Banda Aceh – A commander of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist rebels in restive North Aceh regency Abu Sofyan Daud conceded that the movement has special links with officers in th

Banda Aceh – Residents in Indonesia's troubled Aceh Province began a strike Wednesday, refusing to conduct any activities or to hoist the red-and-white Indonesian national flag to mark

Rayhan Anas Lubis/Swastika & Lyndal Meehan, Banda Aceh – A mass prayer for those killed, raped and abused by the Indonesian Armed Forces and government organised by pro-referendum g

Iin Yumiyanti/Swastika & Lyndal Meehanm, Jakarta – As commemorations to mark the 55th anniversary of the declaration of independence on 17 August approach, groups of local people in

Washington – Human rights groups on Tuesday voiced deep concern over the fate of a New York-based activist missing in Indonesia's Aceh province, and demanded more action from US officia

Jakarta – Over 100 civilians in Indonesia's East Aceh regency were assaulted by Indonesian police and soldiers who went on a rampage of shooting and arson in retaliation for the death o

Banda Aceh – A large number of residents were injured after a gang of soldiers and police officers reportedly ran amok on Sunday, destroying shops and markets in the Idi Rayeuek distric

Nuruddin Lazuardi/Fitri & Lyndal Meehan, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, or Kontras, has demanded the Attorney General's office investigate the

Jakarta – The United States on Wednesday expressed "deep concern" over the sudden disappearance of a US-based human rights activist in the Indonesian city of Medan last Saturday.

Banda Aceh – A separatist leader in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province has vowed to minimize the group's armed struggle and adopt more diplomatic means to achieve independence.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid has agreed to extend the cease-fire with separatist rebels in Aceh province for three more months, a Cabinet minister said Wednesday.

Geneva – Representatives of the Indonesian government and separatist rebels in the Aceh province met yesterday to assess the success of the ongoing three-month truce.

Ibnu Matnoor, Banda Aceh – He is only nine years old and he does not want to be a beggar. Yet there is no other way to put food on his family's table.

Banda Aceh – Authorities in the strongly Muslim Indonesian province of Aceh have officially agreed to move towards the imposition of the Islamic Syariah law there, a local MP said Satur

Banda Aceh – The government has allocated Rp 1.4 trillion (US$155 million) to finance the implementation of the Joint Understanding on Humanitarian Pause in Aceh, Acting Governor Ramli

Banda Aceh – Almost all of the approximately 20,000 refugees who sought shelter at Point-A area of the Exxon-Oil airport compound in Tanah Luas district of North Aceh were gone on Wedne

Banda Aceh – Three Acehenese civilians died in military custody after being shot and then arrested by Indonesian security forces, witnesses and hospital staff said Thursday.

Norsborg, Sweden – The exiled leader of the pro-independence Free Aceh Movement (GAM), Hasan Muhammad di Tiro, said Wednesday he is willing to negotiate an extension of a three-month ce

Jakarta – Three Indonesian policemen and a separatist rebel were killed when gunmen attacked a police truck in the restive province of Aceh, reports said Monday.

Santi Soekanto – A truly democratic negotiation for solutions in Aceh should include different elements including women groups, says Jacqueline Aquino Siapno from the Philippines.

D. Sangga Buana/ Swastika, Jakarta – Local police officers in Aceh believe they have discovered a mass grave site located in Simpang Kramat, Kutamakmur sub district, North Aceh.

Jakarta – Huge convoys of cars and motorcycles criss-crossed the capital of Indonesia's restive Aceh province yesterday in a mass protest demanding the dissolution of district and provi

A Andri/Swastika & LM, Jakarta – The chairman of the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA), Muhammad Nazar, stated that, based on the results of some 30,000 surveys distributed

Banda Aceh – A caretaker governor of the strife-torn Aceh province was installed Wednesday amid student protests against the Indonesian government.

Iwan Triono/FW & LM, Jakarta – 350 activists from the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) demonstrated at the House of Representatives building, Central Jakarta, Wednesday dem

Banda Aceh – Hundreds of protesters yesterday occupied Parliament in Indonesia's rebellious Aceh province, demanding that the local legislature be dissolved.

Banda Aceh – The governor of Indonesia's rebellious Aceh province has been dismissed by President Abdurrahman Wahid, an official said here yesterday as students took to the streets to p

Chris McCall, Jakarta – Fighting is officially over in Aceh province, but a month after a ceasefire accord it is hard to tell the difference.

Banda Aceh – Rebels shot and wounded a Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officer in a gunfight between security forces and Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the third attack since a cease-fire was

Marianne Kearney, Banda Aceh – Aceh's landmark ceasefire is in danger of faltering as the two sides argue about how to monitor whether each side – the Indonesian army and the separatist

A leader of a breakaway faction of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) was killed in Malaysia just hours before a "humanitarian pause" in Aceh was to take affect.

Chris McCall, Jakarta – Aceh refused to abandon its hopes for peace yesterday as a much-desired truce finally took effect under the shadow of an assassination in Malaysia.

Jakarta – The exiled leader of an Aceh independence faction gunned down in Kuala Lumpur was killed by the Indonesian military, the main separatist movement in Aceh claimed on Friday.

Jakarta – Mobil Oil Indonesia has temporarily suspended production from a satellite of its eastern Aceh gas field in the wake of last week's hostage taking incident, the company's spoke

James Balowski – On May 17, 24 Indonesian soldiers and one civilian were sentenced to between eight and a half and 10 years' jail for the murder of Islamic teacher Teungku Bantaqiahand

Banda Aceh – Security forces in the strife-torn province of Aceh broke ranks Thursday, fighting between police and members of the military claimed the lives of at least three police off

James Balowski – On May 12, the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) signed a three-month "peace accord" at a secret location in Geneva.

Jakarta – Two international human rights bodies yesterday dismissed as "seriously flawed" the just-concluded trial of 24 Indonesian soldiers and a civilian for a massacre in Aceh provin

Chris McCall and Agencies – Activists in Aceh yesterday urged Jakarta to set up a full human rights inquiry into abuses in the province if it wants a de facto ceasefire with separatist

Chris McCall, Jakarta – People in Aceh have reacted coldly to the jailing of 24 soldiers and their civilian informant over the massacre of 57 people at a school last July, saying it is

Chris McCall – Top Indonesian human rights activists heaped scorn on yesterday's convictions in Aceh, saying they set a bad precedent for future human rights trials over a host of unset

Chris McCall, Sigli – An Indonesian soldier cannot expect an easy life in troubled Aceh at the best of times, but most assume their own colleagues will not betray them.

Washington – US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Monday hailed last week's truce agreement between Indonesia separatist rebels from its northern oil-rich province of Aceh, pledg

Reuters in Geneva – Jakarta yesterday signed an historic agreement with the Free Aceh rebels to halt fighting in the troubled province.

Chris McCall – Aceh's prayers for peace have not been answered despite a landmark deal to halt the violence that has ravaged the Indonesian province.

Geneva – The Indonesian government and Aceh separatist rebels yesterday signed a ground-breaking three-month ceasefire agreement at a secret location in Geneva aimed at ending more than

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Even as Indonesia's landmark ceasefire accord with separatist Acehnese rebels was being hailed yesterday, analysts warned that the pact could be easily sabot

Geneva – Separatists from Indonesia's northern Aceh province remain committed to their goal of independence, according to a written statement released hours after agreeing a three-month

Jakarta – Aceh, at the westernmost tip of the Indonesian archipelago, has remained through the ages a staunch Muslim stronghold which has defied all outside attempts at domination.

Agencies in Banda Aceh – For the first time in Indonesia's landmark human rights trial in Aceh, soldiers yesterday admitted they had executed civilians but said they were innocent of mu