Nurdin Hasan & Anita Rachman – A chapter of the Alliance of Independent Journalists, or AJI, in Aceh Province has rejected the proposed regional Islamic Press and Broadcasting Bylaw

Jakarta – A grenade exploded in front of a hotel in Peunayong in the Aceh capital of Banda Aceh on Friday at approximately 6:00 a.m.

Banda Aceh – Intimidation through setting fire to political party offices, banners, billboards and campaign advertising and threats against legislative candidates has tainted the admini

Hotli Simanjuntak – Thousands of Aceh residents held communal prayers in places of worship across the province on Friday as they honored the victims of the devastating 2004 tsunami that

Dozens West Aceh citizens staged a rally Friday marking the fourth anniversary of the tsunami to demand the government organize the reconstruction of the devastated areas in the provinc

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The looming termination of many labor-intensive programs in Aceh, combined with the remnants of its conflicts and rebellion, is putting the tsunami-devastated pr

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – An ineffective relief and recovery system has led to uneven distributions of disaster-relief funds for reconstruction projects post the tsunami disaster in 2004

It's four years this month, since the tsunami hit the Indonesian province of Aceh.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Despite Rp 50 billion (US$4.17 million) allocated for disaster mitigation in Aceh this year, nearly the entire province remains at threat from natural an

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Businesspeople in Nangroe Aceh Darussalam have blamed the improper implementation of sharia (Islamic law) for the lack of development in the province's t

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – The absence of an electoral supervisory agency in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam could trigger violations in the upcoming 2009 election process and threaten st

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Maimun panicked when a doctor told him he was infected with HIV, detected when he went to give blood for one of his relatives.

Canberra – Indonesian rights activists asked Australia on Monday to help bring reconciliation following a three-decade civil war in Aceh province, saying conflict will again threaten wi

Jakarta – Unemployment in Aceh Nangroe Darussalam has increased this year as rebuilding efforts following the deadly tsunami that hit the province in late 2004 have slowed.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – The Banda Aceh State Administrative Court (PTUN) on Friday rejected a lawsuit filed against the Aceh elections commission by eight legislative candidates

Aboeprijadi Santoso, Banda Aceh – The top leader of former rebel group the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), Teungku Chik Hasan Muhammad di Tiro, may be the founder of Indonesia's longest proac

The world's "post-conflict" areas are a living laboratory with ever changing experiments, the Aceh Reintegration Agency (BRA) and the local population being among its guinea pigs.

Aceh – After a two-week-visit to several regions in Aceh, the supreme leader of the disbanded Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist group Hasan Di Tiro left the province Sunday for his ho

Banda Aceh, Indonesia – A grenade exploded outside the office of former separatist rebels in Indonesia's once-restive Aceh province Thursday, but no one was reported injured, a police o

Dian Kuswandini, Jakarta – Challenges await 11 Acehnese villagers who have succeeded in bringing giant company ExxonMobil Corp.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – When Acehnese independence hero Hasan di Tiro visited the grave of his rebel organisation's former military commander this week, tears flowed.

Ati Nurbaiti, Banda Aceh – Hasan Tiro, the supreme leader of the former separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), cited Sunday a string of heroes from Aceh's past in his appeal for his fello

Stephen Coates, Banda Aceh – Pink from floor to ceiling and with hot pink windows and doors, the office of the Aceh Transitional Committee (KPA) looks more like a perfumery than the ner

Hotli Simanjuntak and Ati Nurbaiti, Banda Aceh – Deafening shouts of 'Allahu akbar!' and 'Long live Wali Nanggroe!' greeted the long-awaited senior Aceh figure, Hasan Tiro, who arrived

Banda Aceh – Hasan di Tiro, founder of the former rebel group GAM in Indonesia's Aceh, returned on Saturday after more than 30 years exile, welcomed by thousands of people in the provin

Ati Nurbaiti, Banda Aceh – After three decades of absence, Aceh's former resistance leader Hassan Di Tiro arrived in Banda Aceh in Saturday to a cheerful greeting by thousands of his su

Jakarta – An army soldier kidnapped Sunday morning by an armed group in East Aceh was released in Cot Keh Village in Peureulak on Monday morning.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Aceh might be dubbed the "Veranda of Mecca", but that seems to have done little to help the 81 candidates for the Aceh provincial legislative council who

Banda Aceh – Political parties in Indonesia's Aceh province pledged peace Friday for the first national elections since government and rebel forces signed a deal to end decades of war.

Aceh – Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Special Detachment anti-terror squad (Densus 88) will investigate the bombing of former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) leader Muzakkir Manaf's residence in Ace

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – The Aceh Independent Election Committee (KIP) emphasized Sunday that the planned Koran proficiency test for legislative candidates in the province would

Jakarta – Candidates of House of Representatives member from Aceh are scheduled to follow Koran reading test next week, as part of candidacy criteria.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – The predominately Muslim province of Aceh Nanggroe Darussalam is requiring thousands of its legislative candidates to take a Koran proficiency test befor

Abdul Khalik – A US court's decision to proceed with a trial against oil giant ExxonMobil has exposed the Indonesian government's ignorance over the paid military protection of foreign

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Legal experts and civil society groups welcomed a US Federal court ruling Thursday to proceed with a trial against US energy giant ExxonMobil, which stands accus

Jakarta – Indonesia's armed forces chief dismissed Thursday a US federal court judge's ruling that ExxonMobil must face a lawsuit over alleged killings and torture by troops in Aceh pro

Ramadhian Fadillah, Jakarta – ExxonMobil is to be taken to court for allegedly supporting human rights violations by the Indonesian military (TNI) in Aceh.

Stephen Coates, Jakarta – The Indonesian military's links to human rights abuses while helping foreign mining firms are being exposed in a lawsuit by local villagers against US energy g

Washington – ExxonMobil must face a lawsuit filed by Indonesian villagers alleging that the US oil giant is liable for killings and torture committed by military security forces, a fede

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – After hard and painful events, ranging from political and military conflict to the tsunami disaster, the people of Aceh can now enjoy more political free

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – A vegetable vendor was busy tending to customers at a makeshift stall at the central market of Banda Aceh on Friday.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – A fight broke out between members of the Banda Aceh public order agency and the province's sharia police unit Thursday, during a musical stage show held

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Acehnese politicians are no longer required to be proficient in reading the Koran to be eligible for the upcoming national legislative elections.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Justice for victims of conflict and human rights abuses in once-restive Aceh could be a long time coming, with the government and the court yet to show a

While 34 national political parties will contest the general elections in April 2009, the contest in Aceh will be very different.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Six local Aceh parties now eligible to contest the 2009 elections, are determined to make a clean sweep of the 96-seat provincial legislative council, no

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Around 24,000 Acehnese who emigrated to Malaysia to escape the war and devastating 2004 tsunami face deportation, with Kuala Lumpur saying it will not ex

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Proposals for the establishment of two new provinces in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam have met with criticism from a prominent activist and a local politician.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Lhokseumawe – Residents in a North Aceh village almost cut off a thief's hand late Saturday, in what was the first known attempt at sharia-style punishment of its kin

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – A patrol car belonging to Wilayatul Hisbah of the sharia police in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh Nanggroe Darussalam province, was burned out early Mon