Jay Solomon – Indonesia's prospects of a rapid economic recovery have been dashed by the confluence of political uncertainty, financial scandal and the bloodletting in East Timor. Hopes of reversing the trend rest largely on a stable government asserting itself in the wake of the country's most democratic elections in decades.

Michael Shari, Singapore – For a while, Megawati Sukarnoputri had the edge in the race for Indonesia's presidency. Her party had won the highest percentage of the popular vote in the June elections, and she enjoyed the apparent backing of the military. So the betting was that when legislators voted for a President on October 20, Megawati would walk away with the crown.

Tony Jenkins – Abdurrahman Wahid, better known in his own country as Gus Dur, spoke to the Expresso in the lobby of the Hotel Mandarin at the start of the Popular Consultative Assembly (MPR), the body that has just elected him President of Indonesia.

Expresso: If you were elected President, would you respect East Timor's independence?

Keith B. Richburg, Jakarta – Some of the first well-wishers to call on Indonesia's new leader, Abdurrahman Wahid, were struck by the casual air he has brought to Indonesia's stately presidential palace.

He chatted amiably, he insisted on being called by his nickname, Gus Dur, and he sometimes propped a bare foot up on the sofa.

Yang Razali Kassim, Jakarta – It was clearly not something which Indonesians have seen before. The tension and high drama began last Thursday when then President BJ Habibie presented his account of his leadership – the so-called "accountability speech".

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Megawati Sukarnoputri's victory in yesterday's vice-presidential race illustrated both the risks of upsetting her supporters any further and the continuing strength of an Islamic alliance inside the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

Prangtip Daorueng, Seoul, Oct 22 (IPS) – Unable to cope with soaring food costs, many women workers in Indonesia are giving up work to breast feed their babies, cutting back on their own meals – or skipping altogether.

Jakarta – Violence across Indonesia subsided Friday after popular opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri was sworn in as vice president and the world's newest and third largest democracy took shape.

Jakarta – The quiet surroundings of Jakarta Hospital on Jl. Sudirman suddenly turned into a war zone on Wednesday midnight when some 50 frustrated military officers ran amok searching for suspected militant students hiding on the premises.

Jakarta – Five people have been killed and five injured in two days of fresh Muslim-Christian violence in Indonesia's Maluku islands, a report said Friday.

Most victims in the clashes on Saparua island in the central Malukus on Wednesday and Thursday suffered gunshot wounds, the Republika daily quoted local residents as saying. It was not clear who fired the shots.

Jakarta – Thousands of students rallied in Makassar, the capital of Indonesia's South Sulawesi province, on Friday to demand an independent state of Sulawesi, police and television reports said.

Raphael Pura, Jakarta – Megawati Sukarnoputri's election as Indonesian vice president is likely to defuse an angry backlash against her defeat in Wednesday's presidential vote. But it could also make President Abdurrahman Wahid's new government more unwieldy.

Jakarta – Indonesian cities were hit by riots and protests Wednesday after the national assembly elected Muslim leader Abdurrahman Wahid as president, enraging followers of his popular rival Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Joanna Jolly, Jakarta – The mood was excited and boisterous inside the assembly hall as legislators were called forward to cast their votes.

Megawati Sukarnoputri has lost the Indonesian presidential ballot to Abdurrahman Wahid, a revered and moderate Islam leader. The Indonesian Assembly backed Wahid over Sukarnoputri, the popular daughter of Indonesia's founding president, Sukarno.

Jakarta – Anti-riot troops fired tear gas Wednesday at thousands of angry supporters of Megawati Sukarnoputri who were marching on parliament after she lost the presidential election,

David Jenkins – Defence Minister General Wiranto, once portrayed as a possible kingmaker in Indonesian politics, appears to be an increasingly isolated figure, a man who may soon be out of a job and defending himself against charges that he oversaw his army's carefully laid plans to turn East Timor into a wasteland after the August 30 referendum.

[Colonel Haseman retired from the US Army in 1995, after 16 years of experience in defense liaison work – 13 in Indonesia and three in Burma. During this time, which included five years as US defense attachi to Indonesia, Colonel Haseman naturally became one of the premier US experts on the Indonesian military.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – The eastern island of Flores is the new front line in the battle over East Timor and between civilians and Indonesia's military, after the arrival there of thousands of troops withdrawn from East Timor, say residents and Jakarta-based analysts.

New York – US athletic apparel company Reebok on Monday released a report showing lax health and security conditions at two Indonesian factories producing its brand of athletic shoes.

Jakarta – Thousands of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) supporters staged simultaneous protests in major cities on Java on Sunday, encouraging Megawati Soekarnoputri to continue her struggle for presidency.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – A growing sense of unreality has taken root in Indonesia's presidential contest in the wake of President Bacharuddin Habibie's speech.

Jakarta – Respected Indonesian academic Nurcholis Majid, considered by many as a dark horse presidential candidate, is recieving growing support from the country's Muslim parties to compete with the three declared nominees, a party official said Saturday.

Jakarta – Supporters of opposition presidential hopeful Megawati Sukarnoputri returned to the streets on Saturday to press the national assembly to pick her as the new head of state.

Jakarta – A policeman and at least two, and up to nine, civilians were killed in renewed sectarian clashes in Ambon, the capital of the troubled eastern Indonesian province of Maluku, police and a report said Saturday.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Indonesian police and armed forces last night fired tear gas and rubber bullets in clashes with thousands of people protesting against President B.J. Habibie after a speech defending his 16-month rule failed to appease opposition parties.

Agencies in Jakarta – President Bacharuddin Habibie's election bid appeared to falter yesterday as demonstrators launched another day of violent protest and opposition lawmakers condemned a speech that defended his troubled 16-month tenure.

Did ASIS (Australian Secret Intelligence Service) supply the bullets that killed the Balibo five? Brian Woodley investigates.

Leafing through the old man's passport with the Indonesian visas and clangingly pertinent dates, it dawned on Matthew Coffey that he was at last looking at evidence supporting his father's tales of clandestine involvement in Timor.

Lenore Taylor – A photo album of the past 30 years of Australian/Indonesian relations would contain some memorable snaps. Look closely and a lot of them would show the same faces. Here's Prime Minister Keating and President Soeharto in the Presidential Palace, beaming as their foreign ministers, Gareth Evans and Ali Alatas, sign a security treaty in 1995.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Indonesia's opposition leader, Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri, has struck a secret deal to secure the presidency that would split the Golkar party of the floundering incumbent, Dr B.J. Habibie.

Jakarta – A court yesterday found the youngest son of former president Suharto innocent of two corruption charges involving a shady land deal after a six-month trial.

Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, 37, was the first member of Indonesia's former first family to be prosecuted for graft.

Jakarta – Indonesian President B.J. Habibie came under scathing criticism at the national assembly Friday as his bid for a new mandate triggered a second day of violent protests in the capital.

Jakarta – Thousands of students and taxi drivers were in an uproar yesterday over the dropping of the Soeharto probe and later staged a rally demanding the government continue its probe into the case.

Jakarta – Hundreds of protestors Wednesday demonstrated at the Australian embassy here Wednesday, hurling abuse, tomatoes and stones at the premises over the perceived arrogance of Australian troops in East Timor.

Jakarta – Indonesian Armed-Forces Commander General Wiranto accepted the nomination by President B.J. Habibie as his running mate for the October 20 presidential election, a local newspaper reported Thursday.

Jakarta – Some 2,000 supporters of Indonesian opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri swamped a major roundabout in central Jakarta on Wednesday to back her bid to become the country's fourth president.

The supporters were from different groups that began pouring into the roundabout from various directions around noon.

Vaudine England, Jakarta and Switzerland – Two probes into allegations former president Suharto amassed ill-gotten wealth have been dropped due to lack of evidence, the Government said yesterday amid howls of protest.

Susan Sim, Jakarta – Indonesia's two leading presidential candidates – Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri and Mr Abdurrahman Wahid, also known as Gus Dur – continued to confound political pundits here with an apparent show of their solidarity last Friday when they travelled together to East Java to visit the graves of their fathers.

Amy Chew, Jakarta – Indonesia's former ruling Golkar party said on Monday it had approached presidential frontrunner Megawati Sukarnoputri about possible cooperation but had been rebuffed.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government announced on Monday it has issued a regulation on the establishment of a human rights tribunal which would also cover alleged atrocities committed in East Timor.

Yenni Kwok – As Australian-led troops struggle to restore order and peace to East Timor, another battlefront is raging in Jakarta as local media fuel the fires of contempt among Indonesians for anything Australian.

Jakarta – Families of Indonesian veterans of East Timor protested at the Australian embassy here on Saturday, burning an effigy representing Australian soldiers.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the party which obtained the largest votes at the last general elections, says it has no intention to mobilize the masses no matter what the result of the presidential election on October 20 as non-violence has become its policy.

Jakarta – At least ten people have been killed and scores injured in renewed clashes between Muslims and Christians in an island in the riot-torn Indonesian province of Maluku, reports said Friday.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – The most open secret in Jakarta's murky political world is about the meeting which presidential frontrunner Megawati Sukarnoputri had with chairman of the ruling Golkar party, Akbar Tanjung.

Jakarta – Muslim leader Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid Thursday emerged as a strong contender to be Indonesia's next president in a race with opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri and incumbent B.J. Habibie.

Agencies in Jakarta – Opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri's chances of becoming Indonesia's next president weakened yesterday as a political rival won a key post and her party's main ally pondered withdrawing support.

Several hundred Megawati supporters demonstrated in central Jakarta, demanding the country's legislature select her as the next leader.

Medan – Five people were seriously injured on Thursday in a clash between riot police and workers demanding a pay rise near the Indonesian city of Medan, witnesses and hospital sources said.

Tim Dodd – General Wiranto knows who to blame for Indonesia's problems. It's a man in a black dinner suit with a mobile phone who is secretly directing the host of dark forces tearing at the unity of the nation.

Jakarta – Indonesia's military on Wednesday urged the country's new national assembly to endorse East Timor's independence vote and formally free the territory it invaded in 1975.

Police Brigadier General Taufiequrochman Ruki, reading out the views of the 38-strong parliamentary faction of military and police MPs said the military favored letting East Timor go.