Jakarta – An attack on a village in Sumatra left one man dead and 25 houses burned down, police and reports said Thursday, amid conflicting reports of who was responsible.

Gerry van Klinken – Is Indonesia's social fabric disintegrating? Or are the peasants simply in revolt?

Karen Polglaze, Jakarta – An East Timorese political party called yesterday on Indonesia's peak human rights body to help release resistance leader Jose Xanana Gusmao just as people ral

Peter Symonds – UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced last Thursday that Portuguese and Indonesian representatives had agreed to a "direct" ballot for the people of East Timor to de

Melbourne – Australia's defence forces have been placed on their highest level of military preparedness since the Vietnam War, in what analysts see as a clear sign of Canberra's growing

Jakarta – Indonesian authorities are to investigate whether relatives of former president Suharto are selling lavish London properties, and have called back his son-in-law from abroad f

Jakarta - The links between Pramoedya Ananta Toer and the People's Democratic Party (PRD) go back some time, starting in 1996.

Canberra – Indonesian soldiers sent to quell religious rioting on Ambon worsened the violence because they were not trained in non-lethal crowd control, the US-based Human Rights Watch

Jakarta – Scattered protests by bank employees greeted the weekend closure of 38 private banks here on Monday as owners of the closed banks mulled whether to sue the government over the

Indonesian opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri, quietly confident of securing the presidency this year, has vowed to put up a "clean and respectable" government with the will to res

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Only three per cent of Indonesians see any connection between democracy and elections – but nearly everyone intends to vote in the country's June poll.

Jakarta – The General Elections Commission (KPU) has set up a seven-member team, called the Team of Seven, to make a draft electoral code of conduct and stipulate internal rulings.

Jay Solomon, Jakarta – Abdurrahman Wahid, the chairman of Indonesia's largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, ruled out supporting opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri for pre

Jakarta – More than 200 East Timorese have reportedly been paid sums equivalent to between 50 and 100 euros to take part in a Wednesday pro-Indonesia demonstration in front of the Jakar

Jayapura – Irian Jaya Governor Freddy Numberi has confirmed that the government has rejected the Irian Jaya people's demand for the independence of West Papua (Irian Jaya) which represe

Martin Regg Cohn, Pusong – As Muslim worshippers ambled toward the onion-shaped domes of the village mosque, truckloads of combat troops moved into position.

Jakarta – The 53 members of the newly established National Elections Committee (KPU) are to convene on Monday morning to discuss a draft code of conduct for election campaigning, which

Jakarta – Leftist author Pramudya Ananta Toer hailed by international critics as Indonesia's leading modern novelist but gagged here until the fall of Suharto, is travel abroad for the

Michelle Grattan – Australians could be in East Timor by late next month as part of a United Nations contingent helping to plan for a July-August election on independence.

Ambon – Indonesian forces on the ravaged island of Ambon have been ordered to shoot residents who refuse to surrender weapons, a senior commander said.

Andrew Marshall, Dili – East Timor, according to Indonesian President B.J.

Dili – The first Portuguese diplomat to visit East Timor since Indonesia's 1975 invasion met with the troubled territory's two Roman Catholic bishops Sunday, amid reports of renewed fac

Sydney – The Indonesian government remained committed to releasing jailed resistance leader Jose Xanana Gusmao from house detention, possibly before a vote on the future of East Timor,

Labour is exporting more guns and other military equipment to Indonesia than the Tories – in spite of Robin Cook's much-vaunted "ethical" foreign policy.

Soraya Permatasari, Jakarta – Indonesia's textile industry, once a significant national breadwinner, has withered into a shadow of its former self under the strains of the country's dee

Geoff Spencer, Ambon – Indonesian soldiers raided homes and searched boat passengers Sunday in a security crackdown on the island of Ambon to quell fighting between Christians and Musli

London – The Blair Labour Government is exporting more than its predecessors, a British newspaper has revealed, despite Indonesia's ongoing illegal occupation of East Timor.

Sander Thoenes – The prospect that Indonesia may annul the 1975 annexation of East Timor before the end of this year, following a vote in which Timorese are expected to reject an offer

Gde Anugrah Arka, Jakarta – Indonesia said on Saturday it had closed 38 banks as part of a cleanup of the debt-laden industry considered crucial to efforts to rescue its ravaged economy

Andrew Marshall, Maubara – A pro-Indonesia militia controls this town. Men armed with rifles, spearguns and knives patrol the streets.

Jakarta – Jailed East Timor rebel leader Xanana Gusmao on Friday led international praise for Indonesia's agreement to hold a direct vote in East Timor that could speed the process to i

Jakarta – Former president Suharto's youngest son, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, was slapped under city arrest for 20 days Friday pending trial for his alleged involvement in a multi-mi

Jakarta – A human rights group has called on the government to unconditionally release jailed Indonesian political party leader Budiman Sujatmiko, dismissing an offer of clemency as una

Jakarta – Rock-throwing students damaged at least four churches and four Catholic schools in Ujunagpandang, the capital of Indonesia's South Sulawesi province, witnesses said Friday.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government is uncertain whether this year's landmark national election will be able to go ahead in East Timor or the troubled city of Ambon, a senior official s

Ambon – Indonesian police Thursday handed over control of this riot-torn city to the army, after a day of pitched battles between Moslems and Christians that left up to 10 dead and scor

Jakarta – A former general and minister in the Suharto administration was elected chairman of Indonesia's newly-established election commission Thursday and sworn in hours later by Pres

Ambon – Religious violence worsened on riot-torn Ambon Island after outnumbered troops opened fire on Muslim and Christian mobs fighting each other with spears, knives and gasoline bomb

Jakarta – A soldier and a local official, were shot dead by unidentified men in separate incidents in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province, it was reported here Thursday.

Ambon – Fires from burned homes smouldered and occasional warning shots rang out Thursday in the empty and tightly-guarded streets of Ambon, a day after renewed Moslem-Christian street

Jakarta – Lawyers for ex-Indonesian president Suharto on Thursday filed legal papers with the attorney general's office to demand that an inquiry into the former leader be stopped as hu

Demonstrations held on March 11 in a number of cities were not to commemorate the anniversary of the Supersemar, the document which enabled General Suharto to carry out a coup against S

Eduardo Lachica – An Indonesian opposition leader called on the US to help his country conduct free and fair elections, and Washington may be only too happy to oblige.

Jakarta – Student protesters, demanding the resignation of President B.J. Habibie, threw rocks at riot police who blocked them from marching on to Parliament Thursday.

Evelyn Leopold, United Nations – UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced Thursday that Indonesia and Portugal had agreed on a "direct" ballot for the people of East Timor to decide wh

Jakarta – The heads of warring factions in East Timor Thursday said they had agreed to work towards peace after a landmark meeting on hostilities in the strife-torn territory.

Jakarta – Opposition leader Megawati Soekarnoputri has claimed her party won't oppose independence for East Timor, but as long as the province remains part of Indonesia, the military ha

Jakarta – Indonesian students pressing for the trial of former President Suharto say it is the only way to restore public faith in the government of Dr B.J.

Chris Latham – Last year featured the largest protest movement in the history of Indonesia.

Following is the text of an International Women's Day message to Australian activists from Indonesia's only woman political prisoner, DITA SARI.