Jakarta – Influential Muslim leader Abdurrahman Wahid has warned that a social revolution in Indonesia could claim up to three million lives and all parties should therefore work to prevent the possibility of such a national disaster, the Indonesian Observer newspaper reported yesterday.

Jakarta – Indonesian police opened fire on thousands of workers staging a protest in East Java, wounding four people while another was injured by a rifle butt, a report said Friday.

Some 3,000 workers at PT Sinar Indo Megantara in Surabaya held a protest on Thursday to demand the personnel manager resigns, the Republika daily said.

Jakarta – The newly formed National Awakening Party (PKB) has nominated popular Moslem leader Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid as its candidate for the presidency at the upcoming elections, a newspaper said Friday.

"This is serious. The PKB is nominating Gus Dur," PKB executive Muhaimin Iskandar was quoted by the Jakarta Post daily as saying.

Jakarta – Under the watchful eyes of some 300 supporters of the defendants, the Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday conducted a speedy trial for all 55 student protesters arrested for holding an illegal rally on Tuesday.

Jakarta – Three out of 11 Indonesian soldiers being court martialled for a series of kidnappings Thursday admitted to abducting some political activists, a witness said.

Three junior officers from the elite army Kopassus special force described how they were involved in kidnapping eight pro-democracy activists.

Jakarta – In a highly critical self-assessment the World Bank has admitted it may have overlooked warning signs as the "Indonesian miracle" faded because of a desire not to upset Jakarta.

McCarthy, Jakarta – Indonesian elections and the prospect of a new government this year probably won't derail the country's major economic reform program, the International Monetary Fund's top official in Asia, Hubert Neiss, said Wednesday.

Jakarta – Forty-nine new political parties have registered at the Justice Ministry to contest the June general election, but only 17 have met administrative requirements, officials said yesterday.

Rasi Manopo, secretary of the ministry's registration committee, said 49 parties have applied to participate in the June 7 election since registrations commenced on February 5.

Jakarta – Observers urged the Armed Forces (ABRI) on Monday to reconsider its shoot-on-sight order against rioters, saying that capturing the masterminds of recent unrest would do more to improve the military's image.

Jakarta – The initial findings of an investigation by the attorney general's office and the foreign ministry have failed to find any wealth or assets belonging to former president Suharto abroad, a report said Tuesday.

Jakarta – Indonesian security forces arrested scores of students Tuesday as they marched towards parliament in the first big anti-government demonstration this year, witnesses said.

Olle Tornquist, Oslo – Almost every day, I am asked two questions. The first is terribly hard to answer in a manner both brief and academically considered: what's happening to democratization in Indonesia?

Jakarta – Indonesia's official Human Rights Commission said on Monday religious rioting could easily break out again in the eastern island of Ambon, saying the death toll from clashes last month had passed 160.

Commissioner Albert Hasibuan criticised the military for being ineffective in preventing the unrest erupting and slow in putting it down.

Jakarta The rush to prepare independent observers of the polls, slated to take place in barely five months, continues as the country's two largest Muslim organizations cooperate to prepare 123,600 volunteer poll observers.

They have no identity and are nameless. They are almost invisible, and, above all, certainly untouchable. Yet, they are so powerful as to have left a trail of untold deaths and massive destruction across the country in the space of only a few months.

Greg Earl, Jakarta – Indonesia has pushed ahead with its new quest for international assistance, as Japan confirmed it would provide $US2.4 billion before Indonesia holds general elections in June.

Jakarta – Ex-president Suharto's brother-in-law, Ibnu Hartomo, has denied that he is seeking to protect Suharto by setting up a coalition of new parties.

John Colmey and David Liebhold, Jakarta - In the financial world they call it the poison pill, a labyrinth of cross-vested interests designed to protect a company from hostile takeover. In Indonesia, it was known as the New Order, or sometimes Suharto Inc.

Jakarta – The Indonesian military has been given orders to shoot-on-sight in a bid to stamp out violence, Indonesian armed forces chief General Wiranto told reporters Saturday.

Michael Richardson, Jakarta – An Indonesian proposal to consider independence for East Timor if the disputed territory refuses to accept autonomy is a high-risk strategy that could encourage other restive parts of Indonesia – the world's largest island-nation – to break away or loosen the bonds holding it together, in the view of some analysts and officials in neighboring countries.

Jakarta – In the latest incidents of mass violence to hit Indonesia, separate mobs attacked a police post in Sumatra and burned the parliament house in West Kalimantan province, press reports said Saturday.

[The following is a translation by Down to Earth of a report from Musirawas (South Sumatra) by local journalist, Taufik Wijaya. It was dated 31st Dec 1998, but received via SiaR 5th Feb 1999. Some technical details need to be checked, as they differ from information previously provided by Indonesian and Australian colleagues (see below).

Tom McCawley, Jakarta – Twenty years ago, Defense Minister Gen. Muhamad Yusuf issued a stern warning to Indonesia's armed forces. "All serving officers are forbidden to enter the world of commerce," he said. "Forget about trade if you want to be a good soldier." More than 300 military members were asked to resign.

Jakarta – The new law on political parties has cut the traditional sources of funding for the ruling party Golkar: contributions from civil servants and state companies and government contractors.

While Golkar could, under the law, still solicit money from individuals and corporations, their contributions arc not automatic as they used to be.

Peter Symonds – After months of debate and haggling, the Indonesian parliament last week passed a series of amended political laws, which establish the framework for national elections on June 7. The legislation sets out in detail the new composition of the parliamentary bodies, the rules governing the election and the functioning of political parties.

Jakarta – University rectors across the country are to recruit 450,000 students to monitor voting at 75 percent of the estimated 600,000 polling booths, even as experts warned of possible unrest marring the event planned for June 7.

Jakarta – The death toll in fighting between Moslem and Christian communities in Ambon in eastern Indonesia's Maluku province that began last month has risen to 95, a report said here Wednesday.

Jenny Grant, Jakarta – Indonesia's powerful former first family is funding 12 political parties in an attempt to influence the June elections, opposition and party sources said yesterday.

Margot Cohen – Presidential hopeful Megawati Sukarnoputri is unquestionably the most prominent woman in Indonesian politics today. So what has she done for women lately?

Vaudine England, Jakarta – To the beat of drums and the sound of marching bands, opposition leader Amien Rais was yesterday acclaimed as his party's leader and presidential candidate by a cheering crowd of tens of thousands.

Jakarta – Hundreds of hoodlums from Indonesia's capital Jakarta arrived on the eastern island of Ambon days before it was hit by bloody riots that killed at least 65 people, a newspaper reported Monday.

Jakarta – A union of dozens of student groups said on Friday that they would appeal to the general public to join in their demands for a transitional government, which they hoped would transform the nation into a "New Indonesia".

Jakarta – The government's plan to form a civil militia has been denounced as "dangerous" by opposition leaders, but that has not stopped thousands of people in Bogor, West Java, from applying to join the civilian security units.

Jakarta – A military tribunal trying 11 alleged abductors of political activists revealed on Thursday the involvement of higher-ranking officers who have yet to be processed legally.

Jakarta – Former President Suharto has, for the first time, revealed that he was forced to step down on May 21 because of pressures exerted by a foreign power, according to a report in the Indonesian-language Harian Terbit newspaper.

Jakarta – Two witnesses, a civilian and a soldier, Thursday told an Indonesian military court they could not recognize any of the 11 military defendants as the abductors of activists they had encountered before.

Jakarta – Indonesian students and political parties formed since the fall of former president Suharto, have condemned an agreement to allow the military to keep 38 seats in parliament, reports said Thursday.

Jakarta – Indonesian MPs on Wednesday cleared a major hurdle blocking passage of political bills ahead of June elections, agreeing to give the military 38 seats in parliament, half the number they held under the former government of Suharto.

The Indonesian media announced on December 13 that Indonesian political prisoner Dita Sari had been offered early bail by the Habibie government. Dita, a labour activist and leader of the People's Democratic Party, was sentenced to five years' jail on April 22, 1997 for subversion. Her "crime" was daring to fight alongside Indonesian workers for democracy and justice.

Jakarta – A soldier told an Indonesian military court Tuesday he believed he recognized one of the 11 soldiers on trial as one of the abductors of three activists.

Jakarta – Two influential Indonesian student groups Tuesday split openly on whether to oppose elections slated for June, but those against dismissed reports they were planning a massive street protest this week against the polls.

Susan Sim, Jakarta – Armed with the first concrete proof that the recent deadly clashes across Indonesia were the work of organised provocateurs, military chief General Wiranto has sought the help of the country's most prominent opposition and reformist leaders to defuse tensions.

Terry Friel, Jakarta – As Indonesia lurches through its worst social and economic turmoil in 30 years, one thing political, military and religious leaders can agree on is that "dark forces" are masterminding the unrest sweeping their nation.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – Five Muslim men have been dragged from a truck at a Christian road-block, hacked to death and their bodies set alight, with an outnumbered military patrol standing helplessly by. The unofficial death toll in religious violence on the devastated Indonesian island of Ambon is now put at more than 100.

Jakarta – Security forces firing into a mob during a fight between two villages in Central Java, wounded six people, while another brawl between farmers in West Java left one man dead, reports said Monday.

Dorinda Elliott – There may be a financial crisis in Indonesia, but Ida Royani's business is booming. Her fashion collection has been rushed off to the stores, where outfits are flying off the racks as women buy new clothes to celebrate this week's end of Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting.

More than 200,000 people have been killed since Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975. For decades, the British government was complicit in these killings. All that was supposed to change in May 1997. Instead, it's been business as usual. John Pilger reports on the sham of Labour's ethical foreign policy

Maj.-General Agus Wirahadikusuma, a leading reformer in Indonesia's military, spoke with Time reporter Jason Tedjasukmana on January 17 about President Abdurrahman Wahid's relationship with the army and rumors of a possible coup Time: How would you characterize the army's relationship with President Wahid?

Jakarta – Indonesian armed forces chief General Wiranto assured top opposition leaders Sunday the military would support any winner of a fair election and would not try to take over the government.