Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – How many provinces are there in Indonesia now?

Marianne Kearney, Jayapura – Just six months ago, Irian Jaya's diverse tribal and ethnic groups gathered for a historic Papuan congress and agreed to struggle for independence together.

Tim Dodd – Like the two frayed ends of a rope, the provinces at either end of the 5,000km-long Indonesian archipelago are the weak points which look ready to unravel the country.

Don Greenlees, Jakarta – It is easy to see what has gone wrong for Indonesia in Irian Jaya.

Reuters in Jakarta – Indonesia is running a secret campaign to stop the rich and restive province of Irian Jaya breaking away, using a combination of bullying, clandestine operations an

Jakarta – Indonesia's Parliament maintained a "soft" approach to the separatist movements in Aceh yesterday by rejecting civil-emergency status and promising better law enforcement for

Jakarta – The Indonesian government on Wednesday warned that it will get tough against separatist movements in Aceh and Irian Jaya provinces at opposite ends of the far flung archipelag

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Giving money and power to more than 350 districts across the country is the only way Indonesia can survive as a nation-state, the Minister of Settlement and R

Makassar – Army Chief Endriartono Sutarto has warned that ongoing calls for secession and independence in some parts of the country could lead to national disintegration.

Bandung – Before the law on regional autonomy is implemented in January next year, more than 2.6 of the 4.2 million central government employees will be transferred to provincial admini

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – National Assembly (MPR) chairman Amien Rais warned yesterday that Aceh and Irian Jaya could break apart from Indonesia in one to two years' time if Jakarta did

Jakarta – A senior Indonesian general has warned that foreign powers – including the United States – may be plotting to take over the remote province of Irian Jaya, the official Antara

Anthony Spaeth – If you stand at the harbor of Surabaya, Indonesia's famed port and second-largest city, you can see the island of Madura only 4 km across the water.

Jakarta – Indonesia yesterday demanded that separatists drop demands for independence for Aceh, and warned that it was losing patience in the search for peace for the troubled province.

Chris McCall, Pekanbaru – When Indonesia's politicians and pundits talk about the separatist movements that plague the country, two provinces on the opposite ends of the archipelago are

Geoff Spencer, Jakarta – In an apologetic speech, President Abdurrahman Wahid on Monday promised lawmakers he would prevent fierce sectarian and separatist conflicts from tearing Indone

Vaudine England, Jayapura – Tension is rising in the province of Irian Jaya, with almost daily incidents of protest, killing or intimidation occurring across the vast land mass.

Vaudine England, Jayapura – A protest in the Irian Jayan port city of Sorong yesterday left six people dead, highlighting the spread of problems from the tortured Maluku Islands as tho

London – Slowly but surely, and away from the prying of television cameras, Indonesia is starting to fall apart.

Why is Irian Jaya such a hot issue, and are there parallels to be drawn with East Timor?

Bertil Lintner – Following years of military repression, Indonesia's new president, Abdurrahman Wahid, has adopted a new approach to solving ethnic and religious conflict in the archipe

Jakarta – As a compromise to the intense calls for independence, resource-rich Irian Jaya is offering to remain within Indonesia if it retains a bigger portion of its own wealth, an ini

Mark Abberton – Following the downfall of the Suharto and Habibie governments, the election of the "reform" president, Abdurrahman Wahid, and the withdrawal of Indonesian troops from Ea

Jakarta – The second Riau People's Congress in the provincial capital Pekanbaru concluded on Tuesday with a poll that resulted in a majority vote for independence.

Community and business leaders on the Indonesian island of Bali have asked their local parliament to seek greater autonomy within Indonesia.

Beijing – On the eve of expected demonstrations for independence in Indonesia's restive Aceh province, Indonesian President Adurrahman Wahid vowed Friday to use "repressive force" to ke

Amy Chew of Reuters in Jakarta – The odds on Indonesia holding on to Aceh are no better than even, and a political solution must be found to stop separatist pressure breaking the countr

Jakarta – Hundreds of Indonesian students lowered the national flag outside the Riau provincial governor's office in protest after President Abdurrahman Wahid warned separatist activist

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 repo

Jakarta – Thirty MPs from Indonesia's Aceh province Wednesday urged the nation's highest legislative body to give the troubled region a broad-based autonomy along the lines proposed for

Vaudine England, Jakarta – On the same day that an independent commission to investigate military abuses was visiting Aceh for the first time, seven leading political parties announced

Jakarta – Thousands of indigenous villagers in the Irian Jaya town of Timika on Thursday protested against Indonesia's plans to carve the remote province into three parts, resident sour

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Riau, Indonesia's most oil-rich province in central Sumatra, has demanded that it become a semi-autonomous federal state despite Jakarta's proposal last week

Jay Solomon, Pekanbaru – One of Indonesia's richest provinces is slowly prying control of its natural wealth from the central government, posing a major challenge to Jakarta and some bi

Jakarta – Indonesia's House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill which will grant greater autonomy to the governments of the country's 27 provinces and their sub-regencies, wit

Jakarta – Community leaders from the far-eastern Indonesian province of Irian Jaya met President B.J.

Jakarta – The newly-launched Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) lashed out at President B.J.

Troubled Province's Release To enable RI To Concentrate on Development, Says President

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 enco

Jakarta – The governor of Indonesia's troubled Aceh province has called for the country to change from a republic to a federation to cope with growing separatist pressures.

Margot Cohen, Ujung Pandang – More than 30 years ago, Rahmat Hasanuddin boarded a canoe at a remote hamlet on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi and journeyed in search of higher educati

Dili – An assistant to the UN secretary general said here Wednesday he has met jailed East Timorese resistance leader Xanana Gusmao at his Jakarta jail.

Jakarta – Indonesian authorities have finally given approval for the citizens of Yogyakarta to install the popular head of the region's royal family as their governor, reports said Wedn

Sander Thoenes – Customers at Maria Olandina Alves's little bamboo eatery get a spoonful of outspoken views on the latest news in East Timor included with the meal.

Jakarta – The Irianese community in Jakarta called on President B.J, Habibie yesterday to grant immediate autonomy to their home province and accused the central government of failing t

Following a meeting in Jakarta between Indonesian opposition leaders Abdulrachman Wahid, leader of the mass-based Nadlatul Ulama, and Megawati Sukarnoputri, leader of the PDI, the two o

Louise Williams, Jakarta – Tensions are rising in East Timor ahead of a visit this week of the United Nations special envoy Mr Jamsheed Marker, and tens of thousands of non-Timorese res

Jenny Grant, Jakarta – Activists and parliamentarians yesterday welcomed a compromise offer from East Timorese independence leader Jose Ramos-Horta on the future of the disputed territo

The Indonesian Antara Newsagency claimed on 23 November that Indonesia's opposition political figure, Megawati Sukarnoputri said that East Timor is part of Indonesia.

Jakarta – The daughter of former Indonesian president Sukarno and a leading opposition personality, Megawarti [sic] Sukarnoputri, said on Saturday that East Timor was part of Indonesia.