Jakarta - A number of non-government organisations from the Aceh Working Group (AWG) are urging the Aceh Rehabilitation Agency (BRA) to give greater focus to its task and initial role as mandated in Section 3.2 of the Helsinki Memorandum of Understanding on the stages of the reintegration process.

Chazizah Gusnita, Jakarta – Non-government organisations (NGOs) are urging the government to immediately acknowledge the existence of militia groups in Aceh. Without such an acknowledgement, the reintegration process in Aceh will be obstructed.

Adi Warsidi, Banda Aceh – Yesterday (11/6), the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) resigned from the committee of the Aceh Reintegration Board (BRA), the organization for Aceh reintegration, which was part of the peace agreement in Helsinki.

Chazizah Gusnita, Jakarta – The Aceh Reintegration Agency (BRA) continues to be criticised with its poor performance considered to be threatening the peace process.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – House of Representatives lawmakers are unhappy with the performance of the Aceh-Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (BRR).

Nani Afrida, Takengon (Central Aceh) – "These are the best times I've experienced in my whole life," said Aman Masnah, 70, a resident of Keunawat village, Lut Tawar district in Central Aceh regency.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The government and the House of Representatives should not water down powers granted to future Aceh administrations because they would be in violation of last year's Helsinki peace accord, a coalition of non-governmental organizations says.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – A peace deal signed in August last year by the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) marked an end of three decades of conflict in Aceh, but it also marked the beginning of a crime wave in the province.

M. Taufiqurrahman and Nani Afrida, Jakarta/Banda Aceh – The secretive deliberation of the Aceh governance bill has sparked suspicions that factions in the House of Representatives are engaged in political maneuvering to water down the draft proposed by the Acehnese people.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – The decision of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) not to participate in the upcoming direct election of Aceh governor came as a shock but failed to discourage political parties from involving the former rebels.

Radzie, Banda Aceh – Hundreds of students and social activists in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh took to the streets again on June 1 to demand the immediate ratification of the Draft Law on Aceh Government (RUU-PA). This time, the action was centred at the governor's offices and the Aceh Regional House of Representatives (DPRD).

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – An internal rift has forced the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to drop its ambition to field gubernatorial candidates in the upcoming direct elections, a reliable source says.

Kanis Dursin, Banda Aceh – Following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the government and the Free Aceh Movement in Helsinki last Aug. 15, several GAM leaders who had lived overseas for decades began to head back to the formerly conflict-torn province.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) formally announced the establishment of a new political party Tuesday and appointed two independent candidates to take part in the next direct gubernatorial elections in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

Fanny Febiana and Aguslia Hidayah, Jakarta – Muladi, Governor of the National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas), has suggested that Aceh human rights cases could be resolved through the Commission for Truth and Reconciliation (KKR).

If the cases are to be resolved through the human rights court, there is concern that this could open old wounds.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Human rights activists have slammed legislators for being unwilling to create a law that would ensure soldiers and rebels are tried for past human rights abuses in Aceh.

Tiarma Siboro and M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) says it does not oppose soldiers being tried by an Aceh human rights court using principles of retroactive justice as mandated in the Aceh governance bill.

Banda Aceh – Dozens of students from Student Solidarity for the People (SMUR) held a peaceful action at the Simpang Lima roundabout in the Acehnese provincial capital of Banda Aceh on May 19. The action was protesting the decision by the Attorney General to terminate the legal case against former President Suharto.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The two biggest factions in the House of Representatives have balked at applying a retroactive principle for a human rights tribunal for Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, which would effectively bar it from trying members of the military.

Wahyudin Fahmi, Jakarta – The majority of factions in the Special Committee for the Aceh Government Draft Bill have approved the establishment of a human rights court in Aceh, one a year after the state decree was enacted.

Jakarta – Research by the Aceh Working group of the National Commission on Violence Against Women shows women are still objectified by the print media.

Jakarta – Providing jobs, financial assistance and housing to thousands of former guerillas and political prisoners is essential for ensuring the success of the peace deal in Aceh, the World Bank said Monday.

Banda Aceh – The European Union has agreed to extend the mandate of a peace monitoring mission in Indonesia's Aceh for three months until September, the mission said Friday.

Indonesia had requested an extension for the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM), composed of personnel from the EU and five regional states, to enable it to oversee local elections in August.

Halim Mubary & Armia AM, Bireuen – Thousands of Bireuen residents from the 17 sub-districts that make up the regency, inundated the grounds of the Bireuen Grand Mosque on Thursday May 11 to hold a peaceful action to oversee the Draft Law on Aceh Government (RUU-PA). A similar action was also held in Lhokseumawe.

Scott Neuman, Jantho – Head in hands and tears welling in her eyes, Syarifah Binti Jauhari says she knows what she did was against the will of God: She tried to support her family in the tsunami-ravaged province of Aceh by selling liquor.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Efforts to achieve a lasting peace in Aceh could be spoiled should the government and the House of Representatives backtrack in the yet-to-be-passed bill on Aceh governance, an observer and a politician warn.

Banda Aceh – Students from the Aceh Democratic Network (Jaringan Demokrasi Aceh, JDA) opened a coordination post at the Banda Aceh City Park on Tuesday May 9 to guard the Draft Law on Aceh Government (RUU-PA)

The Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) will have its term extended until August pending completion of deliberation on a bill on Aceh government which will provide the legal basis for the first direct elections ever held in Aceh.

Aguswandi, Banda Aceh – Just when you think you have things figured out, they turn topsy-turvy on you. This might be the best way to describe the fallout caused by those advocating the division of Aceh into two new provinces.

Tiarma Siboro and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Aceh is set hold its first-ever gubernatorial elections sometime in August, with independent candidates expected to contest the polls, the government announced Thursday.

Jakarta – A draft law proposed by lawmakers on the tsunami-ravaged Indonesian province of Aceh will impose Shariah, or Islamic law, on all non-Muslims, the military and police, a local law enforcement official said Thursday.

Banda Aceh – Acehnese students have again demonstrated – this time in greater numbers – in the thousands.

Jakarta – Delays in passing a bill clearing the way for elections in Indonesia's Aceh province may play into the hands of former separatist rebels, boosting their strength when the ballots finally come.

Nur Raihan, Banda Aceh – Thousands of students from universities across the Acehnese provincial capital of Banda Aceh held a demonstration at the Baiturrahman Great Mosque on Sunday April 30. They were demanding that the government immediately ratify the Draft Law on Aceh Government (RUU-PA).

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The government insisted Tuesday that Muslims and non-Muslims alike in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam should be tried by the planned Islamic Court in the predominantly Muslim province.

Mark Dodd and Stephen Fitzpatrick – The warning signs were obvious to anyone paying attention. Cashed up Indonesian government officials were suddenly able to afford flashy new cars and motorbikes.

Rendi Akhmad Witular, Jakarta – The government has asked the international Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) to extend its presence in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam to help ensure upcoming local elections – to be participated in by former rebels – comply with the peace accord signed by Jakarta and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Aboeprijadi Santoso, Amsterdam – As the debate on the law on the Aceh administration enters a critical stage, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) is preparing ground to establish a political party. Never in the history of Indonesia has an armed separatist movement taken such a turnabout, helping to preserve the existing nation-state – a unique chance all sides involved should not miss.

Aguswandi, Banda Aceh – Aceh is currently still in a transition to peace. The province does not yet have a sustainable peace, and the new legislation being prepared for Aceh's political future, which is still being debated by lawmakers, will determine whether this transition will ensure a genuinely sustainable peace or mark the beginning of another conflict.

Banda Aceh – National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) member MM Billah believes that there is strong resistance from a certain circles against trying the perpetrators of human rights violations in Aceh during the period of armed conflict. In general this resistance is most likely from those groups of people who committed the violations.

Jakarta – Indonesia's vice president set an August target date for elections in Indonesia's tsunami-ravaged Aceh province. The elections are a key part of a peace agreement reached last year to end a 29-year civil war.

After living abroad for decades, the self-exiled leaders of Aceh's rebel movement have returned to Indonesia to support the province's peace process, but a prominent American journalist remains banned from entering the country.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The controversy over the payment of "incentives" to legislators during the deliberation of the Aceh governance bill is causing tension in the House of Representatives.

Home Minister M. Ma'ruf has admitted to paying Rp 5 million (about US$550) to each House member deliberating the bill as a special "incentive" to speed up the process.

Radzie, Banda Aceh – Hundreds of activists from the Acehnese Democratic Network (JDA), students and local people held a parade though the streets of Banda Aceh on Friday April 21.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The return of exiled leaders of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) indicates that a permanent and peaceful resolution to the three decades of conflict in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam is just around the corner, an observer says.

Heru Margianto, Jakarta – What are conditions like in Aceh six months after the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian government was signed in Helsinki? The answer – safe but the economic situation is poor say Acehnese.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) revealed Thursday that the use of the emergency fund overseen by the National Disaster Management and Refugee Coordination Board (Bakornas) for tsunami victims in Aceh and Nias was rife with irregularities.

Banda Aceh – Leaders of the former separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) returned to their homeland after 30 years in exile, the latest step forward in a much-hailed peace process. The group, including former "prime minister" Malik Mahmud and "foreign minister" Zaini Abdullah, were greeted by about 500 well-wishers, including former GAM guerrilla commander Muzakir Manaf.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – No special preparations are being made for the return of several exiled Free Aceh Movement (GAM) leaders to the province, the group's senior representative at the Aceh Monitoring Mission said Tuesday.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Residents in Aceh Jaya regency have urged the government to suspend the reissuance of three forest concession permits intended to facilitate the Aceh reconstruction program in the area for not accommodating people's aspirations living around the forests.