While former president Soeharto's life hangs in the balance in the hospital, controversy over whether or not the government should proceed with the graft charges against him has set in. The public at large cannot accept the fact that the Attorney General's Office has decided to withdraw lawsuits against Soeharto. The Jakarta Post asked people their views on the issue.

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) today urged Congress to restore restrictions on military assistance for Indonesia in the FY 2007 Foreign Operations Appropriations bill.

Jakarta – An non-governmental alliance protecting religious freedoms reported the Religious Affairs Minister to the National Police on Monday, accusing him of defaming the Ahmadiyah sect.

Mataram/Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Tuesday a "common language" was essential in the fight against corruption as public officials remain fearful of facing prosecution for erroneous policy decisions.

Multa Fidrus and Theresia Sufa, Tangerang – Three Tangerang men were arrested Monday for planning to set up an independent state in West Java.

"State" paraphernalia and documents were found by police at the movement's Tangerang base, a modest house in Jayanti district.

Hundreds of people from various organizations gathered Tuesday at the North Sumatra provincial council building in Medan to announce the formation of the Anti-Communist Community Group.

In its founding declaration, the group promised to remain committed to the consistent implementation of the state ideology Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution.

Radical cleric Abu Bakar Baasyir, who has always denied accusations of leading regional terrorism network Jemaah Islamiyah, is due to be released from jail next month after serving 29 months for his role in the Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people.

Following is a brief look at Baasyir's time in and out of jail over the past 28 years.

Tony Hotland and Urip Hudiono, Mataram/Jakarta – President Yudhoyono confirmed the government's intention Tuesday of repaying ahead of schedule Indonesia's multibillion dollar debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which would be done in two stages and within two years.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Legislators have given qualified support to the government's plan to issue a regulation that would protect officials from prosecution for erroneous policies, after many nervous civil servants refused to make decisions.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Cheap makeup, stilettos and condoms, sometimes. Perhaps it's time to go beyond the prettified Pretty Woman stereotypes of women on the make to lift the lid on the ugly reality of Indonesia's quietly thriving prostitution industry.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – After dropping its indictment of former president Soeharto on criminal charges, the Attorney General's Office decided on Monday to build a series of civil cases against the former strongman.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had successfully distanced himself from his past association with former strongman Suharto's corrupt government. Now, he faces a historic decision that could make or break his administration's corruption-busting credibility with the masses who voted him into office on a reform platform.

M. Azis Tunny, Ambon – Despite its image as a conflict-torn city, Ambon's peaceful first direct election of its mayor last Monday suggests that its residents are politically mature.

Jakarta – Reports that more regencies and cities around Indonesia are adopting shariah-style bylaws have caused grave concern among women activists, who worry that the trend will threaten not only their rights but also the nation's integrity.

Mataram, Lombok – Some 350 teachers in East Lombok staged a protest Saturday, threatening to boycott Monday's national final test in junior high schools if the administration failed to return money cut from their salary for the past 26 months.

Patience is thin, and memory short. Year in and year out, these factors have served very well for those who resist any attempts at change since Soeharto quit the presidency eight years ago on May 21.

Jakarta – Supporters of the much-debated porn bill came out en masse in a number of cities Sunday, urging lawmakers to immediately pass it into law to improve the country's morals.

Annisa S. Febrina and Nichola Sarvangga Valero, Jakarta – This May, clothes fly from the shelves of a department store in Slipi, West Jakarta, as spring sale posters draw customers.

Eight years ago this month, clothes flew from the shelves as the mall was emptied by looters, before dozens of them were trapped and burned to death in the 1998 riot.

Chris Brummitt, Jakarta – Protesters wearing Suharto masks demanded the ailing former dictator face trial Sunday, the eighth anniversary of the massive pro-democracy demonstrations that ousted him.

[Soeharto File: Sisi Gelap Sejarah Indonesia (Soeharto File: The dark side of Indonesia's history) Asvi Warman Adam Ombak, Yogyakarta, March 2006 245 pp.]

[Yang Berlawan: Membongkar Tabir Pemalsuan Sejarah PKI (Those Who Fought: Lifting curtain on falsified history of the PKI) Imam Soedjono Resist Book, Yogyakarta, January 2006 469 pp.]

Niniek Karmini, Jakarta – Tens of thousands of conservative Muslims rallied in the Indonesian capital Sunday in support of a proposed anti-pornography bill that critics say would chip away at the country's secular traditions.

Washington – A congressional panel that funds foreign operations has proposed dropping restrictions on aid to Indonesia's military, with the panel's Republican leader saying it was time to recognize the country's dramatic democratic turnaround.

Max Lane, Jakarta – It was an amazing experience to translate the works of Pramoedya Ananta Toer, to have had to think deeply about what he wrote, to discuss with him the situation in Indonesia. I translated This Earth of Mankind, Child of All Nations, Footsteps and House of Glass in the 1980s.

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited Soeharto in the hospital Friday, saying it was his duty as the head of the state and a "humanitarian gesture" to the ailing former leader.

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was less than impressed Friday when he found his name had been spelled incorrectly in a handwritten invitation from the National Mandate Party (PAN), presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said.

Benget Simbolon Tnb., Jakarta – The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) has warned the government that enacting a new investment law and improving the macro economy would not be enough to generate sustained investment inflows.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – The foul smell emanating from rotting garbage piled up along Bandung's roadsides started to diminish Friday but it was still there.

Andi Abdussalam, Jakarta – While former president Soeharto is still going through a critical stage in his treatment at Pertamina hospital, a public controversy is raging outside the hospital about his fate as a leader accused of massive corruption.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said he will not intervene after prosecutors decided to drop corruption charges against ailing former dictator Suharto.

Yudhoyono's remarks came as hundreds of students held a protests in Indonesia's second-largest city Surabaya to demand Suharto be tried for corruption during his 32 years of autocratic rule.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) appears to be backing off on the proposed amendments to the 2003 Labor Law, saying that there are other more urgent ways in which the business climate can be improved.

Endy M. Bayuni, Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund has revised upwards its forecast for Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP) growth to 5.2 percent for 2006 in another sign of growing international confidence about the direction of the government's policies.

Amid reports that the health of Indonesia's former dictator Suharto is deteriorating, the Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh has announced that the corruption case against him has been closed while State Secretary Yusril Izha Mahendra has said that the government is likely to halt any further prosecution and will work to rehabilitate his name.

On a day when he should have been celebrating, a flustered Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan was instead doing his best to escape a media ambush Thursday.

Mataram – A crowd of people stormed Sambelia Police station Wednesday to free a man detained for his alleged involvement in illegal logging in East Lombok district. No one was injured in the incident.

Malang – Hundreds of Malang Police officers moved in Thursday to break up a strike by workers at an auto body manufacturing plant in East Java.

Police detained 130 workers and named 28 as criminal suspects. The strikers had earlier sealed off the entrance to PT Adi Putro's factory.

Solo, Kompas – The disagreement between the progressive-revolutionary forces that exist in Indonesia must be ended immediately. If not, these forces will be unable to weave together the cooperation needed to generate the energy to withstand the entry of neoliberalism into Indonesia that is becoming increasingly pervasive and visible.

Just eighteen months in office and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's approval rating has hit an all time low. A new survey released in Jakarta shows just 37 percent of the public is happy with the president's performance. The public's major concerns are the economy, unemployment, the rise in fuel and electricty prices and planned changes to the labor laws.

Human rights, religious and other organizations today urged a key congressional subcommittee to reinstate restrictions on US

military assistance to Indonesia as the best way "to influence positive change in Indonesia and to encourage justice for the people of Timor-Leste."

Jakarta (Agencies) – Protesters in Indonesia's capital demanded Thursday that prosecutors reinstate criminal charges against former president Soeharto, still hospitalized after colon surgery earlier this month.

M. Azis Tunny, Ambon – Hundreds of angry supporters of losing candidates in Ambon city's first direct election staged a protest Wednesday at the Ambon General Elections Commission (KPUD) office, accusing that Monday's election results were invalid.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – To reduce its arms imports, Indonesia plans to increase the production of its various military equipment to at least 16 percent of its total defense needs.

Villagers in eastern Indonesia plan to sue Australian gold producer Newcrest Mining, accusing the company of environmental vandalism and failing to deliver on promises to improve their welfare.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Just 37 percent of the public approves of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's job performance, the lowest rating he has registered in his 18 months in office, a poll has revealed.

Bandung – The West Java capital city, Bandung, is in the midst of a serious garbage crisis, with 200,000 cubic meters of trashed piled along its streets.

The problem, blamed on a lack of final dumping sites, has been going on for the past month. Residents living around the city's two temporary dumping sites in Cicabe and Pasir Impun are now rejecting incoming garbage.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) has issued yet another damning report on the management of the state finances, revealing 5,377 cases of irregularities worth nearly Rp 48 trillion (US$5.3 billion) in the spending of public funds during last year's second semester.

Femke van den Bos, Jakarta – It will only take up to two or three years of rain forest destruction if the current rate continues to determine the fate of the orangutan. The populations of orangutans that will still exist in 2008 will not be viable anymore and the damage done will be irreversible.

Jakarta – Most of the labor supply companies operating in Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi (Jabotabek) are illegal, an association says.

Abdul Khalik, Ottawa/Jakarta – Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda will visit the United States this week, where he is expected to talk up Indonesia's improved human rights record and seek assurances on the supply of military equipment from the US, a senior official at the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Concealing your identity for more than 30 years is an arduous task. It forces you to be suspicious of everyone you meet in your entire life, says Harsutejo, a former political prisoner during Soeharto's authoritarian regime.

"I couldn't even mention the year that I was born," the 70-year-old told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.