Susan Sim, Jakarta – In an extraordinary display of the lobbying skills of Golkar leaders, party chief Akbar Tandjung was set to be elected Speaker of Parliament (DPR) without a vote being cast last night.

Vaudine England and Agencies, Jakarta – Soldiers and riot police lounged in makeshift camps under flyovers and in central parks across Jakarta as their leaders held festivities to mark Army Day at the palm tree-lined grounds of Cilangkap military headquarters.

Sydney – East Timorese resistance leader Jose Ramos Horta launched a bitter attack on former Australian prime minister Paul Keating on Tuesday, accusing him of betraying the people of East Timor.

By James Balowski

Vaudine England – Indonesia's military plans a simple celebration of its 54th birthday today, but is paying little heed to growing unpopularity at home and abroad.

Last year's Army Day involved intricate performances by a dazzling array of marching bands, including one group of drummers dressed as frogmen complete with flippers.

Jakarta – Thousands of Indonesian students in the capital and other cities in Java and Sumatra Tuesday marked the 54th Indonesian Armed Forces Day with mass protests demanding the military return to barracks, witnesses and reports said.

Vaudine England and agencies, Jakarta – All bets are now off for the forthcoming presidential poll in the wake of several startling, democratic events in the country's highest political body, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

Terry J. Allen, Vermont – Quietly tucked away in the hills of Vermont, Norwich University, the only private military college in the country, has continued to educate and train future members of the Indonesian army, even as President Clinton has effectively frozen all relations with that country's military in the wake of the violence in East Timor.

Documents which would reveal Britain's secret role in Indonesian politics in the Sixties that led to "one of the worst mass murders of the 20th century" and Jakarta's eventual annexation of East Timor are being kept under lock and key.

Jakarta – Some 150 Indonesian students took to the streets of Jakarta Monday, calling on the newly-elected national assembly, now in its first session, to implement reforms.

Tomi Soetjipto, Jakarta – Indonesia's supreme legislative assembly elected a leading reformist as speaker on Sunday in its first contested vote since the 1950s, a step which could be crucial in the fight for the presidency.

Jakarta – A student died in hospital in the Indonesian city of Bandarlampoung Sunday, a second victim of clashes between protestors and security personnel, a university employee said.

Sydney – Australia would not sanction its own investigation into war crimes in East Timor, Defence Minister John Moore said Sunday.

Australian lawyers are planning to head to East Timor as part of an International Committee of Jurists investigation into alleged atrocities.

Moris Morissan, Jakarta – Indonesia on Friday reported its seventh straight month of falling prices in another sign that the grass roots of its shattered economy were recovering from crisis.

Lewa Pardomuan, Jakarta – Indonesia's top legislative body will elect a new president on October 20, bringing forward an event many hope will halt the country's leadership drift under the deeply unpopular incumbent, B.J. Habibie.

Indonesia's generals are under scrutiny for human rights abuses in East Timor but have they covered their tracks? David Jenkins, Mark Dodd, Bernard Lagan and Simon Mann investigate.

Bandar Lampung – Lampung Military Police yesterday began investigating eight military officers allegedly involved in the shooting that took place during a students protest in front of the Bandar Lampung University (UBL) campus on Tuesday. One student was killed during the demonstration.

Claudia Gazzini, Jakarta – Protests broke out across Indonesia on Thursday over grievances ranging from the UN-backed intervention in East Timor to the pace of democratic reform.

Tony Wright, Canberra – The Federal Government is considering selling billions of dollars worth of prime defence land throughout Australia to pay for its massively expensive military commitment to East Timor.

The UN Human Rights Commission will go ahead with an inquiry into alleged human rights atrocities in East Timor with or without co-operation from Indonesia, a spokesman said yesterday.

"We would hope for co-operation from Indonesia, but if they fail to give their co-operation, it will not deter us from going forward," UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said.

Bandar Lampung – The mourning of Yap Yun Hap who died of gunshot wounds had hardly lifted from the Indonesia University campus grounds, when news broke through that another student, M. Yusuf Rizal (23), has fallen victim at the Bandar Lampung University of Lampung on Tuesday (28/9).

Jakarta – Some 1,000 Indonesian students returned to the streets here Wednesday in a peaceful protest against military violence.

The protesters, mostly from the University of Indonesia, massed at a busy roundabout in the capital's main thoroughfare, chanting slogans and brandishing signs against what they called the military's meddling in all aspects of life.

Jakarta – In an unprecedented move, Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Wiranto brought together on Tuesday leaders of six major political parties to hammer out a commitment to ensure the General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) runs smoothly.

Compere: Well, finally returning to East Timor. The crisis may have soured Australia's relationship with Indonesia, but the Federal Government is making it very clear it's not going to encourage independence elsewhere in our giant northern neighbour. Yesterday AM reported on smuggled footage from Ambon showing demonstrators being fired on by the military.

Ambon – A total of 217 fatalities were recorded in communal clashes across the province between July and September, police said on Tuesday.

Maluku Police chief Col. Bugis Saman told a media conference that the number of casualties was likely to be higher due to unconfirmed reports by people of missing relatives.

Jakarta – Australian flags were burned Monday in at least two Indonesian cities, while anti-Australian rallies took place in two other cities amid whipped-up resentment against Canberra's role in East Timor, witnesses and reports said.

Jakarta – As the UN Human Rights Commission approved a probe into allegations of abuse by Indonesian-backed militias in East Timor, newspapers here were screaming about "atrocities" committed by Australian troops in the territory. "Australian troops torture militias," read a headline in the Indonesian Observer [article included below - JB] Tuesday.

[Please note that this item was included to provide an example of the Indonesian media's anti-Australian campaign and is not intended to be taken as a serious news report - James Balowski.]

Chris Michaud, New York – Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer on Tuesday praised Indonesian President B.J. Habibie's policies on the troubled East Timor region, saying that without Habibie the saga may never have been resolved.

[The following is a compilation of several reports sent to ASIET (Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor) by the Central Leadership Committee of the People's Democratic Party (KPP-PRD) in Jakarta.]

Jakarta – Protests against a new state security bill in Indonesia claimed another life Tuesday when security forces shot dead a student in clashes in the Sumatra island city of Bandar Lampung, hospitals and reports said. At least 27 others were injured in the protest, which followed the deaths of at least seven people, one a student, in similar protests in Jakarta last week.

Major political heavyweights hope to arrive at some consensus on the rules of the game for the presidential election scheduled for Nov 10

Jakarta – Fearing being visited and taken away by security authorities, at least four patients suffering injuries sustained in a violent rally in Semanggi cloverleaf on Thursday and Friday have fled Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, hospital employees said on Sunday.

Jakarta – Drug abuse has become a major social ill in Indonesia, especially among the young, a report said Sunday adding without urgent preventive action, "a new catastrophe" was in the making.

Drug counsellors said peer pressure, poor enforcement and lack of treatment facilities were among the key factors contributing to the rise of the drug scourge.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Moves to accelerate the constitutional process of finding a new Indonesian president are well under way, promoted by a group of opposition political parties.

Craig Skehan, Peter Cole-Adams and Mark Metherell – Indonesia turned up the heat on Australia yesterday with accusations of torture by Interfet forces in East Timor and bans on wheat imports as it tried to deflect attention from worsening civil unrest.

Jakarta – City authorities will deploy as many as 605 companies or about 60,000 security officers to safeguard the upcoming General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), Governor Sutiyoso said on Friday.

Jakarta – The streets of Indonesia's capital were quiet on Saturday after days of bloody anti-military riots in which at least six people were reported to have been killed, but security forces were wary of more unrest.

Craig Skehan and Ningrum Widyastuty, Jakarta – Police used tear gas and beat protesters in the streets of Jakarta as pro-democracy groups claimed the way had been cleared for Indonesia to be ruled by a military junta in the wake of Parliament's passage of new security laws yesterday.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – At least three people were killed and more than 50 others injured in another bloody clash between security forces and at least 10,000 Indonesian demonstrators yesterday protesting against a new law giving the armed forces sweeping emergency powers.

Geoffrey Barker – Few, if any, Indonesian military chiefs and their militia proxies are likely to be tried, convicted and jailed for atrocities committed in East Timor before and since the August 30 independence ballot.

Slobodan Lekic, Jakarta – The Indonesian government on Friday suspended a new law giving the armed forces expanded emergency powers, a day after its passage sparked one of the most serious protests to hit the capital since former President Suharto was forced from power.

Sarah Crichton, Kupang, the capital of West Timor, may soon explode into riots because of mounting tension between local residents and arrogant militias from East Timor, says a returning aid worker.

Washington – Events in East Timor and the Bank Bali scandal threaten to derail Indonesia's fragile economic recovery but it has not yet been knocked completely off track, the World Bank said Thursday.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – International calls for the prosecution of Indonesians for war crimes in East Timor are sure to meet stiff opposition in Jakarta, and even some human rights monitors in the capital suggest now is not the time to pile on yet more pressure.

Grainne McCarthy, Jakarta – The drastic deterioration in relations between Indonesia and Australia over East Timor threatens to damage trade and investment between the two countries, business executives say.

Keith B. Richburg, Jakarta – In the port town of Balikpapan, on Borneo island, an Australian diplomat was dispatched to help rescue Australian mine workers besieged by people demonstrating against foreigners. He spent most of his time hiding from angry crowds, running down back stairwells and being trundled into a getaway van.

Andrew Marshall, Jakarta – Indonesia's decision to allow an independent auditor to probe a damaging banking scandal has backfired spectacularly – instead of placating foreign donors and investors it has highlighted the myriad risks they face.

Seth Mydans, Jakarta – When international peacekeepers land in East Timor in the days ahead, they will witness the departure of a defeated Indonesian army at the lowest ebb in its history – humbled, hesitant, embittered and convulsively violent.

London – The government of Prime Minister Tony Blair came under a hail of criticism Sunday over the imminent delivery of British military planes to Indonesia despite a European Union embargo resulting from the East Timor crisis.