Jakarta – Indonesia's chief economics minister said on Thursday the haggard economy would be hard pressed to grow more than five percent next year, signalling more hardship ahead for millions of the country's poor.

Washington – The State Department's top Asia hand is due in Jakarta this weekend in the latest sign of a new US drive to engage Indonesia – but the path to closer US relations with Southeast Asia's dominant power is fraught with controversy.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The economic crunch in Indonesia is spurring a new deadly handicraft in its eastern islands: bomb-making. Police believe that homemade explosives from south-east Sulawesi are being sold to the neighbouring strife-torn areas of Maluku and Poso.

Jakarta – Britain is ready to resume sales of weapons to Indonesia, saying that it has accepted the assurances from the Indonesian Military (TNI) that these arms would not be used for internal repression, including in Aceh.

Jakarta – Thousands of activists of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) on Monday staged a rally at the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)/House of Representatives (DPR), demanding the implementation of Syariah Islam (Islamic Law) as stipulated in the Jakarta Charter.

Jakarta – Authorities in a haze-shrouded Indonesian city will make artificial rain to wash away choking smoke from forest and ground fires, the state Antara news agency said Thursday,

Jakarta – A coalition of watchdogs on legal affairs has lashed out at two court's decisions to dismiss cases against three Supreme Court justices who allegedly accepted bribes, arguing it was an insult to people's sense of law and justice.

Jakarta – Drastic restructuring measures introduced by the new leadership of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) to improve the agency's efficiency has left the agency mired in internal conflict, which analysts say could threaten its ambition to meet 2001 revenue target.

Jakarta – Following are the key points of Indonesia's agreement with the International Monetary Fund Monday. The agreement, known as a letter of intent, lays out a timetable for economic reforms which Indonesia must complete in return for loans under a $5 billion lending program. The fund has suspended lending since December due to failure to meet reform commitments.

Jakarta – Activists have urged the government to reform the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas-HAM), which they said was ineffective as it was dominated by a "conservative group". They claimed that the rights body had failed to carry out the mission laid out by the government, which founded it in 1993.

Jakarta – Clothes make the man, or the governor, in this case. Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso has proposed increasing his wardrobe allowance this year from 40 million rupiah (S$8,400) to 60 million rupiah.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Indonesian police have said they will question an entertainer for allegedly inciting hatred against the state by defaming government and national symbols.

Jakarta – Indonesia's intelligence chief has confirmed US government warnings that American interests in the country face possible terrorist attacks.

Jakarta – Indonesian newspapers yesterday rapped Jakarta city councillors for going on 'foreign junkets' at a time of economic crisis. Activists agreed that the current visits to Japan and China by 17 councillors, as well as earlier overseas trips, were a waste of taxpayers' money and could amount to corruption.

Jakarta – Rights group Amnesty International urged Indonesia's new President Megawati Sukarnoputri on Friday to bring policemen and soldiers to book for grave human rights violations.

Jakarta – Head of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) Goenawan Ibrahim warned on Thursday that the haze problem in Kalimantan might worsen as forest fires could easily be sparked by the protracted dry season in the region.

Jakarta – Indonesia's crude oil output is expected to fall by an average 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) next year due to security disruptions in its fields, a senior mines and energy ministry official said on Friday.

Jakarta – Nearly 300,000 people were displaced by communal and sectarian conflict in various parts of Indonesia between January and August, further straining government resources, officials said on Thursday.

Jakarta – As it is difficult to curb international terrorism in the country, the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) will focus on fighting its domestic accomplices, agency chief A.M. Hendropriyono said on Thursday.

Tom Wright, Jakarta – Indonesia's independent debt restructuring review body issued a report late Thursday criticizing key deals which it said favored debtors over the government. The International Monetary Fund, which is visiting Indonesia this week, has said it will only resume lending under a stalled $5 billion program if the government first made the report public.

Jakarta – Observers welcomed the Indonesian Military (TNI) headquarters' plan to drop its territorial function and to focus on defense duties, saying it was a positive move to improve its professionalism.

Andi Asrun, Jakarta – Former Indonesian president Suharto has been out of power for three years now, but authorities agree with the suspicions of political analysts and activists that members of his family are still busy – wreaking havoc with bombings and bomb threats.

Robert Karniol, Bangkok – Indonesia's new government appears intent on completing intelligence-related reforms, including an expanded role for the civilian National Intelligence Agency (Badan Inteligen Nasional, or BIN).

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia will fight corruption by focusing on bureaucratic reforms, not on the prosecution of serving and former government officials who are suspected of graft.

Jakarta – An Indonesian court on Wednesday sentenced an army corporal and a former soldier to life in jail for a devastating blast at the stock exchange that killed 15 people. Prosecutors had demanded death for ex-sergeant Irwan Ilyas and Corporal Ibrahim Hasan. Both at one stage escaped authorities, but Ilyas was recaptured and Hasan remains on the run.

Lewa Pardomuan, Kuala Lumpur – A rally in palm oil prices is fuelling widespread looting in plantation areas in Indonesia, with armed gangs targetting mainly state-owned farms.

Jakarta – Indonesia's state-owned forestry company could lose its profitable "ecolabel" certificates if it does not act to stamp out illegal logging on Java island, it was revealed Wednesday.

Many foreign companies will no longer accept wood products without the ecolabel stamp, a guarantee the wood has come from a renewable source.

Nick Squires, Sydney – The Government planned to help build a counter-terrorist training base in Indonesia for the country's elite special forces, according to confidential government documents. The 1994 plan, which was never made public, was proposed by Canberra despite controversy over the poor human rights record of Kopassus, the Indonesian army's special forces.

Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday drew a "clear commitment" from the Indonesian government to accelerate its economic reform programs. The IMF mission arrived in Jakarta on Sunday to try and strike a new economic reform agreement with the government.

Jakarta – The South Jakarta District Court sentenced two defendants to 20-years imprisonment each on Monday for their role in last year's bombing of the Jakarta Stock Exchange building, which killed 10 people and injured 46 others.

Jakarta – A live bomb was found outside the family residence of human rights activist Munir in Batu, Malang, East Java, in the early morning hours of Monday.

The police defused the high explosive bomb in the middle of a paddy field opposite the house on Jl. Diponegoro. The bomb squad claimed it was of TNT (trinitrotoluene) type.

Muhammad Abdul Rachman had some trouble uttering his oath of office as he was sworn in as attorney general last week. His voice tripped up a bit on the words "I will act honestly". Fortunately, with a little coaxing from President Megawati Sukarnoputri the words finally came out.

Jakarta – Legislators of the National Awakening Party (PKB) resumed their participation in proceedings at the House of Representatives (DPR) on Monday, attending the House's first session for the 2001-2002 period.

Jakarta – More than 1,000 disadvantaged people, mostly becak (pedicab) drivers and street vendors, staged a rally at the Office of Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta, on Monday.

Jakarta – Dita Indah Sari, a noted woman activist who is the one of the recipients of the 2001 Ramon Magsaysay Award, said here on Monday that winning the award would encourage her to continue her fight for the basic rights of workers.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Banned from Jakarta's streets in the late 80s because they were considered inhumane and backward, becaks – or pedicabs – have become the centre of a fierce struggle between the city authorities and the drivers who demand the right to earn an honest living.

The Asia Director of Human Rights Watch has serious doubts about therecently appointed attorney-general, MA Rachman, considering his trackrecord. She believes that he obstructed completion of the cases about humanrights abuses.

Seth Mydans – Just at the start of his ill-starred presidency, Abdurrahman Wahid slipped out of his official palace and made a secret pilgrimage to the tomb of a Muslim holy man who preached here in central Java 400 years ago.

The International Monetary Fund was fiercely criticised for its failure to salvage the Indonesian economy in 1997-98. Much of the criticism was justified. With financial markets crashing around it, the IMF's mission should have been to restore investor confidence and macro-economic stability.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Fitri, Jakarta – "Being a becak driver is easy. I just have to use my muscles," said Yatim.

Abdul Razak Ahmad – Only one road leads to the house of Pramoedya Ananta Toer and I am not on it. Lost instead in a maze of back lanes in the Javanese village of Desa Waringin Jaya, I am driving around in circles trying to find the house of the man generally regarded as the greatest living writer in Indonesia.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Less than four weeks after she became Indonesia's leader, Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri presided over an emotional Independence Day ceremony in front of what was the Dutch colonial governor's palace.

[The following is the state-of-the-nation address delivered by President Megawati Soekarnoputri before the House of Representatives on August 16, 2001 ahead of Independence Day.]

Lely Djuhari, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri, a staunch nationalist, said yesterday she respected East Timor's right to secede from Indonesia, and apologised for atrocities in Aceh and Irian Jaya.It was the first time that Ms Megawati, who opposed East Timor's independence, has publicly acknowledged its right to self-determination.

Jakarta – With an unstable security situation and well-entrenched separatist movements, Indonesia has become fertile soil for international terrorist groups to sow seeds of violence, experts warned.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri has disappointed observers in Jakarta by appointing as Attorney-General a low-key prosecutor who failed to pursue senior military officers over atrocities in East Timor.

Marianne Kearney – Anti-corruption campaigners and human-rights lawyers yesterday criticised President Megawati Sukarnoputri's choice of Attorney-General as a step back in the government's drive to tackle graft and rights abuses.

Jakarta – House of Representatives (DPR) speaker Akbar Tandjung hailed on Wednesday the decision by President Megawati Soekarnoputri to appoint M.A. Rachman, a career attorney, as thenew attorney general.

Jakarta – The owner of a car repair shop who is facing a possible death sentence for the bombing of the Jakarta Stock Exchange building told the court on Wednesday that he was a scapegoat and had been framed.

Medan – A court in the North Sumatran capital of Medan has jailed for 11 years a man found guilty of making and posting 14 bombs to churches and clergymen on Christmas Eve last year.

The sentence was lighter than the 20-year jail term sought by chief prosecutor Freddy Siregar.