seen as "overbearing" when it appeared to be pushing its anti-terrorism policies on others.

Yuli Tri Suwarni and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Bandung/Jakarta – Government underfunding is to blame for the high number of fatal accidents on the state rail network, PT Kereta Api's (PT KA) management and workers say.

Jakarta – Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid's faction of the conflict-ridden National Awakening Party (PKB) is the legitimate face of the political group, a court here ruled Monday.

Yogyakarta – Dozens of aid trucks laden with rice remained blocked in government depots on Tuesday due to bureaucratic bottlenecks, angering Indonesian earthquake survivors struggling to rebuild their shattered lives.

Jakarta – Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso said Monday he was happy to meet with police to find a way to disband groups that justified acts of aggression with religion or ethnicity.

Indonesia's consumer confidence improved a notch in the first quarter of this year, compared to the previous quarter, with more than 20 percent of respondents in a recent survey believing they are doing better.

The Roy Morgan Indonesian Consumer Confidence Rating was 107.8, up 2.6 points from 105.2 in the final quarter of last year.

Bantul – Indonesian authorities have revised down the death toll from the Java earthquake to nearly 5,800, as new aid supplies helped survivors move forward on the long road to recovery.

Michael Perry, Yogyakarta – Aid is now flowing to tens of thousands of survivors of Indonesia's earthquake but shelter remains a critical problem, the United Nations said on Monday, as Jakarta revised down the disaster death toll.

Jakarta – The ongoing campaign to revitalize the state ideology, Pancasila, has put some Muslim hard-liners, currently working to turn Indonesia into an Islamic state, on the defensive.

It turns out, however, that leaders of the groups say that they too accept Pancasila – but they have the right to interpret its meaning the Islamic way.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Flash floods, landslides, poisonous air, polluted water and other catastrophes haunting millions of Indonesians are the logical consequences of the country's ineptitude in preserving its ecological balance, say environmental activists.

Rendi Akhmad Witular, Jakarta – Investor confidence in the country's economy may further dwindle as the government and lawmakers are showing no sense of urgency about completing the deliberation of key bills related to economic reform, even as time is running out.

Jakarta – Three private groups of lawyers and activists have filed suit against the Indonesian attorney general's office for dropping a long-running corruption case against ailing former dictator Suharto.

Jakarta – House of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono has officially asked the government to drop a plan to revise the 2003 labor law, which stirred nationwide protests last month.