Jakarta – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said that the holding of human rights trials scheduled to try human rights violations in Aceh would not use retroactive principles.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – With his four-year-old son Salman al Farizi sitting on his lap, Teungku Syafiie bin Syamaun, a member of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) who was recently released from prison, feels a complete man.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Two weeks after the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) signed a peace deal in Helsinki, many continue to question its legitimacy, particularly House of Representatives lawmakers, which may pose a stumbling block to its implementation.

Jakarta – Dozens of Acehnese rebel prisoners eligible for release under a historic peace agreement remain behind bars, separatists said Sunday, calling on the government to make sure they're freed.

Chris Brummitt, Banda Aceh – Developments in Aceh have been "very encouraging" since last month's peace accord, but political resistance to the deal could increase if rebels fail to begin disarming later this month, according to the Dutch diplomat overseeing the accord.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The government brushed aside on Wednesday any possibility of the Aceh peace agreement faltering despite foreseeable political moves in the House of Representatives that may keep the accord's details and principles from actually working.

Muhammad Nur Hayid, Jakarta – TNI (armed forces) troops will not remain silent if the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) fails to comply with the substance of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Indonesian government and GAM. The TNI will clobber GAM members who betray the MoU – this is a promise said TNI chief General Endriartono Sutarto.

Banda Aceh – Hundreds of Acehnese rebels walked free from Indonesian jails on Wednesday under a sweeping amnesty that forms a vital plank of a landmark peace agreement signed in Helsinki this month.

Some 2,000 members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) are expected to be released after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued the amnesty late on Tuesday.

Hundreds of Acehnese rebels walked free from Indonesian jails today, under a sweeping amnesty that forms a vital plank of a landmark agreement signed in Helsinki.

Chris Brummitt, Jantho – Imprisoned Aceh rebel Idris walks free on Wednesday as part of a peace deal with the government, but the scars he claims he sustained at the hands of his captors will remain for life.

Muhammad Nur Hayid, Jakarta – Ex-Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members who are granted amnesties but persist in seeking independence must be destroyed by the government immediately. The articles in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) have been sign and the agreement represents the final deal to resolve the Aceh conflict with dignity.

Tiarma Siboro and Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) has called on the Aceh foreign peace monitoring team to take anticipatory measures to prevent the current peace process between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) from faltering, including banning former rebels from bearing weapons in public.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – The first confirmed cross-fire involving Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) guerrillas broke out on Sunday, putting a peace deal in the province to a serious test.

Jakarta – Indonesian Vice President Yusuf Kalla has dismissed calls by parliamentarians for Aceh rebels to swear an oath of allegiance to the government as a precondition for an amnesty, state media said.

Fabio Scarpello, Jakarta – As the historic Aceh peace deal, signed two weeks ago in Helsinki, enters the delicate, implementation phase analysts worry that the wording is vague and that mounting political opposition could yet derail the accord.

Veena Siddharth, New York – When the Indonesian government and the armed separatists of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) signed their peace agreement this week, they demonstrated that even the darkest cloud may have a silver lining after all.

Jakarta – The military may be held accountable for alleged atrocities committed during a three-decade separatist war in Aceh province, Indonesia's justice minister said Wednesday, denying that troops would escape rights tribunals.

Desra Percaya, New York – Following seven months of talks mediated by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in Helsinki on Aug. 15 between the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Criticism is gathering against the powerful Aceh Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) two months after it began the massive project of rebuilding the tsunami-affected province.

Banda Aceh – At least 60 separatist guerrillas have left their rebel stronghold in Indonesia's Aceh province after a peace pact was signed last week.

The move comes a day after 1,300 Indonesian soldiers withdrew from Aceh province, the first major step by Indonesia to begin implementing the historic peace.

Miswar, Banda Aceh – Indonesian negotiator Sofyan Djalil who is also the minister of information and communication, has started to manipulate the text of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Banda Aceh – Civilians who lost family and friends during a three-decade separatist war in Indonesia's Aceh province deserve justice, rebels said Sunday, days after an agreement was signed to end the fighting that claimed nearly 15,000 lives.

Jakarta – Criticism about the contents of the peace accord between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) continued on Friday, with legislators questioning the role of the foreign monitoring mission that they said was too powerful and was an "internationalization" of a domestic conflict.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – The government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have agreed to only bring human rights violations cases in Aceh to court that occur after the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Monday.

Salim Osman, Banda Aceh – All hopes for peace in the troubled Aceh province now rest on about 200 monitors who will oversee the implementation of the accord, with mistrust still prevailing between the Indonesian government and rebels.

AK-34, Jakarta – Responding to a plan by the Aceh regional house of representatives (DPRD) to issue a new by-law soon, an activist from the Acehnese Popular Democratic Resistance Front (FPDRA), Thamrin Ananda, says that they cannot just issue new regulations because there are a number of important issues that must be considered first.

Jakarta – Indonesia's military, often accused of human rights violations, is likely to stick to a fresh peace pact in Aceh province despite frustrations over concessions to separatist rebels, analysts said.

Jakarta – Commander in Chief of the TNI, General Endriartono Sutarto said he hoped that all sides in Aceh, incluuding the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) would not bring up mistakes that occurred in the past. He asked all those concerned to think about the future so as to enable the Acehnese to re-build their region.

Jakarta – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has criticized the number of Indonesian Military (TNI) organic personnel, which exceeds the number of TNI personnel in other regions.

I. Christianto, Contributor, Helsinki – In spite of the amnesty offered by the Indonesian government to all people linked to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), many of them who are living in exile overseas have adopted a wait-and-see attitude, with no immediate plans to return home.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – A number of politicians have voiced strong criticism of the Aceh peace deal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), with opposition bloc the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) demanding a court ruling to revoke it.

Tiarma Siboro and Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – The peace agreement between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) faced its first test on Wednesday when plainclothes police threatened rebels who were released from the Jantho penitentiary in Aceh Besar regency.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Following the signed peace deal between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebel group, Aceh will still adhere to most of the key fiscal and monetary policies set by the central government with some exceptions.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) signed an historic peace agreement, though not the first, on Monday in Helsinki, Finland.

Noted lawyer and human rights activist Todung Mulya Lubis, who is on the board of the Jakarta-based Tifa Foundation focusing on empowering civil society, shared his thoughts with The Jakarta Post's Tony Hotland.

Allan Nairn – The TNI/POLRI is now saying that they have about 35,000 men in Aceh, which, if true, would mean that under the Helsinki deal with GAM signed yesterday they will be temporarily withdrawing about 32% of their troops, not much more than a normal rotation.

Allan Nairn – In Central Aceh, the TNI has an ethnic Javanese and Gayo militia force that is estimated to be larger than the Aceh-wide GAM. An investigator who speaks the local Gayo language puts their strength at 12,000 people and 6,000 weapons – some homemade, some military issue.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has pledged to honor a historic agreement with separatist rebels from Aceh province and has urged the guerrillas to do the same.

Following are key passages from a seven-page Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebel group, signed on Monday in Helsinki.

Dan Eaton, Banda Aceh – Indonesia's military and Acehnese rebels on Tuesday cautiously welcomed a peace pact but each expressed doubts the other would stick to the deal.

Speakers: Malik Mahmood, GAM chief negotiator; Hamid Aaluddin, Indonesian Justice Minister; Allan Nairn, award-winning journalist and activist. His article on the Aceh peace agreement can be found at newsc.blogspot.com

M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta - If former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members are granted amnesty, then what about the fate of convicted activists and political prisoners jailed as a result of the Aceh conflict?

Helsinki – After having been at conflict for almost 30 years, the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have made a historical step by signing a peace agreement.

Both parties still have differences of opinion in terms of human rights violation trials.

AK-17, Banda Aceh - A day before the signing of the peace agreement, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has protested the continued presence of TNI (armed forces) controlled militia in Aceh. This was conveyed by GAM's spokesperson Bachtiar Abdullah in a press release received by Aceh Kita on Sunday August 14.

Tiarma Siboro and Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – An atmosphere of peace prevailed in Aceh ahead of an historic day that many hope will mark an end to almost three decades of bloodshed.

Associated Press in Banda Aceh – As a ship carrying hundreds of troops leaves Aceh's port, soldiers and police wonder if an accord being signed by the Indonesian government and separatist rebels today will bring lasting peace to the province.

Mark Forbes, Jakarta – The gunfire that marked 30 years of bitter secessionist fighting in Aceh has given way to another sound – the beating of 114 traditional rapai drums during a ceremony abandoned during the years of fighting.

Helsinki – The Indonesian government and Muslim Aceh rebels signed a historic peace accord aimed at ending decades of bloodshed in a region devastated by last year's tsunami.

All hostilities were to end with the signing of the agreement, under which the separatists dropped their long-held demands for independence and agreed to disarm and demobilise their soldiers.

Allan Nairn – Today (August 15, 2005) the Aceh Freedom Movement (GAM, Gerakan Aceh Merdeka) will sign a deal with the government of Indonesia under which they agree to disarm and accept amnesty, money and farmland.

Banda Aceh – Separatist guerrillas in Indonesia's restive province of Aceh will respect a peace pact to be signed with the government, one of their top spokesmen said.

Stockholm – Rebel leaders from Aceh accused the Indonesian government of failing to disarm militias in the province, a day before both sides are to sign a landmark peace deal in Helsinki.