Jakarta – Ex-president Soeharto's children were under siege yesterday as son Bambang Trihatmodjo was questioned by state prosecutors while a company controlled by daughter Siti 'Tutut' Hardiyanti Rukmana faced a lawsuit filed by state toll road operator PT Jasa Marga.

Jakarta – Calls for President Abdurrahman Wahid not to ratify the controversial state security bill continued on Thursday with the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) officially sending a letter requesting a review of the bill.

Jakarta – Indonesian share prices, which fell 1.6 percent this week, are expected to remain flat next week due to a lack of positive sentiment and the market's disappointment with the announcement of the winner of PT Astra International's bid, analysts said Friday.

Karen Polglaze, Jakarta – A team to be set up to pursue the investigation of massive human rights violations in East Timor last year has already drawn criticism over its composition and focus.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government said it would investigate the alleged embezzlement of some 117 billion rupiah (S$23.4 million) by the General Elections Commission (KPU) during last year's polls.

Associated Press in Jakarta – Fresh violence broke out between Christians and Muslims in North Maluku killing five people and injuring dozens more, news reports said on Wednesday.

May Sari, Surabaya – One thousand five hundred workers at PT Surabaya Meka Box in East Java, Indonesia, began a strike on February 21 to protest against the dismissal of three colleagues who were representing workers in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.

Pip Hinman – Roger Smith, an Australian who works for the American Centre for International Labor Solidarity, which is funded by the US government and the AFL-CIO, has been threatened with deportation from Indonesia. His "crime" was to liaise with and report labour movement activities there.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Many cite law enforcement as the key to structuring a better way of life in Indonesia. But Indonesia's judicial system, one of the backbones of law enforcement, has yet to show any signs of change. Too often people claim that money, not the law, is the determining factor in legal decisions.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid has ordered a shake-up of the country's official news agency, Antara, removing its editor-in-chief and demanding it be more independent.

Andrew Marshall, Jakarta – Indonesia's plans to give regions more control over their finances are at the heart of the country's efforts to hold its disparate provinces together. But wrongly handled, they could blow its economy apart.

Pip Hinman – Since his election five months ago, the new president of Indonesia, Abdurrahman Wahid, has managed to create the impression that his is a people-friendly government. But how true is this?

Jakarta – Finance minister Bambang Sudibyo said on Monday that 120 state-owned companies suffered combined financial losses of Rp 47.65 trillion (US$6.39 billion) last year.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – The chairman of Indonesia's National Business Development Council, Mr Sofyan Wanandi, has the task of harnessing business to invest in Indonesia, but concedes that conditions are not yet ideal.

Jakarta – Some 100 airport employees went on strike at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Monday demanding national flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia restore their status as government employees within the airline.

The move did not disrupt Garuda's flight schedules. The strike began at 4am, the beginning of the company's first working shift of the day.

Susan Sim, Jakarta – The crew of a Dutch-owned vessel with links to the Habibie family is expected to go on trial in Batam today for allegedly smuggling sand out of the Indonesian island for a multi-million-dollar reclamation project in Singapore.

Jakarta – The government has scrapped the controversial retroactive clause from the human rights bill and proposed that past human rights violations be tried in an ad hoc tribunal.

Vaudine England – History is becoming one of the hottest topics in Indonesia, with President Abdurrahman Wahid paying visits to former presidents, dissidents and alleged communists while the national human rights body opens inquiries into a range of recent traumas.

Jakarta – Political observers here are speculating that rogue elements inside the military are behind the recent wave of "political terror" launched against the nation's legislators.

Jakarta – Several foreign investors and buyers may pull out of contracts with Indonesian plywood producers over escalating conflicts between timber companies and local people in Kalimantan, a report said yesterday.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid attended joint prayers held at the residence of former President Suharto to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the death of Mr Suharto's wife, a report said on Thursday.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid's approval of attempts to reopen the case of the 1965 abortive coup and its bloody aftermath has caused some controversy.

Marianne Kearney – One of the major problems in the haze crisis is the weak enforcement of flawed, existing laws. Companies flout the law because there is no one agency that monitors whether they abide by it.

In the past, good proposals to deter companies and farmers from starting the fires were made. Years later, they still exist – as drafts.

James Balowski – Indonesia has moved toward a more pluralistic democracy but human rights abuses remained rife in 1999, according to a US State Department report released on February 25.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Indonesia's economic growth will exceed previous conservative estimates of between 3 and 4 percent, but the International Monetary Fund's new representative here, Mr John Dodsworth, has warned that the growth will slow down if the government does not quickly restructure the banking, corporate and legal systems.

May Sari, Jakarta – Three hundred women and men marched from the Kapuk industrial area to Indonesia's parliament building on International Women's Day, March 8. IWD was not celebrated in Indonesia before 1999.

George J.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Indonesia's President, Mr Abdurrahman Wahid, said yesterday that some senior military officers were plotting to overthrow him but any attempt would fail because he had the public's support.

Jakarta – Hundreds of students the North Sumatra legislative assembly yesterday to demand the final closure of a factory operated by pulp and rayon fiber producer PT Inti Indorayon Utama.

Jakarta – The National Business Development Council has urged the government to immediately deal with security disturbances against the business sector, saying that in 1999 alone, the business sector suffered losses of around Rp5 trillion [US$714 million].

Simon Montlake, Jakarta – Indonesia must tread cautiously in cutting fuel subsidies and should seek to lessen the impact on kerosene prices as this directly hits poorer households, International Monetary Fund representative to Indonesia, John Dodsworth said Tuesday.

Jakarta – A glass window in a hallway in Indonesia's parliament building was pierced yesterday by what seemed to be a bullet, just minutes after former president Suharto's youngest son passed it on his way to give testimony, witnesses said.

Simon Montlake, Jakarta – The Indonesian government is under pressure to consider increasing protection for domestic rice producers, after protests by farmers over low prices paid for unhusked rice, local newspapers said Tuesday.

Jakarta – Thousands of people are fleeing to safer areas as fresh fighting between religious groups in the Maluku islands left many dead and more than 100 houses burnt or damaged.

Mr Muhammad Albar, a Muslim activist, said the bodies of 11 Muslims were found in Galela, a town on Halmahera in North Maluku, the biggest island in the region, AP reported.

Jakarta – Two student protesters participating in a hunger strike at the Attorney General's Office in South Jakarta for the past week were admitted to St. Carolus Hospital on Monday because of dehydration. Six other students are continuing the hunger strike.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Indonesia's government is getting ready to crack the whip on recalcitrant debtors by giving the Attorney-General's Office powers to sue companies that fail to pay their debts – a development that can have significant implications for the country's economic growth.

Jakarta – The complete works of Indonesia's best known author, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, banned in his own country for four decades, are to be published in their entirety for the first time. "Starting next month we will republish everything," the author told AFP.

Jakarta – A group of human rights lawyers on Monday protested as unecessary and flawed a draft bill being prepared by the government to pave the way for the creation of a human rights court in Indonesia.

Jakarta – Here's a riddle: A plane carrying 20 professors suddenly develops engine trouble. The passengers discuss among themselves ways out of their dilemma. Does anyone know the answer? Answer: If 20 professors don't have the answer, what chance do the rest of us have? That essentially caps the problem facing dozens of state universities across the country.

Jakarta – About 500 fruit, candy and cigarettes vendors pelted and broke the windows of six intercity buses at the Pulogadung bus terminal, East Jakarta, in a protest against City Public Land Transportation Agency (DLLAJ) officials' rough actions for the past week.

Jakarta – Indonesia appeared to back down yesterday from a multi-million dollar fight with the United States after Washington threatened to seize Indonesian assets abroad.

David Barber, Wellington – An ethnic-Chinese Indonesian businessman freed by former New Zealand SAS troops was allegedly held captive for five years in a tiny room in a Javanese village, it was reported yesterday.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Indonesian authorities have identified at least 10 companies responsible for starting fires in the Riau province but are facing problems prosecuting them.

Mr Setyo Winarso, an official of the environmental monitoring agency, Bapadal, said existing laws were difficult to enforce despite the government's readiness to penalise plantation owners.

Jakarta – Thick haze from forest fires shrouded several towns in Sumatra on Friday, keeping Pekanbaru, Riau, mostly in the dark during daylight hours.

Ambon – Tension prevailed on Friday in Halmahera in North Maluku following a series of communal clashes earlier in the week that left at least 30 people dead and dozens injured.

Jakarta – Indonesia's Investment Minister Laksamana Sukardi has pleaded for time to reform the country's graft-ridden legal system and promised to honour contracts agreed with past regimes.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid said Friday he will pardon former president Suharto if a court finds him guilty of corruption and abuse of power during his 32 years in power.

Jakarta – In another move aimed at promoting a civil society and human rights principles, President Abdurrahman Wahid decided on Wednesday to disband the military-controlled Agency for the Coordination of Support for National Stability Development (Bakorstanas).

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Past and present came together yesterday when President Abdurrahman Wahid met former Indonesian leader Suharto for the first time since taking office four months ago.

Jakarta – The main challenge facing the Indonesian government is the reform of the legal system, a senior minister said Thursday.

"Our major challenge is to overhaul the court process," State Minister for Investment and State Enterprises Development Laksamana Sukardi told a luncheon organised by the French-Indonesian Chamber of Commerce.