Alfian, Banda Aceh – Aceh's leading local parties have promised sharia law during their recent campaigns, bidding to win the upcoming legislative elections and a political chance to reinstate the province's special identity as "Mecca's verandah".

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Certain circles in Aceh have remained pessimistic that female politicians contending in the legislative election have the capacity to improve the life of women in the post-conflict era.

Irwan Firdaus, Jakarta – Motorcycle gunmen fatally shot a rebel-turned-politician in Indonesia's Aceh province, officials said Sunday, raising fresh fears of violence during parliamentary elections this week.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh/Jakarta – If Aceh's young reformists have their way in the coming legislative election the province can expect major changes in the education sector.

Rendi A. Witular and Hotli Simanjuntak – His sharp eyes shoot out a jittery feeling of rage, while his posture speaks of a once mighty former combatant of the now disbanded Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebel group.

After four years of struggle to recover from the devastating tsunami and decades of bloody insurgent uprising, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam is seemingly taking a further step to unplug itself from the dependency on public funding and diminishing gas proceeds. The Jakarta Post's Rendi A.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Despite pledges by leaders of political parties to engage in peaceful campaigns, election preparations in Aceh Province continue to be overshadowed by acts of terror and intimidation, as well as kidnapping.

Jakarta – Aceh's local parties are showing a definite edge in the competition with major national parties for legislative council seats, but are still jockeying to align themselves with their competitors to obtain a presence in the House of Representatives.

Jakarta – A granade that had failed to detonate was reportedly thrown at the residence of Aceh Sabulussalam Party chairman Alimuddin Jabat early Monday morning.

Aceh Sabululssalam Party deputy chairman Nurdin Ramli told tempointeraktif.com that the incident had left the house slightly damaged. "The rooftop and several lamps were damaged in the attack," he said by phone.

Jakarta – Two men suspected in several grenade explosion terrors in Aceh province was arrested in Langsa regency on Thursday and was immediately taken to the National Police headquarters in Jakarta, tempointeraktif.com news portal has reported.

Jakarta – The Aceh Party, the leading local party in Aceh whose members mostly include former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) combatants, has denied it was still seeking Aceh's secession from Indonesia.

Banda Aceh/Jakarta – Police in Aceh on Monday were still investigating the latest violent incident ahead of the April elections, while a noted research group said the underlying problem – a "growing distrust" between former elements of Aceh's separatist group and the Indonesian Military – must be addressed.

Nurdin Hasan – In a major review of its education system, Aceh's provincial government has started looking to integrate Shariah-based values into the curriculum, testing subjects such as Koran recitation alongside improved information technology and English courses.

Jakarta – The signing of the Aceh peace accord in 2005 has not freed the province from violence involving former rebels, as reports of attacks continue to escalate ahead of the general elections.

A recent report revealed that at least 16 people were killed in a series of attacks by unidentified gunmen between December 2008 and February 2009.

Anthony Deutsch, Jakarta – Tension in Indonesia's formerly war-torn province of Aceh has escalated ahead of April's parliamentary elections, with 16 people killed and dozens of buildings and cars damaged in recent months, monitoring groups said Monday.

Banda Aceh – Achievements toward the Millennium Development Goals in Aceh remain far from the expected target of 2015, national program coordinator Ivan A. Hadar said Monday.

"The number of people below the poverty line there hit 23.53 percent in 2008. It is still very far from what we expected," he told a seminar as quoted by Antara news agency in Banda Aceh.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – At least five people were injured when a grenade was thrown into a coffee shop owned by an Aceh Party leader in the city of Lhokseumawe, Aceh Province, on Wednesday evening, police officers and local residents said on Thursday.

Nurdin Hasan & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Indonesian soldiers who pulled down the flags and banners of political parties in Aceh earlier this week had no authority to do so and might have committed legal violations, a local election supervisory committee, or Panwaslu, said on Wednesday.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf underlined here on Friday the importance of the presence of foreign observers in the upcoming legislative elections in Aceh.

Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) Chief Djoko Santoso said Monday that widespread vandalism, intimidation, threats, attacks and even murder could occur during the 2009 polls in Aceh province.

The international community has lauded Indonesia for its success in resolving years of conflicts in Aceh as well as its ability to quickly rebuild the province after the tsunami disaster that struck the province in December 2006. The bloody conflict between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the tsunami have had an deep impact on Aceh women.

Jakarta – The quality of life for women in Aceh has greatly improved since the end of a three-decade separatist conflict and the 2004 tsunami, which ravaged the Islamic province, a study revealed Saturday.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – Four years after the Boxing Day tsunami that wiped out large parts of coastal Aceh, almost everyone involved in the Indonesian province's reconstruction is talking up the special agency President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono created for the task.

Jakarta – A former rebel whose wife is contesting regional elections in Indonesia's Aceh province has been fatally shot, raising fears the April polls could descend into violence, police and party officials said Friday.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – A House member on Wednesday sought help from the Army to prevent local political parties in Aceh Province affiliated with former members of the now defunct separatist Free Aceh Movement, or GAM, from winning the majority of seats in the provincial legislative council, or DPRD.

Nurdin Hasan – As many as 92 Acehnese inmates in a Malaysian jail have gone on a hunger strike to protest alleged brutality and sexual harassment at the hands of the prison guards, an Acehnese in Malaysia and a lawyer in Aceh said on Friday.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Gunmen have shot dead two former Aceh rebels in the last two days, adding to a string of violence that has plagued the province ahead of the elections.

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, saying it could undermine press freedom.

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. Friday, immolating one car and damaging two others but injuring noone.

Banda Aceh – Intimidation through setting fire to political party offices, banners, billboards and campaign advertising and threats against legislative candidates has tainted the administration of the 2009 elections in Indonesia's northern-most province of Aceh.

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 claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

In Banda Aceh, prayers were held at Mesjid Raya Baiturrahman mosque.

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 province more equitably.

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 province under the twin threats of social deprivation and unemployment.

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, a World Bank expert said Tuesday.

It's four years this month, since the tsunami hit the Indonesian province of Aceh. While the tsunami brought much destruction to the region, it was the catalyst for great political change for Aceh. The government and rebels from the Free Aceh Movement stepped up the pace for peace talks, leading to the Memorandum of Understanding in August 2005.

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 and man-made disasters, especially flooding, a conservationist says.

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 tourism industry.

"The image of Aceh as a sharia-ruled region has caused reluctance among tourists to visit," Totok Yulianto, owner of a travel agency here, said recently.

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.

At the time, the fisherman from Tapaktuan district in South Aceh, thought of HIV/AIDS as an embarrassing disease, often viewed as an indelible shame in Aceh, where Islamic sharia law is applied.

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 without more progress.

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 stability in the area.

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 who failed the Koran test required as part of their nomination.

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 proactive separatist movement, but when he came home it was not as a rebel, but still with a cause.

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.

Critics say that approaches such as that of the BRA which only distributes funds to verified individuals to ensure their accountability, are ineffective and further weaken "strong communal ties".

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 home in Stockholm.

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 official said.

Resource-rich Aceh was torn by conflict for nearly 30 years before a peace deal between Jakarta and the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in 2005.

Dian Kuswandini, Jakarta – Challenges await 11 Acehnese villagers who have succeeded in bringing giant company ExxonMobil Corp. to a US Federal Court, with the judge handling the case resigning from his post amid fears that revealing their identities might endanger their lives.

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.

Abdullah Syafi'ie, who stood with Mr di Tiro at the 1976 declaration of Acehnese independence, died in a fierce battle with Indonesian soldiers in 2002, cut down alongside his own wife and bodyguards.

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 fellow Acehnese, including former rebels, to work for peace.

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 in the capital Saturday after an absence of almost 30 years.