INDONESIA - Territorial Issues.

Indonesia has several complex territorial disputes. They no longer include East Timor, a former Portuguese colony which Indonesia invaded in Dec. 1975 and annexed in mid-1976. Indonesian control over East Timor ended on Oct. 31, 1999, as the last Indonesian troops left it after the East Timorese voted for independence. Until full independence, East Timor is run by an interim UN-Australian administration (see Vol. 52).

The other parts of Indonesia have been inherited from the Dutch East Indies colonial empire. These include Irian Jaya, Indonesia's easternmost province which is rich in hydrocarbons and is another trouble zone.

The isles of Sipadan and Ligitan, off Borneo, are also claimed by Malaysia. Jakarta wants this dispute resolved peacefully through the ASEAN, to which both Indonesia and Malaysia belong, while Kuala Lumpur has called for the issue to be resolved through the International Court of Justice at The Hague. The isles are off the coast of Indonesia's East Kalimantan and Malaysia's eastern state of Sabah. They are part of important sedimentary basins. In 1996, after years of inconclusive negotiations, Jakarta included the two isles in its new official map.

The Natuna islands, with their seabed very rich in gas and containing big oil reserves, are a potential trouble zone between Indonesia and China.

Aceh, a staunchly Muslim province in the north of Sumatra, has been a hotbed of separatism since May 1998. The Free Aceh Movement (FAM) has been fighting for an independent state for decades. It clashes frequently with local government forces. FAM militants also clash with local Christians and rich Chinese, calling for an Islamic state. Aceh is rich in gas and oil. It is home to the ExxonMobil-operated Arun LNG complex, which is the second biggest in the world. The world's biggest LNG complex is at Bontang in gas-rich East Kalimantan, another of Indonesia's rebellious provinces. Riau province in West Sumatra wants as big a share as possible from oil and gas income generated within its boundaries. Local militants are pushing for greater autonomy, under a proposed federal system, and have spearheaded violent unrest. Irian Jaya, the western half of New Guinea and Indonesia's easternmost province, rich in gas and oil, is another trouble zone. The Free Papua Organisation (OPM) has been fighting for an independent Melanesian state in this former Dutch territory since it became an Indonesian province in 1964.