Jakarta – Several thousand Indonesians rallied on Sunday to protest against Israel's military operations in Palestinian areas, the latest demonstration in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Ian Timberlake – Former Indonesian armed forces commander General Wiranto testified yesterday that he took numerous steps to bring peace to East Timor in 1999 even though security was a police responsibility in the lead-up to the referendum on independence.

Kasparman, Padang – The Forestry and Plantation Agency in West Sumatra has secretly sold at least 17 truckloads of confiscated logs, which were being held at the agency's office compound on Jl. Raden Saleh in Padang.

Jakarta – Five people have been detained following a powerful blast this week that killed four people and wounded dozens of others in Indonesia's eastern city of Ambon, reports said Friday.

Jakarta – The government, through the Office of the State Ministry for State Enterprises, plans to sell or privatize 25 state enterprises this year, which include nine to be privatized in 2001, but carried over to 2002, and 16 new ones.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – Efforts to break the circle of impunity in the country hit a snag on Thursday as the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) further delayed the announcement of its response to an inquiry of three high profile violent incidents in Jakarta a few years ago.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – Some think he should be in the dock himself but yesterday former Indonesian armed forces commander Wiranto appeared at the East Timor atrocity trial in Jakarta as a witness rather than as one of the 18 accused of crimes against humanity.

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Defendants from high profile cases like former president Soeharto's son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra and ex-Bulog chief Rahardi Ramelan, who are currently being detained in prison, have reason to worry, as a senior health official revealed on Thursday that HIV/AIDS is spreading in the city's penitentiaries.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Part of the green zones in Jakarta's five municipalities are occupied by over 350 buildings owned by private enterprises, state-owned companies, the city police, street vendors and various youth organizations.

Batam – As many as 30 student representatives from four universities and colleges in Batam, Riau, have urged the local prosecutor's office to arrest all related parties involved in a Rp 28 billion scam.

The students also demanded that the development of the Batam Legislative Council's building be suspended until the investigation is completed into the alleged mark-up case.

Amnesty International has condemned Indonesian security forces for "appalling" practices in Papua, Aceh and elsewhere and urged the United Nations Commission on Human Rights not to ignore the situation.

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – The Jakarta Prosecutor's Office questioned City Governor Sutiyoso on Wednesday as a witness in a graft case related to a controversial foreign trip involving city officials and councillors.

Jakarta – A key witness in the Tommy Suharto murder-and-firearms trial said police beat her up and threatened her family to force her to implicate the suspect.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri has come under fire from legislators for spending enormous amounts of money on the Indonesian military and even editors who accompanied her on a recent overseas trip.

Agus Maryono, Pekalongan – In a move to step up pressure on the government to revoke newly decreed fishing taxes, thousands of fishermen from Central Java have planned to storm the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries office in Jakarta on April 10.

Simon Montlake, Kebon Cengkih – The Dutch sailors who arrived here 500 years ago to barter for spices have long-since abandoned Kebon Cengkih, a village named for the clove trees that still line its lush slopes.

Jakarta – Protesting Muslim students in favor of Palestinian solidarity tried to force their way into the US Embassy compound on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan in Central Jakarta on Wednesday, prompting clashes with the police officers who tried to block them away, reports said.

Jakarta – Applicants to join the Indonesian police must pay bribes of up to 15 million rupiah (1,500 dollars) if they want to pass the selection process, a newspaper reported Thursday.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Indonesia's political parties are self-centered, and ignore the public interest they claim to represent, resulting in a crisis over a loss of confidence, a new poll reveals.

Jakarta – Citing budgetary constraints, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) has canceled a plan to meet in Bali from April 3 through April 7 to draft the amendments to the 1945 Constitution, which will be tabled during the annual MPR session in August, a report said.

More than 1,000 Muslims rallied in the Indonesian capital Jakarta to protest against Israeli attacks on Palestinians.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Freedom from injustice as a result of political reform in the country has proven short-lived for Indonesian farmers, who are now facing tougher challenges in the form of a global regime, an activist said.

Jakarta – State Minister of Administrative Reforms Feisal Tamin said on Tuesday that the government was carefully considering a plan to lay off unproductive civil servants.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Indonesia's state-owned companies are being torn apart by internal rifts as employees fight against government attempts at privatisation.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Students, at the forefront of the reform movement in 1998, have been urged to take up their old role once more in the face of a political elite widely blamed for diverting the winds of change.

Bandar Lampung – Around 300 part-time, non-contract doctors in Lampung ended their week-long strike on Tuesday after Minister of Health Achmad Suyudi promised them better pay and a clearer employment status.

Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta – Street rallies slamming Israeli military actions against Palestinians hit at least three major Indonesian cities on Wednesday while a minister said Jakarta would not let local groups send fighters to join in the conflict.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Poor law enforcement has allowed the sale of illegal narcotics to flourish in Medan, North Sumatra, causing a serious concerns for local residents, according to a prominent drugs analyst.

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Several party factions in the City Council challenged on Tuesday the practice of corruption in the city administration. The issue was raised in their feedback over Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso's 2001 budget speech, which was presented last week.

Almost 50 people were injured in the eastern Indonesian city of Ambon in the worst outbreak of violence since a Muslim-Christian peace agreement in February.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – One would expect applause for last week's announcement that Indonesia is planning to build a bridge linking Java with Bali, putting an end to the two-hour ferry crossing. Not so in Bali.

Yogyakarta – The relatives of Aan Yulianto, a bystander during last week's brawl in Yogyakarta who died on Sunday after being questioned by the authorities, said on Tuesday they will sue the local police for allegedly torturing him.

Jakarta – Indonesia's National Assembly Speaker Amien Rais on Tuesday accused police in the Philippines of engineering the arrest of three Indonesians on terrorist charges, a report said.

Rais said a friend of Tamsil Linrung – one of the three suspects detained by authorities in Manila – had told him that Philippine police were currently "creating a new charge" for them.

Jakarta – Indonesia's highest Islamic authority is investigating reports that a boarding school is teaching a deviant version of the religion and is linked to a shadowy group campaigning for an Islamic state, an official said Tuesday.

Rita A. Widiadana, Karang Asem, East Bali – The Justice and Unity Party (PKP) is planning to merge with other parties in a bid to create a powerful coalition before general elections get underway in 2004, its chairman Gen. (ret) Edy Sudrajat, announced on Saturday.

Jakarta - One of the three Indonesians arrested in Manila on suspicions of terrorism has accused the Philippine police of planting explosives in his bags.

"I saw it myself, the hand of the police that put those things into my luggage," said Tamsil Linrung, according to the Koran Tempo daily yesterday.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Major state-owned firms in Indonesia are sending their top executives to an Islamic training centre where they are taught to be better professionals – through lessons in ethics and Quranic studies.

Ahmad Junaidi and Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Actions speak louder than words, but sadly some equate this as wanton violence and are proud of it even if their actions are nothing more than thuggery.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – A truck carrying a load of diesel fuel was trapped in traffic on Jl. Yos Sudarso in North Jakarta, when a teenager with a plastic bag in his hand crept toward it and slowly opened the fuel tap.

Jakarta – Street gangs in the Indonesian capital Jakarta are stealing fuel from tanker trucks which become stuck in heavy traffic, a newspaper reported Monday.

Oyos Saroso, Bandar Lampung – More than 300 temporarily employed doctors in Lampung would continue striking this week to push their demand for a clear status and better payment, strike leaders said on Saturday.

Police in the Indonesian capital have arrested seven people after men wielding machetes and sticks attacked rights protestors, wounding at least 15, reports said.

Nine people were questioned on Friday for their involvement in the attack on Thursday but two of them were released, Jakarta police detective chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri said in the Jakarta Post.

Jill Jolliffe – An Indonesian human rights lawyer has criticised a special court appointed by President Megawati Sukarnoputri to hear war crime charges on East Timor, accusing it of running "show trials".

Jakarta – Indonesia and the United States are to discuss a possible resumption of security cooperation, during a meeting here next month, foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said.

"We believe that talks on a possible resumption of military ties is one of the main items in the agenda of the meeting," Natalegawa told AFP.

Leo Wahyudi S, Jakarta – The United States and its allies should tread carefully in their recriminations of radical religious groups here, since over-emphasizing their potential threat may create unwarranted sympathy for these groups, a leading Islamic scholar warned.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Islamic boarding school staff in West Java are brainwashing students into supporting the fundamentalist group Indonesian Islamic State (NII), parents claim.

Yogita Tahilramani, Jakarta – The need for transparency in the use of State Logistics Agency (Bulog) funds has found a fresh cause as the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) disclosed on Wednesday an alleged misuse of over Rp 377 billion belonging to the institution between January 1998 and December 1999.

Jakarta – Indonesian Parliamentary Speaker Akbar Tanjung will retain his post after all, despite his ongoing corruption trial.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, who is charged with murder, sat so lazily during the trial at the Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday that the prosecutor asked the judge to order him to sit properly to respect the court.

Jakarta – Judges in Indonesia's first human rights court ruled Thursday that the trial of a former police chief in East Timor is legal and should go ahead, throwing out arguments by defence lawyers that the court breaches the constitution.