Jakarta – TNI (armed forces) chief General Endriartono Sutarto has asserted that the TNI are not soldiers for hire. Therefore if there are companies which need security services, the companies concerned do not have a contract with the TNI, but with the government.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The tragic tale of Sumaryono – a young man who had been living with part of his intestinal tract protruding through an abdominal incision due to apparent malpractice – exemplified the poor's lack of access to professional medical service in the capital.

Dewi Santoso, Jakarta – In less than two months, dozens of squatters living under a section of Pluit-Cawang overpass toll road in North Jakarta will not only lose their makeshift tents but their access to free healthcare as well.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Irked by allegations of involvement in numerous human rights abuses, spokesmen from the Indonesian Military (TNI) expressed on Tuesday their opposition to a truth and reconciliation commission.

Jakarta – Two witnesses of the bloody 1984 Tanjung Priok incident withdrew on Tuesday their written and signed statements in the dossier against defendant Maj. Gen. (ret) Pranowo.

Dadan Wijaksana and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – While at first it was deemed solely a run-of-the-mill scam confined to the banking sector, the Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) scandal has now taken on a political dimension, which could lead to a brutal political war ahead of the 2004 elections, a top political analyst said.

Tiarma Siboro and Teuku Agam Muzakkir, Jakarta/Lhokseumawe – Hundreds of protesters from the country's two troubled provinces took to the streets on Saturday to demand for an end to martial law in Aceh and attempts to partition Papua.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Medan – An investigation by the Leuser Management Unit (UML) concluded over the weekend that the recent flash flood that swept through a North Sumatran resort town, which claimed hundreds of lives, was an indirect result of the rampant deforestation of Mount Leuser National Park.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Samani, a man in his late 40s, works as a night guard at the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta). He had always received his Rp 1 million salary on time, until three months ago when the institute's management told him that they had to cut his pay by 20 percent due to financial constraints.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Legal and human rights leaders deplored a threat by two civilian security groups, who are apparently linked with Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea, to occupy the office of Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), after the watchdog apparently angered the minister.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's second-largest political party, Golkar, is working behind the scenes to turn the recent deadly clash between its cadres and supporters of President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party – Struggle (PDI-P) into a long-running campaign issue.

Moch. N. Kurniawan and ID Nugroho, Jakarta/Surabaya – An independent election watchdog has alleged that some political parties are charging legislator hopefuls administrative fees of up to Rp 16 million (US$1,900).

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has no other choice but to disband the many civilian security and militia groups to prevent conflicts ahead of the 2004 elections, an international think tank group says.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The betting game is on: Who will be Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri's running mate in the 2004 presidential election? Clearly in recent months, the incumbent's choices have narrowed down to three: security czar Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Muslim moderate leader Hasyim Muzadi and possibly a leading Golkar figure.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Having consistently failed to reach its privatization targets, and battered once again by a bank lending scandal, the Indonesian government is seeking to sell off yet another of its crown jewels – a major chunk of the state-owned gas distribution and marketing company PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN).

John McBeth, Singapore – The US is funding, training and arming specially screened Indonesian policemen in a new pilot program that will ultimately leave Indonesia with a self- contained, 400-strong counterterrorism unit capable of tackling everything from bomb investigations and terrorist acts to hostage-taking and armed assaults.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – In a show of distrust of their current House of Representatives legislators, a large group of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) rank and file members have proposed new names for the legislative candidates for the 2004 election.

Tony Sitathan, Jakarta – Idris Kemal, a senior security guard at the famous 1001 Nightclub in the Kota district of West Jakarta, popularly known as Chinatown, has been having restless evenings of late. He listens intently to the evening prayer call followed by the rolling of drums from a mosque nearby symbolizing the end of the fasting day for Ramadan.

Jakarta – Indonesia's environment minister on Wednesday branded illegal loggers as terrorists after a flood disaster blamed on tree-felling killed an estimated 190 people in North Sumatra.

Nabiel Makarim criticised the army and police for involvement in the practice, which is rampant across much of the huge archipelago.

Jakarta/Medan – Government officials have joined environmental activists in blaming inconsistent forest management and poor law enforcement as the main causes of rampant deforestation that resulted in the flash flood which killed at least 103 people on Sunday. Hundreds are missing following the flood in Langkat regency, North Sumatra.

Geneva – Indonesia, Guatemala and Serbia-Montenegro won an award Wednesday for failing to address a massive problem of homelessness and slums, while Scotland was praised for its "rare" protection of the right to housing, an advocacy group said.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court on Tuesday held its first session to hear lawyers of groups of people seeking a legal review of three laws: On electricity, on oil and gas, and on the government debt instrument.

Jakarta – Indonesian lawmakers are investigating a claim that the son of President Megawati Sukarnoputri is part of a real estate scam involving state land – an allegation that has surfaced as she prepares for election next year.

Sudrajat and Hanibal – Due to criticisms of human rights violations, TNI will no longer guard sites of vital national interest.

A good intention does not always become a blessing for others. On the contrary, it can become a "hot potato" which one is reluctant to receive.

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – Councillors, labor leaders and businesspeople failed to reach an agreement here on Thursday over whether to raise minimum wages of workers in South Sulawesi province next year.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Despite the thoroughgoing political disgrace that the Suharto family has seemingly endured since Indonesia's political and financial bubbles burst in 1998, his avaricious children seem to have endured their downfall rather well. At least three remain locked into a stream of profits from the remnants of enterprises in place before the collapse.

Jakarta/Bandung/Cirebon – Two JW Marriott Hotel bombing suspects, who were arrested on Wednesday morning, told police that their cohorts were planning more bomb attacks in the country, National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said here on Thursday.

Amy Chew, Semarang – Jakarta's Chinatown was ablaze and the city's shopping centres were being looted by mobs. On the streets students were baying for President Suharto's blood.

In desperation, Mr Suharto ordered his army commander to "neutralise" the protesters and seize power to stave off the collapse of his dictatorship.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Next year's general elections will result in the same unqualified, corrupt leaders heading the nation, political analyst Arbi Sanit said on Thursday. And these same leaders had designed the law to ensure that was the case, he said.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Net profits at the publicly-listed Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), the country's second largest bank in terms of assets, plunged by 45 percent in the first nine months of this year due to a huge loan scandal.

Jakarta – The Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) Commander Maj. Gen. Sriyanto Muntrasan denied on Thursday allegations that his troops intimidated witnesses of the 1984 Tanjung Priok tragedy not to testify against him.

He urged any witnesses to file a legal complaint with the Military Police if they received such threats during the ongoing trial.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Jakarta governor Sutiyoso is feeling the heat again, this time for evicting tens of thousands of squatters from government or privately owned land around the capital.

The mop-up operation has in fact been going on all year. But the authorities, joined by unidentified stick-bearing thugs, have stepped up activities since September.

Jakarta – Indonesia described on Friday the recent decision by the US Senate to hold back on educational training for the country's armed forces as a "domestic matter" for American politicians.

Jim Lobe, Washington – Two weeks after President George W Bush announced that he was ready to normalize military ties with Indonesia, the US Senate approved an amendment to the 2004 foreign-aid bill banning training for Indonesian army officers.

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – The evictions of the city's poorest inhabitants continued on the second day of Ramadhan, despite promises from Governor Sutiyoso to stop the practices during the holy month.

Jakarta – Masked attackers threw petrol bombs at homes in Bali on Monday in revenge for a deadly weekend clash between supporters of rival political parties, police and a party official said yesterday.

Several homes in Buleleng town almost went up in flames during the attacks, said detective Ngurah Darma.

Protests against US President George Bush were staged in several cities across Indonesia on October 21, one day ahead of his brief visit to Bali.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Around 20 victims of the 1984 Tanjung Priok violence and their families asked the police to protect them from people they said were Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) soldiers.

In Indonesia, for the first time, military officers are being tried for human rights abuses during the regime of former President Suharto. The leader of Indonesia's special force, Kopassus, and 13 other officers have been accused of involvement in a massacre of political protestors in 1984.

Shawn Donnan – A.M. Fatwa, the deputy speaker ofIndonesia's parliament, has cause to be angry.

The continuing terror threat from Islamic radicals will overshadow Ramadan this year in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-populated nation.

Top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned that the extremists who staged bombing attacks on the resort island of Bali and a Jakarta hotel are determined to strike again soon.

Jakarta – Indonesia's economy might enter a crucial period from April to September next year but its overall situation would not be significantly different from that of this year, an economic observer has said.

[The article below was published in a slightly abridged form in the Post's opinion pages.]

Max Lane – Prime Minister Mohummad Mahathir's speech at the Putra Jaya meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) articulated an anger against the West which is slowly but steadily accumulating, or re-accumulating, around the world.

Zakki Hakim, Jakarta – The government has wasted a golden opportunity to resolve the secession issue in Aceh and Papua by failing to show goodwill to the people of the two resource-rich provinces, further complicating the matter, an expert said.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) is trying to sell the government's entire 52 percent stake in what was described last year as the "best Indonesian retail bank" by industry magazine The Asian Banker.

Zakki Hakim, Jakarta – Alarmed by the increasing number of HIV/AIDS cases in Indonesia, the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) has decided to revise its five-year program to include HIV/AIDS awareness in its campaigns.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Golkar's presidential candidates presented their electoral platforms before some 500 party members from across the country on Tuesday, but analysts said their programs were too general and vague.

Jakarta – Although small in number, demonstrations opposing US President George Bush are continuing in Bali. Twenty demonstrators however, who were unable to break into the airport, were detained at the Siur intersection.

Kuta – Police dispersed a peaceful rally staged on Wednesday by some 50 students from the Association of Islamic Students (HMI) and the Muhammadiyah Students Association (IMM), who were protesting US President George W. Bush's three-hour visit here.

Tantri Yuliandini and Kasparman Piliang, Bukittinggi – Certain cultural values Indonesians hold dearly encourage corruption, making it almost impossible to eradicate such practices, secretary general of Transparency International Indonesia Emmy Hafild said on Tuesday.