Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Opposition by ulema and councilors in Aceh to a woman becoming district head is reportedly weakening.

Anisa, who became head of Pelimbang district, Bireun regency on May 21, 2010, said the ulema and councilors had initially opposed her promotion arguing that it was against Islamic law.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – In a move criticized as an insult to the dignity of women, an Aceh district speaker has called for the replacement of a female subdistrict head, arguing that women were unfit to lead under Islamic law.

Nurdin Hasan, Jantho, Aceh – With heads bowed, two young women walked toward a wooden stage outside Al Munawwarah Mosque in Jantho, Aceh Besar. Friday prayers had just ended, and hundreds of residents surrounded the platform, keeping a respectful distance but keen to watch.

Ulma Haryanto, Jakarta – The Indonesian Council of Ulema have rejected comments from West Aceh district head Ramli Mansur that woman who fail to wear Islamic clothing are "asking to be raped."

Dewi Kurniawati, Banda Aceh – On a recent Friday afternoon, the face of a young woman detained at a Shariah Police station in Aceh's provincial capital Banda Aceh was contorted in anger.

Dewi Kurniawati, Aceh – Meet Ramli Mansur, a 46-year-old leader of the Aceh Party, whose members are mostly drawn from the ranks of former combatants of the disbanded Free Aceh Movement. Ramli made headlines earlier this year by sponsoring a controversial Islamic bylaw that banned Muslim women from wearing tight pants.

Dewi Kurniawati, Banda Aceh – Agnes Monica, the famous Indonesian actress and singer, is a given to wearing sexy clothes, whether on stage, TV or advertising billboards. But not here, in the provincial capital of Aceh province.

Dewi Kurniawati, Banda Aceh – It doesn't take much to notice "Echa," a transvestite who lives in Banda Aceh. With his masculine figure and flamboyant make-up, he instantly draws attention.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – More than 1,000 people gathered on Friday in Pidie Jaya to watch the district's first public canings for violations of Islamic law.

Meulaboh, Aceh – Almost a full week after three American citizens were deported from Indonesia's Aceh province for allegedly converting local Muslims to Christianity, Shariah Police and local government security officers swooped on their rented home on Tuesday.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Aceh's Sharia Police censured hundreds of women for wearing tight pants and jeans in Wednesday's raid in Banda Aceh.

Nurdin Hasan, Aceh – Authorities in West Aceh have told three Americans accused of converting local Muslims to leave the district for their own safety, while three of their alleged converts have been placed in an Islamic boarding school for "education," an official said on Wednesday.

Banda Aceh – An Indonesian court on Thursday jailed two Islamic policemen for gang-raping a young woman in custody, a case that has sparked outrage in the deeply religious province of Aceh.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – A blockade of the giant Arun liquefied natural gas plant in northern Aceh by more than 500 villagers demanding the company honor 36-year-old promises entered its third week on Tuesday with no end in sight.

The blockade flared up on Monday when protesters scuffled with the police while trying to stop plant workers leaving by the main gate.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – A group of men relaxes in a coffee shop in Lamkabeu village, Aceh Besar, chatting about the breaking news of terrorism in their village.

Nurdin Hasan – Public order officers readying to demolish illegal structures in Aceh's provincial capital were lucky to escape with their lives when protests quickly turned violent on Thursday.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Aceh is currently the fourth-biggest distributor of illegal drugs in the country and a major producer of marijuana, Vice Governor Muhammad Nazar says.

Nurdin Hasan, Jantho (Aceh) – Three of 21 men caught gambling on cards last month were caned with seven lashes each in public on Friday in Jantho, Aceh Besar district, the second time the punishment has been meted out this year in the deeply Islamic province.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Prosecutors on Tuesday asked the Langsa District Court in Aceh to sentence a member of the province's Wilayatul Hisbah Shariah Police to 12 years in prison for the alleged rape and torture of a 20-year-old female student in January.

Armando Siahaan – Aceh's government has failed to eradicate corruption in the province and has instead become mired in more graft, according to a scathing new survey released on Tuesday by a top watchdog.

Damien Kingsbury – Teungku (Lord) Hasan di Tiro, who led the bloody independence movement in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh for three decades, has died of complications from leukaemia in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh. He was 84.

Fabio Scarpello, Denpasar – The death of Teungku Hasan Muhammad di Tiro, the founder of the former pro-independence Free Aceh Movement (GAM), could intensify existing divisions in Indonesia's historically restive Aceh region and complicate ongoing discussions with Jakarta concerning the implementation of a 2005 peace agreement signed in Helsinki.

Peace in Aceh was Tengku Hasan Muhammad di Tiro last wish before he died at the age of 84 on Thursday, his trusted aide Farid Husain said. "He asked for peace to be developed in Aceh. That was the main reason he returned to Indonesia and wanted to be a citizen," Husain told Metro TV.

Tom Allard, West Aceh – "Let me ask you a question," says the regent of West Aceh, Ramli Mansur, leaning back in his chair in his spacious office. "What do you think when you see a woman's round shapes?"

"Rather nice, I suppose," I reply. "But it wouldn't make me feel like raping anyone."

"Aah, but that's because you are used to it!"

Nurdin Hasan – If you are a Muslim woman who likes wearing tight jeans or miniskirts, then the West Aceh district may not be the place for you.

Starting today, the district government's Wilayatul Hisbah, or Shariah police, will go out on "raids" to find women they deem to be inappropriately dressed.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – An East Aceh district councillor was hospitalized after an angry mob that suspected him of committing adultery attacked him while he was trying to escape from his love nest, residents of the town said on Monday.

Mohammad Yusuf, 32, was set upon by Langsa residents when he tried to flee the house on Sunday morning.

Ade Mardiyati – After the devastating tsunami in 2004, Aceh – then in the midst of an armed rebellion – entered a new era. The bloodshed was ended by a peace agreement signed by the Indonesian government and the pro-independence Free Aceh Movement in Helsinki on Aug. 15, 2005.

Selma Milovanovic – One-year-old Mayuri wriggles out of her father's arms and flops to the ship's deck. Gripping her father Sidik's hand, she takes wobbly steps, gurgling and smiling.

Around them, a rooster crows and children laugh. Tourists buy cool drinks on the ship-turned-cafe, surveying the ocean and settlements below.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – A West Aceh district bylaw banning Muslim women from wearing short skirts or tight jeans is unclear and could lead to chaos, a female activist said on Friday.

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Nurfika Osman – For 40-year-old Syarifuddin, serving in the Shariah Police in staunchly Muslim Aceh was his life's calling.

"I feel like Wilayatul Hisbah is like my second wife. I always love to go to the street with my officers to uphold the Shariah law in every nook and cranny of this province," Syarifuddin said, referring to the religious police by its official name.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Almost six years after the devastating 2004 tsunami, which killed more than 130,000 people in Aceh province, most victims have recovered from physical and psychological issues to resume their daily routines in a new environment.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) is calling for the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission to resolve the lingering problems over past gross violation of human rights in Aceh.

Executive summary and recommendations

Indonesia on Friday promised a full investigation into the public humiliation, mob beating and possible caning under Islamic law of two people suspected of having an adulterous tryst.

Nurdin Hasan & Nurfika Osman, Banda Aceh – A day after a powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake shook Sumatra Island, Aceh is starting to count the costs.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – A human rights activist on Thursday slammed the humiliating punishment meted out to a teacher in Aceh Barat and the married woman he was suspected of having an affair with after the pair were marched through a village naked, tied to a pole and then brutally beaten.

An official from the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Aceh Barat and the married woman he was caught having intercourse with were paraded naked through a village, tied to a pole and brutally beaten, it was reported on Thursday.

Nurdin Hassan and AFP, Banda Aceh – A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Sumatra island early Wednesday, injuring at least four people, one of them critically, in Simeulue district, Aceh province.

A tsunami alert was issued in the province and in Thailand, though both were cancelled.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – An activist from a leading Indonesian rights group on Wednesday called for a comprehensive investigation into the recent finding of sacks full of bones in an area formerly used as a police base during the decades of violent conflict in Aceh.

Hotli Simanjuntak and Dicky Christanto, Aceh, Jakarta – The government's campaign against terrorist groups in Aceh escalated this week with a police officer and another civilian losing their lives in a skirmish.

Nurdin Hasan & Farouk Arnaz, Aceh – The ongoing police paramilitary operations here against suspected militants have claimed another civilian life as the number of suspects charged under antiterrorism laws rose to 14 on Thursday.

Farouk Arnaz – The National Police and Aceh Police conducted raids and arrested more suspects who were allegedly involved with a terrorist network that held a military training camp in the Aceh Besar district during a joint operation on Tuesday, officers said at a press conference.

Nurdin Hasan – Two prominent rights groups in Aceh on Wednesday called for police to end their military-like operations against an armed group allegedly linked to the Jemaah Islamiyah regional terrorist network.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Kamaruddin approached his wife and told her that he would go out and try to catch fish for their next meal. What Laili Fajri didn't know was it was the last time she would ever see him alive.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – A security analyst on Monday questioned claims that four men recently arrested in Aceh were linked to the regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah.

Terrorism commentators are divided over the recent arrest of terror suspects in Aceh, with one saying the suspects were linked to Noordin M. Top and another claiming they may not be terrorists at all.

Nurdin Hasan & Farouk Arnaz – Terrorism expert Sidney Jones said on Friday that four suspects arrested during recent police operations in the Jalin Jantho region of Aceh Besar may be linked to the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and not regional terror organization Jemaah Islamiyah.

Tom Allard, Jakarta – Indonesian police have launched a manhunt for up to 50 members of a suspected terrorist group in Aceh amid reports that an Afghan national is among those who fled a raid on a training camp on Monday night.

Heru Andriyanto & Nurdin Hasan – Aceh offers many advantages as a safe haven for Jemaah Islamiyah to regroup, experts and sources said on Wednesday, following the arrests of four suspected members of the shadowy terror group in the province.