Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – A former aide to Gen. (ret) Wiranto alleged on Wednesday that he had been offered billions of rupiah and an ambassadorial post in order to cancel his plan to publish a book detailing Wiranto's role in the deployment of the Pamswakarsa militia in 1998.

Fadli, Batam – A non-governmental organization (NGO) activist disclosed on Wednesday that some 15,000 girls under the age of 18 on the Riau Islands were sex workers.

As required by law, the 10 candidates opened their purses and publicly reported their wealth last week to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Diyah Kusuwardhani, Jakarta – On July 3, or two days before the election of the next president on July 5, there will be a demonstration against militarism. A massive demonstration is to be held in Jakarta and accompanied by nation-wide actions.

Jakarta – A total of 153,357,307 Indonesians have registered to vote in the July 5 presidential election, deputy chairman of the General Elections Commission (KPU), Ramlan Surbakti, said here Tuesday.

Ramlan noted that the figure is final because the KPU will not extend the registration of voters beyond the May 25 deadline.

Jakarta – The General Elections Commission (KPU) has warned that millions of "ghost" voters could affect the July 5 presidential election.

After a month-long registration period, the commission has managed to remove only 1.4 million of an estimated five million ghost voters.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – It has been billed as the battle of the generals. The July 5 presidential election in Indonesia will feature three retired generals – Mr Wiranto, Mr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Mr Agum Gumelar.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Mr Wiranto advertises himself as a strong leader that Indonesia needs, but it is Golkar's muscles, as well as brainpower, that he is relying on to stay in the presidential race.

Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto gave a lecture on Tuesday at the Police Staff College (PTIK) on the relationship between TNI and the police, stressing their separate functions in the post-reform era.

Sidney Jones – On Sunday morning, my colleague from the International Crisis Group and I left Jakarta – expelled, apparently, for being a threat to Indonesia's security and damaging its image abroad.

Salim Osman – The campaign strategy for presidential front runner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is simple: ride on popularity.

His advisers believe that in a direct presidential election, man is more important than machinery – which his close rivals Megawati Sukarnoputri and Wiranto can boast of.

Max Lane – The government of Megawati Sukarnoputri, apparently at the urging of Indonesia's intelligence agency (BIN) and foreign affairs department, has refused to extend Sidney Jones' work permit.

The expulsion from Indonesia of the American terrorism expert Sidney Jones can only undermine the democratic credentials of the Megawati Government. Ms Jones, head of the Jakarta office of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG), is widely acknowledged as the world's top authority on the Indonesian-based Jemaah Islamiah (JI) Islamic terrorist network.

Suwarjono, Jakarta – Not enough people are being investigated by police over the July 27 case(1). Police must also investigate the general chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), President Megawati Sukarnoputri, because she left her supporters to be attacked.

Indonesia's Supreme Court has overturned a bankruptcy ruling against the local insurance unit of British financial services giant Prudential.

Suwarjono, Jakarta – Although Sydney Jones has been expelled from Indonesia, support for the American national continues to flow. National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Hendropriyono believes that those who are supporting the head of the International Crisis Group (IGC) have received money from Jones.

Indonesia's tobacco industry is warning that moves to adopt international laws to limit smoking would lead to massive job cuts and billions of dollars in lost tax revenue. Critics in Indonesia say the government is bowing to the tobacco companies in the hope of seeing a reward at the ballot box.

Presenter/Interviewer: Marion MacGregor

Anton Aliabbas, Jakarta – Sydney Jones' expulsion has created a controversy in its own right in Indonesia. Although there are many who have defended her, there are also however many who want the director of the International Crisis Group (ICG) to go.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Poverty, lackluster growth, rising prices, high unemployment and continuing widespread corruption are adding to the myriad problems facing the five candidates for the Indonesian presidency.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Presidential candidates know that their rivals are making similar promises about law enforcement. But in a country where many think they have seen enough of the turbulent "transition" period no candidate can do without pledges of law enforcement even though they themselves might have been seen to have violated the law.

Rob Taylor, Jakarta – Indonesia's presidential election race has attracted a galaxy of stars, but most are made of military brass.

The campaign teams of the five candidates – who include two former generals and a third running as vice president – have recruited an astonishing 35 former generals as senior advisers.

Simon Elegant – For four years, the Jakarta branch of the International Crisis Group (ICG) has provided one of the clearest windows into the troubled state of Indonesia.

Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh is to be questioned by National Police HQ nd the Anti-Corruption Commission. Why has he not been suspended?

Indonesia's currency has fallen to two-year low, prompting the country's central bank to announce measures to stabilise the rupiah. But there appears to be little consensus as to the cause of the drop in the foreign investment climate.

Medan – Six women from East Nusa Tenggara province seeking work in Medan left a labor recruitment agency in the city, fearing that they might be sold into prostitution, a police officer said on Friday.

They are now in safe hands, said chief of Medan Police detectives First. Insp. M. Taufik.

Jakarta/Yogyakarta – Political observers expressed discontent on Friday with a group of Muslim clerics, who they said, misused religious teachings to discriminate against a political candidate based on gender.

Robert Go, Jakarta – With a month to go before the July 5 presidential vote, questions have arisen over whether the General Elections Commission (KPU) is up to the task, given its series of embarrassing bungles in April's parliamentary polls.

Jakarta – Bank Indonesia's plan to halt rupiah speculation in the banking sector should be helpful in curbing the depreciation of the embattled rupiah, analysts said, but only temporarily as the policy did not address the root of the problem – huge liquidity in the banking sector.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – A range of cheap merchandise, allegedly smuggled from Malaysia and Singapore, can be found on sale openly at Belawan Port, some 20 kilometers from the North Sumatra capital of Medan.

The contraband include dolls, remote-control cars, CD and VCD players, vases, decorative lamps, perfumes, shoes and clothing.

Jakarta – Pertamina may have caused the further depreciation of the rupiah against the US dollar, as it reached Rp9,500 on Wednesday, an official from Bank Indonesia said.

Jakarta – Jakarta shares plunged on Friday amid lingering worries of the sharp depreciation in the value of the rupiah against the US dollar and rising political tension ahead of next month's presidential election.

The Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite Index fell by 2.9 percent, or 21.105 points at 697.937, which was slightly higher than its intra-day low of 689.536.

Farish A Noor – What has upset some sections of the Indonesian political and military elite are not the findings of Sidney Jones and her team, but rather the links and ties they have uncovered in the course of their research, some of which go right to the Indonesian military elite.

While the national authorities are yet to properly deal with child and woman trafficking in several areas in the archipelago, we are jolted by reports of the selling of girl students of Jakarta junior high schools for their virginity.

Tony Sitathan – The latest crackdown by the Indonesian government, just one month before presidential elections on July 5, is not being aimed at rebel forces in Aceh, but rather at the International Crisis Group (ICG) and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in Indonesia.

Jakarta – A total of 237 employees of the Nikko Hotel in Central Jakarta staged a protest in front of the Jakarta Manpower and Transmigration Agency office on Friday, against the hotel management's decision to dismiss them.

Jakarta – Human rights group Amnesty International has joined a chorus of criticism against Indonesia's decision to expel a US researcher, saying the tactic was reminiscent of former dictator Soeharto.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Professionals, not just politicians, are running the show for the election.

Presidential contenders have been relying on their team of political strategists, public relations consultants and advertising experts ahead of the July 5 election.

Jakarta Police arrested on Wednesday two people suspected of organizing a rally to supposedly declare a revolution at the People's Consultative Assembly compound on Jl. Gatot Subroto on Tuesday.

Chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara was quoted by Antara as saying that his men had taken into custody two men, who he referred to only as T and S.

Jakarta – An Indonesian anti-corruption commission has announced the wealth of five pairs of candidates running for next month's presidential election, reports said.

Arif Shodiq Pujihartom, Jakarta – Scores of activists from the People's Democratic Party (PRD) demonstrated at the National Election Commission on Friday June 4. They were expressing their opposition to military presidential candidates. Strangely, the demonstration ended with them trampling on photographs of all of the presidential candidates.

Gunawan Mashar, Jakarta – Scores of students in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar from the United Opposition (Front Oposisi Bersatu, BOB) have for the umpteenth time held a demonstration against military presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

Jakarta – With opinion polls showing her facing electoral disaster, Indonesia's normally aloof President Megawati Sukarnoputri has embarked on an unprecedented campaign of mingling with the people.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Less than three months after the House of Representatives approved the water bill amid public outcry, the government has talked about a plan to privatize state-run regional water companies.

Shefali Rekhi, Indonesia's – immediate future is gloomy, if former president Abdurrahman Wahid's forecast is anything to go by.

He hinted at the possibility of a coup d'etat and economic instability, advising investors to stay away till the situation has stabilised. Yet he held hope that once the elections were over, Indonesia will pull through.

Surabaya – A gathering of 12 muslim clerics of the East Java chapter of the National Awakening Party (PKB) at the Miftahul Ulum boarding school in Pasuruan district on Thursday reminded themselves that in Islam it is 'haram' (forbidden) for a woman to become president.

Indra Harsaputra, Pasuruan – Several influential clerics of the country's largest Muslim organization issued an edict on Thursday for its members to vote for Wiranto and Solahuddin Wahid in next month's presidential election.

Jakarta – Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea admitted on Wednesday that violence against Indonesian workers overseas was a result of the government's lack of political will to deal seriously with labor exports.

Triono Wahyu Sudibyo, Semarang – Golkar Party vice-presidential candidate Salahuddin Wahid will soon be launch a VCD titled "Gus Solah [Salahuddin's nickname] responds". The launch will be a clarification to counter all of the accusations of gross human rights violations by [Golkar presidential candidate former armed forces chief] Wiranto.

Sian Powell, Jakarta – Indonesia's apparent crackdown on free speech increased yesterday when President Megawati Sukarnoputri abruptly ended a background briefing for Australian editors yesterday after they had asked her about the imminent expulsion of terrorism analyst Sidney Jones.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri has backed a decision to expel a leading anti-terrorism researcher and has linked the move with Indonesia's right to take action against people who might harm the country.