Nurdin Hasan – An Aceh Party politician was shot in his home Thursday morning in what may be the latest instance of campaign violence leading up to Aceh's elections.

Saifuddin Yunus was rushed to the Lhokseumawe military hospital by his groundskeeper with a gunshot wound to the torso. Saifuddin was conscious and able to talk when he arrived at the hospital.

Nani Afrida – Political competition typically turn friends into rivals; an example evident to many Acehnese in the changing relationship between former governor Irwandi Yusuf and the former commander of the freedom fighters, Muzakir Manaf.

They are competing closely in the election scheduled for April 9, with Muzakir as the running mate of Zaini Abdullah.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Just like any mother, 60-year-old Maryani (not her real name) hoped that the ties binding her three beloved sons would always be strong after their suffering during decades of war in Aceh.

[Aceh's second direct gubernatorial election is scheduled for April 9, after five delays following unsolved deaths, violence and former governor Irwandi Yusuf's legal battle to run for governor again.

[Renewed violence in Aceh killed at least 15 people in at least three regencies since last October, with police saying they cannot identify most of the perpetrators. The following is a report by The Jakarta Post's Nani Afrida on post-conflict reconciliation, to be followed later this week by reports on the economy and the direct local elections.]

Nani Afrida – "Jakarta never keeps its promises," the Acehnese used to say. They would point to 1965, when founding father Sukarno promised them an autonomous province in return for their contribution to the fledgling republic; and 2001, when then president Megawati Soekarnoputri vowed that blood would no longer be spilled in Aceh.

Samantha Michaels & Emily Johnson, Banda Aceh – It's New Year's Eve, and a group of young friends have gathered at an outdoor basketball court in Banda Aceh for a late-night jam session. Here, where Sharia law reigns, unmarried men and women are not supposed to congregate, especially late at night, but a few young girls have decided to join in.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – The Aceh legislative council finally passed a sharia bylaw on regional elections during a plenary session on Friday.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Police in Aceh are issuing increasingly strident demands for a reluctant public to relinquish the estimated thousand-odd firearms still held illegally after the province's civil war ended in 2005.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – The dispute between factions of former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members may escalate following a coordination meeting held by ex-guerrilla leaders to form a political counterweight to Aceh Party (PA), a local party founded by former combatants after a peace agreement was signed in Helsinki in 2005.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – With political elites in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam at loggerheads with each other in a battle to rule the resource-rich province in the upcoming gubernatorial poll, violence threatens to tear the province apart.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – In a show of force by the winners of the last local elections, tens of thousands of members of the Aceh Party descended on the provincial capital on Sunday in support of the party's candidates for the April 9 polls.

Banda Aceh – Ulema in Aceh have warned Muslims, the younger generation in particular, that observing Valentine's Day is not allowed in Islam and against Shariah law that is in force in all of Aceh province.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – The rescheduling of the Aceh gubernational poll drew protests on Monday from those including incumbent governor Irwandi Yusuf, who is seeking his second term.

Agus Triyono & Nurdin Hasan – The decision earlier this month by polling officials in Aceh to postpone February's local elections to as late as April was approved by the Constitutional Court on Friday, but the move failed to end the months-long bickering in the issue.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Candidate pairs for the Aceh gubernatorial election underwent Koran recital tests in Banda Aceh on Tuesday as part of an official examination of their Islamic views.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – The Aceh Party, founded by former Aceh Freedom Movement (GAM) combatants, finally registered its candidates at the Independent Election Commission Aceh (KIP Aceh) on Friday.

The party had threatened to boycott the poll if its demand for a postponement was not fulfilled. The poll has now been rescheduled from Feb. 16 to April 9.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Polling officials in Aceh announced on Thursday that they had no choice but to push back the long-awaited local elections there from Feb. 16 to April 9.

Ezra Sihite, Nurdin Hasan & Arientha Primanita – The Constitutional Court has weighed in on the dispute over the upcoming Aceh elections with a ruling that unregistered candidates should be given the chance to sign up, but few were satisfied with the decision.

James Balowski, Jakarta – A group of music lovers organising a charity concert in Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh are the latest victims of the province's discriminatory and abusive sharia laws. The 64 youths were released on December 23 after undergoing 10 days of "moral rehabilitation" in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.

Ezra Sihite – A legislative fact-finding team has concluded that the recent deadly shootings in Aceh in the lead-up to local elections are politically motivated and should not be treated as normal crimes.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – The upcoming gubernatorial elections in Aceh are facing uncertainty following a move by the ruling Aceh Party (PA) to challenge the Independent Election Commission's (KIP) decision to go ahead with the poll as scheduled.

Farouk Arnaz & Ezra Sihite – An Aceh lawmaker's home was shot at and attacked with fuel bombs on Tuesday, an act that appears to undermine official claims that the province is calm and secure following a recent spate of violence.

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – As the body of a victim of the most recent Aceh shooting was flown home on Saturday to Semarang, Central Java, former members of the Free Aceh Movement denied speculation that they were behind the violence.

Bagus BT Saragih and Nani Afrida, Jakarta – Observers and human rights watchdogs are saying that recent shootings in Aceh that have killed four people in the last week alone are politically motivated.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – One person was killed and two others injured in the latest act in a spate of violence in Aceh, while dozens of workers in the area have been sent back to their hometowns in East Java.

Nani Afrida, Jakarta – The Commission on Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) Aceh said on Thursday that it was very important for the government to review some sections of four sharia bylaws (Qanun) as they led to abuses of authority.

Three construction workers were shot by an unidentified man in the latest shooting spree in Simpang Aneuk Galong, Aceh Besar regency, Aceh, on Thursday evening.

The three victims, Gunoko, 30, Agus Swetnyo, 35, and Sotiku Anas, 25, were being treated in the Zainoel Abidin public hospital's intensive care unit in Banda Aceh.

Ahmad Pathoni, Banda Aceh – Four people were killed in two separate armed attacks on New Year's Eve in Indonesia's Aceh province, police and a resident said on Sunday.

Banda Aceh, Indonesia – Aliya Humaira scribbled a message on yellow paper in the shape of a petal: "I love Papa, I love Mama, I love Sister Icha, I love Brother Kiki."

The 8-year-old Aliya lost her parents, a brother and a sister in the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that devastated Aceh province on Indonesia's Sumatra island.

Sixty-five punks detained and sent through a 10-day forced "re-education" program at a police camp in Aceh Besar were released on Friday. In an interview with the Jakarta Globe, Insp. Gen.

Jakarta – Former members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) denied on Friday any involvement in corrupt practices in local administrations and challenged anti-graft groups to come forward with evidence of their involvement.

"Please give us proof about our involvement in corrupt practices," said former GAM member Suadi Sulaiman, now a member of the Pidie local council.

Farouk Arnaz – Sixty-five punk rock enthusiasts detained by the Aceh Police and sent for "re-education" were released on Friday after 10 days of spiritual and physical coaching.

Jakarta – An anti-graft non-governmental organization has alleged that former members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), now members of the local `government, were involved in corrupt practices.

Arientha Primanita & Antara – Muslims students and clerics in staunchly Islamic Aceh on Wednesday came to the defense of the local authorities, saying that punks were trying to undermine Islamic law in the province, as officials claim.

Banda Aceh – Several community organizations issued a joint statement on Wednesday rejecting the presence of punks in Aceh and called on the local government to issue an ordinance that would outlaw a punk lifestyle.

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – About 20 people staged a protest in front of the Indonesian Consulate General in San Francisco, the United States, on Monday in connection with the arrest of 65 youths during a punk rock concert in Aceh.

Fakhrurradzie Gade, Seulawah, Indonesia – Mohawks buzzed and noses free of piercings, dozens of youths march in military-style for hours beneath Indonesia's tropical sun – part of efforts by authorities to restore moral values and bring the "deviants" back into the mainstream.

Arientha Primanita – Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf said on Tuesday that police actions to re-educate punks did not violate human rights and instead showed government concern towards the punks.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Police have recaptured two young punks, one of them a minor, who escaped "re-education" at a police camp in the hills 62 kilometers east of Banda Aceh.

Banda Aceh Police chief Armensyah Thay said Syaukani, 20, and Saiful Fadli, 17, escaped from police custody around noon on Saturday because they "missed their parents."

Farouk Arnaz – The arrest of 64 punks in Banda Aceh for the alleged crime of being "punk" spurred a group of punks under the name of Solidarity for Aceh Punks United to rally in front of the National Police headquarters in Jakarta on Monday.

A group of self-proclaimed anarchist-punks in Moscow have released a video that shows them allegedly defacing the Indonesian embassy in Moscow in a show of support for dozens of punks being detained in Aceh.

Tifa Asrianti and Novia D. Rulistia, Jakarta – Following the round up and imposition of penalties upon a group of youths in Aceh for wearing punk rock haircuts or attire, some believe that it is clear that certain members of the sharia police in the region require additional education and training.

The Banda Aceh Ulema Assembly (MPU) accused dozens of youths described as "punks" that were arrested during a concert at the city's cultural park, of manipulating the concert permit.

Nurdin Hasan – "We are not criminals but we were beaten up like animals when the [police] tried to arrest us. We've never made trouble before," said a 20-year-old who managed to escape a raid last week by Aceh police officers for the supposed crime of being "punk."

Nurdin Hasan & Dessy Sagita, Banda Aceh – Amid rows of youths dressed in police uniforms, 15-year-old Arismunadar kept his head bowed and answered in brief snatches when questioned about his treatment at the police camp in Lembah Seulawah, Aceh Besar district.

Michelle Natalie – News of the recent detainment and "re-education" of some 60 punks in Banda Aceh has stirred up a hornet's nest of outrage among local and international punk rock communities, many of whom have responded with campaigns to signal support for their Sumatran brethren.

Nurdin Hasan – Indonesian sharia police are "morally rehabilitating" more than 60 young punk rock fans in Aceh province on Sumatra island, saying the youths are tarnishing the province's image.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Deputy mayor Illiza Sa'aduddin Djamal says she doesn't mind getting her hands dirty in her crusade against the punk community of Banda Aceh, proudly telling of how she has supervised police raids at cafes and city parks in recent months.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Dozens of young people were being held and punished by Aceh police on Tuesday for the supposed crime of being "punk," despite not being charged with any crime nor being brought before a court.