Jack Anderson and Jan Moller – Rooting out corruption and cronyism in Indonesia in the wake of President Suharto's 32-year rule will be difficult, if not impossible. Even the mythological Hercules, who cleaned the Augean stables by diverting a river, would have found a daunting task in Indonesia.

Jakarta – Indonesia has issued a law governing where and when street demonstrations can be held, the official Antara news agency reported on Saturday. It said President B.J. Habibie signed the decree on freedom of expression on Friday.

Jakarta – Abdurrahman Wahid, chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Moslem organization, sounded a rallying call yesterday for the newly founded People's Awakening Party (PKB), declaring it was an open organization without ethnic or religious prejudice.

Jakarta – A poll jointly conducted by the University of Indonesia and Soegeng Sarjadi Syndicated shows that in the first three-months of his presidency, B.J. Habibie's policies have failed to win over the hearts of the people.

Surabaya - The Brawijaya Military Commander, Major-General Djoko Subroto has denied that his personnel [were responsible for] abducting student activists in East Java some time ago. However he did admit to "arresting" People's Democratic Party (PRD) and [PRD affiliated] Student Solidarity for Indonesian Democracy (SMID) activists.

Washington – There are indications high Indonesian military officials were involved in kidnapping and torturing pro-democracy activists, including those who remain missing, US officials told lawmakers Friday.

John McBeth, Jakarta – Down a narrow side street in a crowded East Jakarta suburb is a small nondescript office marked by a white banner with a red cross.

Jakarta – A new World Bank report says the Indonesian economy, at its most critical stage in more than three decades, will likely make a slight recovery of 2 percent to 4 percent growth in 2000, after an estimated contraction of 10 percent to 15 percent in 1998.

President Habibie has appointed an all-female task force to investigate the rapes of Chinese women during the May riots. Human rights groups have detailed at least 168 cases and 20 deaths. This is one woman's story.

Keith B. Richburg, Jakarta – Indonesia has a food problem. It's not that food isn't available – it's that most people cannot afford the sky-high prices for basic goods, so they are cutting back on how much, and how often, they eat.

Medan – Hundreds of people burned vehicles, houses and warehouses in Indonesia's north Sumatran town of Porsea following a dispute over logging with rayon company PT Inti Indorayon, witnesses said on Wednesday. There were no reports of casualties in the violence, which occurred on Tuesday, the witnesses said.

Jakarta – Since yesterday night, around 200 PT Mayora Indah women workers have been staying at the Jakarta Indonesian Legal Aid Offices (LBH) because they are afraid of intimidation and other acts of terror following a clash at the company last week.

Jakarta – An Indonesian political activist kidnapped in March and later held in police custody said on Tuesday he believed he had been abducted by security forces.

After some period of no protests or open forums being held on the Gajah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta, Central Java, on Tuesday, July 20, a mass organisation calling itself the Yogyakarta People's Coalition (Koalisi Rakyat Yogyakarta, KRY) began rocking the UGM Boulevard.

Amy Chew, Jakarta – Indonesian opposition figure Megawati Sukarnoputri will tell supporters to occupy parliament if the government does not endorse her as legitimate leader of the minority Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) by November, a senior PDI official said on Tuesday.

John Aglionby, Cibedug – Being beaten up by Indonesian soldiers was worth it, Ujung Jusuf says, if that is the price of recovering land he and his fellow villagers say was stolen from them by the former dictator Suharto.

Andreas Harsono, Jakarta – The heyday of Indonesian conglomerates is apparently over. The meltdown of the rupiah, which painfully inflated their foreign debt, widespread anti-Chinese riots and a new bankruptcy law have forced the big corporations into a life-and-death fight for survival.

Surabaya – Angry mobs in Indonesia's East Java have attacked shops and homes owned by Moslems they accuse of supporting ethnic Chinese traders, religious sources and residents said on Monday.

Jakarta – Indonesia's two largest Moslem groups have said they will form political parties to contest next year's general elections, newspapers reported on Monday.

Republika daily quoted Moslem leader Amien Rais, one of those in the forefront of the movement leading to the ouster of President Suharto in May, as saying he would set up a political party soon.

Seth Mydans, Jakarta – Human rights workers who are investigating scores of organized gang rapes during three days of rioting here in May say they and the victims have been receiving threats from unidentified men.

Jakarta – Abdurrahman Wahid, Megawati Soekarnoputri and Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo, in a unique gathering, yesterday called on the government to form a coalition with reform leaders to lead the nation out of the economic crisis.

Jakarta – The Armed Forces (ABRI, warned yesterday it win crack down hard against looters amid growing signs of a breakdown of law and order in some parts of the country.

Following a meeting in Jakarta between Indonesian opposition leaders Abdulrachman Wahid, leader of the mass-based Nadlatul Ulama, and Megawati Sukarnoputri, leader of the PDI, the two opposition leaders expressed support for Bishop Belo's position on the question of East Timor.

Jakarta – Some 80 women of the Indonesian Women's Coalition for Justice and Democracy (KPIKD), on Friday (17/7) staged a demonstration in front of the Department of Defense & Security on Jalan Merdeka Barat, Jakarta.

Jennifer Hewett, Washington – The amount of poverty in Indonesia is likely to double during the next year, according to a new report from the World Bank which says that no country in history has suffered such a dramatic reversal of fortune.

Jay Solomon and Wayne Arnold, Solo – The economists and politicians trying to fathom how many billions of dollars will buy stability in Indonesia would do well to come read the signs here in the seat of the Javanese heartland.

Major-General Syamsu Djalal announced earlier this week that seven officers of the army's elite corps, Kopassus, have been arrested in connection with the disappearance of a number of activists since mid-1997. He said that five lower and middle-ranking officers had already been charged and that two others, a colonel and an officer of higher rank, were still under investigation.

Jakarta – An Indonesian minister said some political parties which have sprung up in recent months will not be legally recognised, the Jakarta Post reported on Thursday.

Jay Solomon, Sleman – At high noon July 7, 700 Indonesian villagers descended upon this district's local legislature in a noisy convoy of motorcycles, red banners and clove cigarette smoke.

Andi Arief, who heads SMID, the student wing of the People's Democratic Party, was released on Tuesday [July 14] and has now returned to his parents' home in Lampung, South Sumatra.

John Aglionby – Lisa's parents are amazed she is still alive. On June 18, a week after her ninth birthday, this Chinese-Indonesian girl who lives 20 miles outside the north Sumatran city of Medan chose to walk home from school rather than wait for her elder sister Martha.

Sharon Ayling – Under extreme duress, Indonesia agreed June 25 to accept terms dictated by the International Monetary Fund as a condition for receiving outstanding payments on a $43 billion loan.

Jakarta – Coffee beans are travelling under armed guard in Indonesia amid growing looting, traders said yesterday.

Marcus W. Brauchli, Jakarta – For a generation, the World Bank considered this sprawling archipelago's rise from poverty its great triumph. Now Indonesia's unraveling is raising questions about the World Bank's long forbearance of the regime of former President Suharto.

Jakarta – Observers have blasted Golkar's huge executive lineup, saying it was comprised of people affiliated to the government and that it was too big thus making it too cumbersome to meet with the swift challenges of the future. "Just look at the lineup, it is still government-oriented," social observer Mochtar Buchori told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

Jakarta – Indonesia's ruling Golkar party on Saturday elected the country's State Secretary Akbar Tanjung as its new leader and officially snapped its last links with discredited former president Suharto. The result of the leadership vote was greeted with cheers and hailed as a victory for the party, which many had predicted could not survive in the post-Suharto era.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – The Australian Foreign Minister, Mr Downer, has strongly defended Canberra's military links with Indonesia as useful channels for urging restraint, despite revelations that Indonesian troops were involved in kidnapping and torturing democracy activists.

Louise Williams – "These are primitive people," said the Indonesian military officer of the tribespeople of the pristine forests and coastal mangrove swamps of the remote province of Irian Jaya.

Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights put the blame squarely on the government yesterday for the rampant rapes and sexual assaults during riots in Jakarta and other cities in May, denouncing its attitude toward the victims as "insensitive".

Jay Solomon, Sumber Wungu – Unbowed by his poverty, the village elder is more than happy to display his menu for the day: processed cassava root, perhaps some corn – and grasshopper.

Jakarta – Following the retaking of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters by pro-Megawati Sukarnoputri PDI supporters the day before in Jakarta and Sumut [North Sumatra], on Friday afternoon, July 10, thousands of pro-Megawati PDI supporters simultaneously attacked and retook five branch offices in Jakarta.

Jakarta – More than 10,000 workers from 14 companies in the Jakarta area have gone on strike to demand an increase in the minimum wage, today's Jakarta Post quoted a labor activist as saying.

Jakarta – Chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Harmoko swore in 27 new members yesterday, 24 of whom represent the dominant political group Golkar. Some of the new appointments are politicians and public figures known to be close to President B.J. Habibie, including his aide, political scientist Dewi Fortuna Anwar, and cabinet ministers Theo L.

Jakarta – About 2000 becak (pedicab) drivers pedaled their three-wheeled vehicles to Jakarta City Hall yesterday morning to urge the authorities to allow them to operate in the city's alleys and narrow streets.

Jakarta – Prosecutors at the military tribunal investigating the Trisakti shooting incident demanded prison sentences for two police officers who ordered their men to shoot into the crowd of demonstrators. They requested a 10 month jail term for First Lt. Agus Tri Heryanto and a seven month sentence for Second Lt. Pariyo.

Jim Della-Giacoma, Jakarta – Indonesia's food situation has worsened in recent months and it is likely the key August harvest of rice, the country's staple, will fall below target, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said.

Louise Williams – Thousands of protesting tribespeople in the remote Baliem Valley raised an independence flag early this morning, as pro-independence demonstrations in Irian Jaya widened despite a bloody police crackdown at a similar ceremony on the island of Biak yesterday.

Stevie Emilia, Jakarta – More pollution. That's the first thing that comes to mind after learning that the city plans to suspend its environmental programs due to its limited budget.

Jakarta – Indonesian troops may have killed as many as five people and wounded 141 when they opened fire on a crowd which raised a separatist flag in Irian Jaya province, church and human rights sources said Tuesday.

[Message received from NGO in North Sulawesi dated July 1 - translated.]

More than 300 young Minahasans (one of the peoples of N. Sulawesi) protested about the presence of PT Newmont Minahasa Raya – the largest gold mine in North Sulawesi located at the village of Ratatotok. A group of "reformists" occupied part of the mine for more than 7 hours.