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.

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 supporters.

Tiro landed at 11 a.m. to sound of adzan (Muslim calling for prayers) by the greeters, waving to claps of cheering crowds.

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 province on the tip of Sumatra.

His return came a day after Finland's former president, Martti Ahtisaari won, the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in global peacemaking including in Aceh.

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 failed the Koran proficiency test.

The controversial test, organized by the Aceh Independent Election Committee (KIP), was taken by 1,368 candidates from local and national parties.

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.

Their declaration came shortly after a report by the International Crisis Group (ICG) said Aceh is tense ahead of the elections, and the current peace should not be taken for granted.

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 Aceh.

"We are still investigating and checking the type of grenade used," Densus 88 head Sutry Hamdani told Antara in Aceh Besar on Tuesday.

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 determine each candidate's eligibility to contest the election.

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

"Alhamdulillah, every political party has agreed with the requirement," said Yawin Adi Dharma, chairman of candidacy committee at Independent Election Commission in Aceh, as quoted by Antara on Sunday.

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 before they contest the 2009 election.

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 interests in the country.

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 accused of supporting the Indonesian military's alleged killings and torture 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 giant ExxonMobil, analysts said Thursday.

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

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 province.

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 federal judge said Wednesday.

"Plaintiffs have provided sufficient evidence, at this stage, for their allegations of serious abuse," said US Judge Louis Oberdorfer in Washington.

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 freedoms and special rights. Six eligible local parties will soon compete for legislative seats in the 2009 legislative election.

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.

Nearby a congregation prayed at the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque to commemorate the third anniversary of the peace pact between the Aceh Freedom Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian government in Helsinki, Finland.

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 to celebrate their respective 58th and 4th anniversaries.

"It was just a small misunderstanding and not a large-scale brawl among officers," said H. Marzuki, who oversees the two agencies.

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 any commitment to the establishment of a human rights court.

While 34 national political parties will contest the general elections in April 2009, the contest in Aceh will be very different. This will be the only place where local parties will also participate.

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, now dominated by national political parties.

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 extend their temporary stay permits.

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 kind in the province.

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 Monday morning by unidentified attackers.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Leaders of Lhok Nga and Leupung districts in Aceh Besar regency have asked French Lafarge co-financed cement factory PT Semen Andalas Indonesia (SAI) to promote more local workers to strategic positions.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Local political parties in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam are at risk of being excluded from the 2009 elections due to delays in registration by the Aceh chapter of the Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP), a local party leader said.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – After a prolonged verification process, the government is set to approve 12 local parties to be registered with the Justice and Human Rights Ministry.

Local justice and human rights official Rajali Ubit said the 12 would be recognized once the administrative and legal requirements (set by the 2006 Aceh administration law) had been completed.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has renamed its local party, and ended its armed struggle for Acehnese social welfare under the Indonesian political system.

With a redesigned symbol and flag the new party, Partai Aceh (Aceh Party), also has a different agenda to GAM.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Despite peaceful conditions, the reintegration of ex-combatants and victims of human rights abuses in the once-restive Aceh province has stalled on political and economic issues.

Adi Warsidi, Banda Aceh – Former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari has said that in general the peace process in Aceh is running well, however, the reintegration process is not yet maximized.

"There is still much to do as far as reintegration is concerned for all of us during the next few years," he said when visiting Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam yesterday.

Imran MA, Jakarta – The Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) office in Lhokseumawe has been occupied by hundreds of tsunami victims.

The victims, who are members of the People's Movement for Tsunami Victims, are demanding that the BRR Regional II at Lhokseumawe pay out rehabilitation funds amounting to Rp15 million per home.

Adi Warsidi, Banda Aceh – As many as 300 tsunami victims from the West and South coasts of Aceh have rejected the policy of the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Board (BRR) for Aceh and Nias regarding assistance and reconstruction funds of Rp2.5 million for each family.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – A score of protesters gathered at the offices of the Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) here Tuesday to demand money to rebuild their homes.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – An American freelance journalist believed to be linked with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has been deported from Aceh after attempting to enter the province on Feb. 8.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Three years after the Aceh peace agreement, many former rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) are still serving their jail sentences in prisons in Sumatra and Java. Following the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the government and GAM in Helsinki on Aug.

Afrida, Banda Aceh – Hundreds of people set fire to the offices of former separatist rebels in Central Aceh on Saturday, killing four people and throwing one person down a 35-meter well.

Around 1:30 a.m. the crowd attacked the Aceh Transitional Commission's office in the remote Atu Lintang area, 30 kilometers from the regency's capital, Takengon, a village head said.

Adi Warsidi, Banda Aceh – The GAM Party, one of the local political parties in Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh, has officially changed its party name and symbol.

Jakarta – Poverty in tsunami-struck Aceh has fallen below the pre-disaster level, a new World Bank report shows, due to both peace and the large reconstruction effort.

The Aceh Poverty Assessment 2008 report shows poverty in Aceh increased slightly in the aftermath of the tsunami, from 28.4 percent in 2004 to 32.6 percent in 2005.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Journalists in Aceh Nanggroe Darussalam have protested against a draft qanun (bylaw) on Islamic media and broadcasting proposed by the Aceh legislature and the provincial broadcasting regulator.

The press code of ethics and Press Law No. 40/1999 had been accommodating, but the proposed qanun was "an exaggeration", the journalists said.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – It has been a year since Aceh held a direct gubernatorial election made possible by the peace agreement between Jakarta and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), yet analysts say little progress has been made in improving the lives of residents.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Only two out of 10 local political parties in Aceh Nanggroe Darussalam have satisfied requirements to participate in the verification process scheduled for February. The event is in preparation for the direct regional elections to be held across the province next year.

Jakarta – After three years post-tsunami reconstruction in Aceh has resulted in worsening deforestation, Greenomics Indonesia says.

The non-government organization said in its release international donors failed to translate their campaign against global warming into action in their reconstruction program in the country's westernmost province.

Jakarta – Leading human rights groups urged Tuesday for the creation of a truth and reconciliation commission to address past crimes against humanity in Aceh.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – The Aceh Reintegration Agency (BRA) has urged to the government to speed up its slow compensation of former members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), and conflict victims, which it said had contributed to an increase of crime and public unrest over the past few months.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Banda Aceh – A new Aceh government has already been formed, security has improved and the Aceh Monitoring Mission which was tasked to watch over the implementation of the peace agreement has concluded its tasks. But human rights abuses have yet to be resolved and many former combatants are still without adequate skills to feed their families.

The Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR), which was given the task of helping to rebuild communities in the wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami of late 2004, is set to end its mission in April 2009.

Calang – Hundreds of Indonesians prayed at mass graves in Aceh province on Wednesday to remember relatives who died in the Indian Ocean tsunami three years ago.

On December 26, 2004, giant waves triggered by one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded pulverized villages along Indian Ocean shores, killing or leaving missing about 230,000 people.