Jerry Norton and Jim Loney, Jakarta – Talks to end a decades-long conflict in Indonesia's tsunami-stricken Aceh province could be on a fast track to nowhere unless there are changes in positions and negotiating approaches, analysts said on Monday.

Jakarta – The Aceh military authorities have detained an army officer for questioning after he allegedly assaulted an anticorruption activist accused of stealing relief aid from the air force base in Banda Aceh.

Shirley Shackleton – I have studied the TNI (the Indonesian military) for 30 years and what is happening in Aceh has striking similarities to what happened in East Timor. The TNI terrorised the East Timorese for a quarter of a century and they have done the same to Acehnese citizens for 31 years.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Deep mistrust among local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and foreign aid agencies of the government-sanctioned National Relief Committee is to blame for the chaotic nature of the relief operation on the west coast of Aceh, a prominent activist says.

Banda Aceh – A lawyer Saturday demanded the release of an anti-corruption activist who was allegedly beaten while in detention after being accused of stealing aid in the tsunami-hit Aceh province.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Tsunami-devastated Aceh, which only a month ago was a war zone, has now become the testing ground for a concerted push to persuade the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which has been fighting for independence, to lay down its arms.

Jakarta – The House of Representatives' Commission II for home and regional affairs has recommended the government delay the direct elections of local executive heads in tsunami-ravaged Aceh.

Commission member Abdul Gafur said on Thursday the proposed delay be imposed until the conditions improved in Aceh.

M. Taufiqurrahman and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The government admitted on Thursday that the management of public donations for the tsunami survivors in Aceh and North Sumatra had been tainted by malfeasance.

The Pentagon and the Indonesian government are using the tragic tsunami that struck Aceh to call for US support including weapons and training – for Indonesia's brutal military.

Meidyatama Suryodiningrat and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The wheels of diplomacy and bureaucracy are notoriously slow. Apparently not so in the case of this weekend's peace talks between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the government, in Helsinki.

Tony Hotland and Ruslan Sangadji, Banda Aceh – The Acehnese have long dreamed of peace and prosperity in their homeland, which has seen decades of conflict and, at the end of last year, tsunamis that left more than 166,000 people killed or missing and presumed dead.

Alan Sipress, Lhoknga – Ali, a scruffy Acehnese truck driver turned tsunami refugee, said he wasn't sure who provided him with a sack of rice, bottled water, a blanket and a few other meager provisions, just that they were foreigners.

Banda Aceh – Indonesia has buried more than 100,000 tsunami victims, mostly in mass graves, a month after the disaster, the government said on Thursday.

Nani Afrida and Dedy Ardiansyah, Banda Aceh/Meulaboh – As the sun rose over the devastated city of Banda Aceh on Wednesday morning, Maizul, a 40-year-old school teacher, was standing in front of a classroom at one of the city's schools.

Jakarta – Indonesia's president on Thursday offered concessions to separatist rebels in tsunami-devastated Aceh province if they agree to a cease-fire in upcoming peace talks.

Wellington – New Zealand said on Thursday it will ask Indonesia to investigate claims that its military officers have been accepting bribes to place wealthy people on refugee flights out of tsunami-ravaged Aceh.

Many seats were left empty in badly damaged schools across Indonesia's Aceh province as children began lessons for the first time since the tsunami struck one month ago, killing thousands of their classmates.

Meulaboh – The two-faced attitude of United States troops in the province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami has been revealed. Apart from carrying out humanitarian missions, the troops from the US have been caught out providing logistical aid to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Calang, the capital of Aceh Jaya District.

Sonny Inbaraj, Bangkok – East Timor's Nobel laureate Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo is appealing for peace to be given a chance in tsunami-hit Aceh as an Indonesian top-level team meets with Acehnese rebels later this week at talks in Finland.

Santi Soekanto, Aceh – Nina recounted her story to me in the Lamsujen refugee camp in Lhoong subdistrict, Aceh Besar, on January 3. This is what she said: "Assalam mualai'kum. My name is Nina Maulidia Rizka. Call me Nina. I am now 11 years old. I was born in a beautiful village, called Gleebruek, in the sub-district Lhoong, Aceh Besar District.

Tiarma Siboro and Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – The government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) are ready to resume peace talks in Helsinki later this week, with both sides planning to send high-level officials, according to people familiar with the talks.

An Indonesian ministerial team departs for Finland today to meet Free Aceh Movement or GAM's leadership-in-exile, but though both sides expressed optimism, there is scant hope the talks would end decades of conflict in the province.

Jakarta – Almost half a million Acehnese may suffer depression, anxiety and sleep disorders due to last month's tsunami disaster, but only five psychiatrists are on hand to treat them, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta – The government said on Monday it would use some unconventional methods to cope with post-tsunami legal issues related to citizen documentation as well as for banking and court systems in Aceh and North Sumatra.

Jakarta – The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday that health conditions in the disaster area of Aceh were improving, and that no major epidemics were likely, but all parties involved in medical relief should remain alert to possible outbreaks.

Rebels fighting for the independence of Aceh province are willing to engage in peace talks with Indonesia but say the country is not serious about negotiations, a senior guerrilla said from his rural hideout.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Both the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) must capitalize on the outpouring of sympathy for the Acehnese in the post-tsunami aftermath to reach a peaceful solution to the protracted conflict, a former government negotiator said.

Jakarta – International financial institutions paid about $35 million in the late 1980s to build the highway that meanders from Jakarta's international airport to the city, crossing picturesque rice paddies and fish ponds.

Jakarta – An American journalist will be deported from Indonesia after immigration officers said he entered the country illegally, despite granting him a visa when he arrived three weeks ago, the immigration department said.

The Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, or GAM) was founded on 4 December 1976 by Hasan di Tiro – a descendant of the last sultan of Aceh.

The group has grown from an initial membership of just 150 rebels to a military strength now estimated at between 3,000 and 5,000.

Barbara Demick, Banda Aceh – From behind a rickety wooden crate on which he has spread out cans of Coca-Cola and cigarettes, Mohammed Yunus warily eyes the bare legs of a blond woman in khaki shorts as she helps carry a ladder.

A welter of emotions flickers over his face. Until three weeks ago, this sleepy provincial capital was about as far off the beaten track as it got.

Banda Aceh – Villagers cross a river on a makeshift ferry as Indonesian soldiers work to reconstruct a bridge which was swept away by last month's tsunami in Loknga, near Banda Aceh. Agence France-Presse photo

Jay Solomon and Andrew Higgins, Banda Aceh – Government authorities here said they are investigating claims by an Indonesian anticorruption watchdog that the number of refugees in some Aceh camps has been significantly inflated by local officials seeking to get more aid – an early signal that graft might compromise some tsunami-relief work.

Matthew Moore, Banda Aceh – More than three weeks after the tsunami that wiped out much of Aceh's west coast, aid was continuing to arrive in a chaotic manner. Lack of water, sanitation and food was causing relief experts deep concern.

Jakarta – The government said on Sunday that the emergency situation in tsunami-ravaged Aceh is now nearly over, and that foreign troops should gradually be replaced by civilians.

Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab said it was "only logical" for foreign militaries to start withdrawing their personnel from Aceh.

The military chief in Indonesia's Aceh province described foreigners providing relief aid for tsunami survivors in the region as insolent for refusing to follow directives given by local officers.

Indonesia ramped up its peace bid for tsunami-hit Aceh, saying it would consider anything except independence in talks with separatist rebels, while trying to reassure the world that relief aid was safe from endemic corruption.

The Indonesian government will consider anything except independence for tsunami-hit Aceh province as it tries to broker a peace with separatist rebels, a senior minister says.

"We will entertain any demand short of independence," Social Welfare Minister Alwi Shihab, who is overseeing relief operations in Aceh, told reporters in the devastated capital of Banda Aceh.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – State Intelligence Agency (BIN) head Syamsir Siregar has called on the government to be alert to possible spying from foreign forces deployed in tsunami-devastated Aceh for relief aid operations.

Kobe, Japan – Political constraints in Indonesia are discouraging international non-governmental organizations from assisting victims of Asia's tsunamis, activists at a global conference on disasters said on Saturday.

Rebels in Indonesia's tsunami-devastated Aceh province accused the government of abandoning an informal cease-fire after the military said it had killed scores of suspected guerrillas to protect aid deliveries.

Deborah Cameron, Jakarta – The tears pool in her deep, wise eyes. Yes, parcels of baby food and milk have been sent, but the greatest of all needs – a family and a future - does not come condensed in a bottle. If it did, Rin Tjiptono could stop worrying.

Indonesia's army and the Free Aceh separatist movement, GAM, have agreed to an unconditional ceasefire in the province so devasted by the tsunami. The Army Chief of Staff General Ryamizard Ryucudu says the armed forces have killed 120 GAM fighters over the last two weeks. The figure has been disputed by a GAM spokesperson who claims the ceasefire is largely holding.

Banda Aceh – A massive world outpouring of aid to tsunami-stricken Aceh had relief agencies rushing to reach survivors, but many are now questioning if the region is "over-aided".

United Nations figures showed at least 100 NGOs have flooded into the northern Indonesia province after the tsunami left a half-million homeless.

The United States yesterday called for a political solution of the conflict in the Indonesian province of Aceh, with a top Pentagon official arguing that Indonesia's military should be "pushed to get out of the way" if it tries to sabotage attempts at a negotiated settlement.

Manuela Badawy, New York – A US Muslim group on Thursday accused evangelist Jerry Falwell of using money donated for tsunami relief to convert people in South Asia to Christianity and called on the Bush administration to denounce his actions.

Astrid Felicia Lim, Jakarta - National Intelligence Agencey (BIN) chief Syamsir Siregar says that foreigners in Aceh definitely have specific interests other than the humanitarian mission. Based on BIN's data, as well as thousands of volunteers the number of foreign troops presently in Aceh has reached 19,000 personnel.

Fedhly Averouss Bey, Jakarta - The Aceh Working Group (AWG) opposes the plan to form the Special Authority Agency for Aceh because it has the potential to turn the Acehnese people into 'objects'.

Suliyanti, Jakarta - People's Representative Assembly Commission I for Defense and Foreign Affairs is urging the military (TNI) to remain resolute and on guard against the armed separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

[Interview with US Deputy Secretary of State Paul Wolfowitz. Sections not directly related to South-East Asia and Aceh have been edited out - JB.]

Newsmaker: Paul Wolfowitz