Washington – Indonesia has moved toward a more pluralistic democracy but human rights abuses remain rife, according to a US State Department human rights report released Friday.

Section 1: Respect for the Integrity of the Person

Jakarta – Thirteen people were injured when students and police clashed outside the Attorney General's Office in South Jakarta on Wednesday in the first violent protest in the capital this year.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Officials and residents of Jakarta on one of its more peaceful days were surprised yesterday to hear President Abdurrahman Wahid proclaim a state of "high alert" in the capital to guard against a large demonstration that no one could find.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – They call them Black Operations – kidnapping, killing, torturing, raping, burning and looting designed to intimidate opposition or set communities against each other. Sometimes they wear black masks, other times they pose as local thugs.

Indonesian police are threatening to imprison or deport Australian trade unionist Roger Smith. Smith, who works in Indonesia for the American Centre for International Labour Solidarity, has been detained and interrogated over his participation in labour rallies and his meetings with Indonesian unionists.

Jakarta – The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) and the Information System and Legal Education Institute (Sisbikum) have urged workers to reject the new regional minimum wages, saying the level was too low and against international standards.

Interview with Juwono Sudarsono, Indonesia's first civilian defense minister. Juwono Sudarsono, Indonesia's first civilian defense minister, is a soft-spoken intellectual who served as education minister under former president B.J. Habibie and environment minister under Habibie's predecessor, Suharto.

General Wiranto has been a pivotal player in modern Indonesia. Appointed head of the armed forces by Suharto in 1998, he helped ease the dictator out of power, then saw the military through a series of crises: pro-democracy demonstrations in Jakarta, ethnic and religious violence in the provinces, the referendum on independence in East Timor.

Agence France Presse, Canberra – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Australian Prime Minister John Howard said yesterday that the Indonesian judicial process should be given a chance and played down the need for an international war crimes tribunal for East Timor.

Dow Jones, Jakarta – As Asia's only member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Indonesia's coffers are filling with cash, according to analysts and Indonesian government officials, as the rally in crude oil generates a windfall for the struggling economy.

Jakarta – In relation to the government's plans to cut fuel and electricity subsidies, on February 21, the People's Democratic Party (PRD), led by chairperson Budiman Sudjatmiko, met with President Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) at the Bina Graha presidential offices [in Central Jakarta].

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid said on Monday the government would push ahead with plans to increase electricity tariffs and fuel prices despite the public's protests, citing that it was part of the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Jakarta – Official minimum wage levels throughout the country will increase between 15 percent and 55 percent from April 1, the Ministry of Manpower announced on Monday. Although representing significant increases, the new minimum wages for most regions barely cover the monthly living expenses of a single person, the ministry said.

Jakarta – Political activist Andi Arief has attracted public attention by announcing that he no longer believes 14 fellow activists who disappeared in 1998 are still alive.

"I am sure that they died a long time ago. I have no proof of this, I just want those who killed them to get what they deserve," Andi told The Jakarta Post last Monday.

Tangerang – Traffic heading to and from the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport here was blocked for at least three hours on Saturday afternoon by some 300 angry protesters, causing delays of several international and domestic flights.

Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Jakarta – The Defense Department has quietly resumed training Indonesian military officers in the United States, restoring one element of its relationship with Indonesia that was suspended last year after Indonesian soldiers participated in the violence that engulfed East Timor.

Jakarta – A total of 72 national banks suffered combined losses of Rp38.7 trillion (US$5.5 billion) last year, while 92 others managed to register profit, a study said.

The study conducted by the research bureau of Infobank magazine on 164 national banks, a copy of which was made available on Thursday, suggested the loss was lower than the previous year's Rp62.49 trillion.

Bandung – The newly created Office of the State Minister of Human Rights Affairs has received some 3,000 reports of missing persons, most of them alleged abductions in Aceh, East Timor and Jakarta.

Jakarta – It will much longer to reduce the Indonesian military's influence on the economy than on politics or government, an observer said.

Jakarta – A team of seven prosecutors from the Attorney General's Office are investigating the alleged misuse of reforestation funds by five major figures linked to former president Soeharto.

Jakarta – Former Indonesian armed forces chief General Wiranto appeared on television here Wednesday to defend himself against allegations that he let his troops go on a bloody rampage in East Timor last year.

Jakarta – Indonesia's economy grew 0.2 percent last year following its collapse during the 1998 Asian financial meltdown, according to statistics released Wednesday. The Central Statistics Bureau said the economy expanded 5.8 percent in the fourth quarter alone from a year ago. The economy grew 0.9 percent in the previous quarter.

Jakarta – Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid decided to suspend General Wiranto over his involvement in human rights abuses in East Timor after significant international pressure, a leading legislator, Mr Amien Rais, said yesterday.

February 11, 500 workers from clothing manufacturer PT Matahari Sentosa I in Bandung, West Java, staged a sit-in at the parliament building here. The workers, members of the militant Indonesian National Front for Labour Struggle (FNPBI) trade union, were demanding a 100% wage increase from their present daily pay of 7700 rupiah.

Jakarta – UN Secretary General Kofi Annan wound up a protest-peppered, two-day visit to Indonesia Wednesday urging the government not to use force against separatist rebels and warning Jakarta to bring East Timor rights abusers to trial or face UN action.

Jakarta – A day after he was removed as senior government minister, Gen. Wiranto dropped into a popular Jakarta radio station and became their disc jockey for more than an hour, news reports said Wednesday.

Jakarta – National Police chief Lt. Gen. Rusdihardjo vowed on Tuesday that the police would take up to three months, to complete an investigation into the July 27, 1996 bloody takeover of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Indonesia's military yesterday pledged its loyalty to President Wahid after he suspended General Wiranto in an extraordinary back-flip just hours after declaring that he could remain in the Cabinet.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid yesterday achieved exactly what he wanted – General Wiranto's absence from government – without destabilising the nation's delicate political balance.

Vaudine England – Interpreting the statements and intent of President Abdurrahman Wahid is a full-time, fascinating, but often frustrating task for anyone interested in tracking the evolution of this new and highly original democracy.

Sri Wahyuni and Asip Agus Hasani, Yogyakarta – The expectations spoke for themselves when Amien Rais remained virtually unchallenged in his bid to retain the National Mandate Party chairmanship on Sunday.

Seth Mydans, Jakarta – In the nearly two years since Indonesia's strongman, Suharto, stepped down in May 1998, it is the press that has been the most free, and the most tumultuous, of Indonesia's institutions. It has been the fundamental underpinning for the continuing move toward a democratic society.

Kate Linebaugh – Indonesia's bank rescue agency (Ibra) inched nearer to recouping the cost of propping up the nation's lenders this week when it replaced management at the country's biggest car-maker, clearing the way for the agency to sell its 43 percent stake.

In his test of wills with the Indonesian military, President Abdurrahman Wahid has received much foreign support, particularly from Washington. On January 31 at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, he met with Stanley Roth, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific. Roth then spoke with Asiaweek Editor Ann M.

Jakarta – Indonesian police have detained an Australian labor consultant for questioning over his alleged participation in street protests here, the Jakarta Post said Friday.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) unveiled on Thursday a plan to enhance its arsenal and manpower reserves in a bid to address the escalating threats of security disturbances and social unrest in the country.

Seth Mydans, Jakarta – Perhaps the most telling insult to Indonesia's armed forces, people here say, is that mothers no longer encourage their daughters to marry a military man.

Dan Murphy, Jakarta – Car maker Astra International has long been among Indonesia's best-regarded companies, one that the son of its founder calls a "cash machine." Its lock on the domestic car industry has allowed it to weather three devaluations of the rupiah, attacks on its showrooms by angry mobs and acrimonious takeover battles.

General Wiranto wanted to explain to the people of Singapore what the real situation was in Indonesia, he told The Straits Times' Indonesia Correspondent Susan Sim.

Tim Dodd – The management of one of Indonesia's largest and most promising companies was ousted yesterday at an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders in Jakarta.

May Sari, Jakarta – Thousands protested against the meeting of the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) – which includes 30 donor countries and is chaired by the World Bank – on February 1. The meeting considered the Indonesian government's progress in imposing austerity, the condition for granting Jakarta's requests for further loans and "donations".

Seth Mydans, Ambon – The most frightening sound is the wild banging of stones on metal light poles, a ringing crescendo of panic that begins nobody-knows-where and spreads in moments around this violent, broken seaside town.

While world attention is focused on the crimes committed by Indonesia's military in East Timor last year, former Indonesian president Suharto is living in peace and comfort, still not charged for the countless crimes against humanity he ordered during his 33-year dictatorship.

Jakarta – The continuing conflict in Maluku falls into line with the Army's struggle to protect its political and economic interests following the end of the New Order regime, a member of reconciliatory team in the territory says.

John Martinkus, Kupang – Exiled pro-Indonesian East Timorese militiamen are making ends meet by selling their military-supplied weapons to embattled Christians from the riot-torn island of Ambon.

Jakarta – Former Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. (ret.) Feisal Tanjung on Monday vehemently denied being part of an alleged plan to "eliminate" President Abdurrahman Wahid and Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Jakarta – The number of known hard drug addicts in Jakarta has soared by at least 400 percent in the past three years, and the real increase could be much larger, a newspaper report said on Tuesday.

Soraya Permatasari, Jakarta – The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) on Tuesday won its battle to oust the head of auto conglomerate Astra International, moving a step closer to the crucial sale of its 45 percent stake in the firm.

Andrew McNaughtan – The truth is out – officially. A year ago, when the Indonesian military's covert campaign to hold East Timor through coercion was taking shape, it was almost unimaginable that an Indonesian inquiry would ever have the power and the will to publish its damning report about what happened in East Timor.