Prangtip Daorueng, Jakarta – As Aceh's peace effort lurches toward a possible collapse, fear has taken over the persistent, if increasingly uncertain, hope that many from that restive I

Just five months after the Indonesian Government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) concluded a momentous accord on the Cessation of Hostilities (COHA) on 9 December 2002, which was enthu

Indonesian police have arrested four rebel members of a joint committee established to monitor a ceasefire in the province of Aceh.

Joanne Collins, Jakarta – Seven navy vessels carrying some 3,000 marines sailed for troubled Aceh on Thursday, even as officials said there was time to talk with rebels and that the gov

Max Lane – Following a meeting of the Indonesian cabinet security committee on April 28, security minister Susilo Bambang Yudotomo announced that Jakarta may consider resuming "security

Separatist rebels in Aceh have accused the Indonesian government of violating an already fragile peace agreement by strengthening its troops in the province.

Grave human rights abuses including the killing of children and other civilians are already being reported in Indonesia's Aceh province, Amnesty International says.

Banda Aceh – Police said on Monday they found three bombs allegedly planted by separatist rebels on a road often used by police patrols, AFP reported.

Jakarta – Some 50 Acehnese leaders are attempting to salvage the fragile peace in the province as the government deadline for Acehnese rebels to accept special autonomy and disarm draws

Pelambang – People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) chairman Amien Rais has said that it would be "useless" to continue depending on the Swiss-based Henry Dunant Center (HDC) in finding a

Patrick McLoughlin, Stockholm – Sweden on Sunday rejected suggestions that the Stockholm-based leader of the separatist rebels for the Indonesian province of Aceh be expelled from the c

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The central government is investigating Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh for alleged misappropriation of general allocation funds for the conflict-torn province, a

Jakarta – With the two-week deadline set for Aceh rebels to accept terms for peace talks coming closer, the Indonesian government is facing mounting pressure to save the truce it signed

Banda Aceh – An independent team should look into alledged violations of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) between the Indonesian government and the separatist Free Aceh Mov

Jakarta – The Aceh peace facilitator, the Henry Dunant Centre (HDC), is now trying to set a new date and venue for peace talks between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), a

Jakarta – Indonesia said yesterday it was still willing to talk to Aceh separatists to try to save a fragile peace agreement, but demanded the rebels stop pushing for independence and s

Which do we love more, peace or sovereignty? This question came up when Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono addressed the problem of Aceh last week.

Two Indonesian soldiers and a boy aged six have been injured in Indonesia's Aceh province, hours after the government set terms for renewed peace talks with separatist rebels.

Jakarta – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) threatened on Sunday to "teach colonial forces a lesson" if Jakarta resumed its military operation in Aceh, while the government meets to decide t

Jakarta/Banda Aceh – Vice President Hamzah Haz called on the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) on Saturday to resume peace talks to save the peace agreement signed in December

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – The Indonesian government said it had lost all faith in the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) after the rebel group "disrespectfully" postponed an emergency meeting that

Banda Aceh – The United States and other powers expressed "deep disappointment" on Friday at the scrapping of a crucial meeting aimed at saving the Aceh peace pact and put the blame on

War-weary Acehnese urged the Indonesian government and separatist rebels to get serious about saving their fragile peace pact, after a crucial meeting was called off at the last minute.

Nani Farida and Tiarma Siboro, Banda Aceh/Jakarta – The effort to bring peace back to Aceh faces another stiff test after the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebel group threatened to boycott

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – The trial of an Aceh activist in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh, on Monday turned tense when more than 150 supporters of the Aceh Referendum Information Cente

Nani Farida, Jakarta/Aceh – President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Sunday dismissed speculation that the Indonesian Military (TNI) would launch an immediate military operation in Aceh shou

The armed conflict between the Indonesian armed forces, TNI, and the Free Acheh Movement, GAM, is hotting up again and victims have started to fall also.

Five civilians have been killed in Indonesia's rebellious Aceh province, police and the military said.

Banda Aceh – Indonesia's military and separatist rebels in Aceh have traded charges over reports of six killings in the province ahead of expected talks next week aimed at saving a flou

Jakarta – The National Commission on Anti-Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) has expressed its concern over the possibility of the Indonesian government resorting to military for

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – The trial of Muhammad Nazar, leader of the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) who stands charged with sowing hatred against the government, began on Thu

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has won critical support for "firm action on Aceh" that will likely include a military operation.

Banda Aceh – Muhammad Nazar, 27, chairman of the Information Center for an Aceh Referendum (SIRA), went on trial here on Thursday for sedition, his second brush with the law in two year

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has begun preparations to launch a military operation in Aceh, ending a peace pact that has been shredded in recent days by escalating

In a final bid to salvage Aceh's shaky peace pact, separatist rebels have agreed to meet with the Indonesian Government in Geneva next week.

Banda Aceh – Marines killed three suspected separatist rebels in a gunfight at sea off East Aceh, Aceh military spokesman Firdaus Komarno said here on Tuesday.

Tiarna Siboro, Jakarta – Hopes for salvaging the Aceh peace agreement rose again on Monday after both the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) agreed to sit down at the negotiati

Banda Aceh – Ginger farmer Sulaiman looks pensively across his fertile field in Indonesia's restive Aceh province, afraid fresh military operations could soon shatter the calm ushered i

Nani Farida and Arya Abhiseka, Banda Aceh – As fear was once again on the rise here, Acehnese leaders warned the government against launching a military operation in Aceh, saying that i

Indonesia's longest and bloodiest conflict is in imminent danger of breaking out again, just four months after a peace agreement was signed to international acclaim.

In the weeks to come, President Megawati Sukarnoputri will face a crucial decision whether she will surrender to pressure from the military hardliners trying to force her to take milita

A 10-year-old girl has become the latest victim of violence in Aceh, where a four-month-old peace pact between the Indonesian government and separatist rebels is close to breaking down.

Ardimas Sasdi, Jakarta – The process of ending hostilities in troubled Aceh, which has been underway for the last five months, has entered a new, critical phase, which if not handled pr

Jakarta – Indonesia threatened yesterday to resume full combat operations in restive Aceh province as fresh clashes between troops and rebels killed four people, putting yet more strain

Tiarma Siboro and Nani Farida, Jakarta – Hope for a peaceful solution to the Aceh issue faded on Thursday when the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) declined to attend a Joint Council meeting to

Jakarta – Indonesia's army commander yesterday warned rebels in Aceh province to drop their independence bid or face a military crackdown in the latest challenge to a four-month peace d

Indonesia's President Megawati Sukarnoputri is facing the apparent unravelling of the peace pact in Aceh province.

Banda Aceh – Indonesia's peace pact in Aceh suffered major blows on Tuesday when nine people were reported killed and peace monitors separately ordered their teams across the province t

The fragile peace pact in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province has come under further strain, with the office of an international peace monitoring group attacked on the weekend, the secon

Jakarta (Agencies) – Hundreds of people besieged a peace monitoring office in the restive province of Aceh on Monday, one day after a separate facility was torched, in the latest blow t