Jakarta – A US lobbyist for Indonesia revealed on Wednesday that he would try to help foster dialog between the United States government and the Indonesian Military (TNI) to promote better mutual understanding.

Sadanand Dhume, Jakarta – If the script had unfolded as planned on June 30 officials at the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency, or IBRA, would have been popping champagne and posing for pictures after selling a 30% stake in Bank Central Asia, once the country's largest private bank.

Jakarta – While neighboring countries have been complaining about the choking haze caused by Indonesia's forest fires and have called on Indonesia to take action to deal with the problem, the Ministry of Forestry said on Tuesday it had yet to formulate a program to swiftly remedy the situation. "So far, we don't have a clear blueprint of how to cope with the problem.

London – The situation within the Sukarno family is deteriorating with a clear split between the sisters widening and "becoming more serious now", political analyst Hermawan Sulistyo has said.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Political compromise, intimidation, constitutional deadlock and a divide-and-rule approach to weaken his enemies are some of the options that Mr Abdurrahman Wahid would likely turn to, so as to prevent the People's Consultative Assembly from impeaching him in August.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid appointed on Tuesday his old friend and current Minister of Justice and Human Rights Marsillam Simanjuntak as the new attorney general to replace the late Baharuddin Lopa.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid shared the public's disappointment on Tuesday over the conclusions of the House of Representatives (DPR) on the Trisakti and Semanggi fatal shooting incidents in which 30 youths, mostly students, were killed.

Jakarta – Relatives and parents of students slain in the Trisakti and Semanggi shootings expressed disappointment at the findings of a House of Representative special committee investigating the incidents by throwing eggs during a House session on Monday.

Chris McCall in Tentena, Central Sulawesi – With guns that look like cut-out toys, a Christian army is fighting a war to hold on to its ancestral lands. It is based in Tentena, a beautiful lakeside town that visitors to Indonesia once flocked to.

Jakarta – Indonesia's army chief has played down President Abdurrahman Wahid's renewed threat to declare a state of emergency if political parties fail to compromise with him by July 20, local media reported Tuesday.

Jakarta – More than 100 middle-ranking Indonesian police officers yesterday spoke out against their chief, who has defied his sacking by President Abdurrahman Wahid, accusing him of disobedience.

In a petition issued after a meeting at the national police headquarters, the officers stressed that the Indonesian police were under the ultimate command of the President.

G.K. Goh, Jakarta – Smoke from land clearing by fire on Tuesday cast a haze over the skies of several cities in Borneo and Sumatra island, causing eye irritations and breathing problems, officials said.

Lee Siew Hua, Washington – US President George W. Bush's administration is seeking congressional support to restore a modest level of contact with the Indonesian military, as part of its overall policy review of a nation important to Asian stability.

The proposals are "quite modest", Mr Tim Rieser, foreign-policy aide to Senator Patrick Leahy told The Straits Times.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – A meeting between political leaders and Abdurrahman Wahid set for today will probably fail, making the embattled President appear weaker than ever. But the business of reaching a compromise is going on regardless – behind closed doors.

Bandung – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) has asked its supporters across the country to revive community posts in the lead-up to the special session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) in August.

Maryadi/HD, Jakarta – In rejection to Trisakti-Semanggi House special committee's recommendation to bring the case into military's court not into Human Rights court, around 100 students are attacking the parliament complex this Monday.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Mini-marts selling everything from cold drinks and milk to bread and snacks in colourful packages are changing the way Indonesian consumers shop for their daily needs.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky said "there is no subject so old that something new cannot be said about it". The long-running, serialized saga of Indonesia's "Baligate" scandal, however, leaves little new to be said.

Jakarta – American congressman Tony P. Hall said on Saturday that he fully endorsed US humanitarian programs in Indonesia, in spite of Jakarta's failure to punish the perpetrators of violence in East Timor two years ago.

Robert Go, Jakarta – While the KPPU anti-monopoly commission is concerned that mini-mart chains such as Indomaret are driving out smaller retailers, the views expressed by individual shopkeepers tell a different story.

Jakarta – Embattled President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid received a rare show of support from those who were jailed and persecuted during the New Order era.

Author Pramoedya Ananta Toer, who was imprisoned for years for his writings, which the New Order government considered communistic, said on Saturday the President should not step down.

Jakarta – The government called on Friday for more international aid to fulfill the need for free distribution of contraceptives to 8.25 million poor and needy couples next year.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Finance Minister Rizal Ramli advised the IMF yesterday to stop micromanaging Indonesia's economy and refrain from setting deadlines for restructuring agency Ibra's asset-sale programme.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has stepped up pressure on national police chief General Bimantoro, demanding he relinquish all remaining commands of power, the Jakarta Post reported on Saturday.

Jakarta – Embattled Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid Friday again threatened to declare a state of emergency if a hostile parliament tries to impeach him in three weeks time.

Poso, Central Sulawesi – At least five people attacking the police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob) troops in the village of Toyado in Lage district, Poso regency, were shot dead on Thursday.

Jakarta – Indonesia's parliament has sent a written warning to President Abdurrahman Wahid over his sacking of the national police chief and demanded he seek the house's approval for the move, local media reported Friday.

Jakarta – In a move against money politics, Indonesia's largest political party has proposed an open vote on the political fate of President Abdurrahman Wahid during next month's impeachment session against him.

Edward Gargan, Bangsri – The last of central Java's great teakwood forests ends up in places like this, a place filled with the whine of buzz-saws and the burr of electric sanders, a place like Abdul Jambari's garden-furniture workshop.

Jakarta – The Supreme Court continued hearing on Thursday a lawsuit demanding the dissolution of the Golkar Party following allegations of graft and violations of the law on political parties and general elections.

Susan Sim, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid's decision yesterday to avail himself again of the services of a savvy politician from Golkar – the party he is trying to dissolve – might be his one lucid move in the flurry of hit-and-run acts that have characterised his attempts to stay in power.

Achmad Sukarsono, Kediri – Juniarsih has been hand-rolling tobacco for the last 17 years at a big factory run by Gudang Garam, Indonesia's largest cigarette maker, but with little hope things will change.

Jakarta – More than 1000 students and activists grouped under the Greater Jakarta Students Movement (Gema Jaya) and the Committee for Oppressed People (Karat) rallied at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout and the State Palace on Wednesday.

The United Nations war crimes tribunal against former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic has begun. How will this affect many unsettled cases of human rights violations in Indonesia? Renowned lawyer and executive director of the Jakarta-based Center for Human Rights Studies (Yapusham) Todung Mulya Lubis shares his views.

Robert Go, Jakarta – If Indonesian police chief General Suroyo Bimantoro makes it into the history books, it will be because of how parliament has turned him into yet another thorn in President Abdurrahman Wahid's side.

Vaudine England – The sudden death of Attorney-General Baharuddin Lopa has deprived President Abdurrahman Wahid of not just a close friend but also one of his chief weapons against attempts to impeach him.

Purwokerto – President Abdurrahman Wahid officially opened the 2001 National Boy Scout Jamboree at the Baturraden tourist resort by reciting Al Fatihah verses together with the audience in memory of Attorney General Baharuddin Lopa, who died in Riyadh on Tuesday.

Jakarta – Leaders of major youth organizations warned supporters of President Abdurrahman Wahid not to engage in any anarchic activity as they would be ready to take counter actions during the special session of the People's Consultative Assembly on August 1.

Jakarta – More than 1,000 members of the Indonesian military and national police in riot-torn Poso, Central Sulawesi, are in dire straits, subsisting on a packet of instant noodles each a day because of a shortage of funds.

Kerryn williams, Jakarta – "It's become much worse since the economic crisis. There are more homeless people, more street singers, and more street sellers", Onie told me, before turning back to his battered guitar and filling the tiny office of the Popular Youth Movement with songs of love and struggle.

Jakarta – Thirteen mutilated bodies have been found in the village of Buyung Katedo, some 16 kilometers south of Poso, Central Sulawesi, following a Tuesday dawn massacre by masked men in black, local police officers and residents said.

Jakarta – Indonesia's caretaker attorney-general has vowed to carry on the work of the country's top corruption fighter, who died from a heart-related illness in a Saudi Arabian hospital, local media reported on Wednesday.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's Finance Minister said yesterday the government would demand more payments from indebted conglomerates following news that assets currently managed by the country's restructuring agency were worth only 167.7 trillion rupiah now, or a quarter of their value in 1999.

It's a big cake and it's ready for the cutting, or so they think. The cake is called Megawati Sukarnoputri's presidency. It has to be shared out very carefully, each piece exactly the right size. If not the whole cake could just break up and fall apart in a big mess.

New York – Indonesian envoys are among the worst parking offenders here. Diplomats at the Indonesian Consulate and at Jakarta's Permanent Mission to the United Nations committed 8,966 parking violations between 1997 and last year.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Board or alight wherever and whenever they like. In the middle of the road, or, if there's no room, at the roadside. At the entrance of the inner city toll road, on a roundabout, in a road junction when the lights are green, and so on. This freedom costs Jakarta bus users dearly in more ways than one.

Wens Manggut and Levi Silalahi – It is an honor to be elected a member of the House of Representatives and the salary is also considered very good. What is a House member's exact remuneration?

Impeachment is not here yet. President Abdurrahman Wahid is not yet absolutely certain to fall. Megawati Sukarnoputri for now remains vice president. But that has not stopped the cross-party caucus pushing their candidates for the vice presidency under 'President Megawati'. Who are the candidates and what are their chances?

Akbar Tandjung

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Jakarta's long-running power struggle reached new heights of confusion yesterday as President Abdurrahm ppens – and it is certain to because there is an act of treason – then ... the special session will topple the President and our country will break apart," he said.

Jakarta – Six people went missing Thursday after the Kijang van they rode in was attacked on the road linking Poso and Tentena in Central Sulawesi.

"The car was found on Thursday afternoon between the Watuawu-Pandiri villages. It was burned down and the six passengers were missing," spokesman of the Tadulako military resort, First Lt. Abdul Haris, told Antara Friday.