M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam provincial administration is set to declare a moratorium on the logging of forested regions in the province. Aceh governor Irwandi Yusuf said Thursday that both legal and illegal logging had caused severe environmental destruction in the province, which posed a threat to the lives of the people there.

Armia AM, Lhokseumawe – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has declared its commitment to fight for cases of past human rights cases. In addition to this, GAM has also admitted that it will continue to seek amendments to Law Number 11/2006 on Aceh Governance.

Banda Aceh – While waiting to officially declare the party, the Acehnese People's Party (PRA) – the first local political party in Aceh – is currently in process of establishing a party leadership board. This was conveyed by PRA General Chairperson Thamren Ananda in Banda Aceh on Monday March 5.

Banda Aceh – Aguswandi BR and Thamrin Ananda have been elected by acclaim as the general chairperson and secretary general of the Acehnese People's Party for the next five year period.

Banda Aceh – Around 75 participants attending a conference of the Preparatory Committee for the Acehnese People's Party (KP-PRA) are being treated at the Zainoel Abidin Public Hospital for poisoning after consuming food. Twenty three are still being treated in hospital.

The left-wing Acehnese Peoples Party (PRA) will be holding its founding congress in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh at the end of February. Sydney University Southeast Asian Studies lecturer Max Lane spoke to Thamrin Ananda, chairperson of the Preparatory Committee of the PRA.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – While a presidential decree on local political parties is still being worked out, Aceh's first-ever local party is being born this week.

The preparation committee for the establishment of the Aceh People's Party (PRA) launched its first congress in Banda Aceh on Tuesday.

Banda Aceh – The chairperson of the Preparatory Committee for the Acehnese People's Party (KP-PRA) is urging the government to immediately ratify the Draft Government Regulation on Local Political Parties in Aceh.

Radzie, Banda Aceh – The Preparatory Committee for the Acehnese People's Party (Komite Persiapan Partai Rakyat Aceh, KP-PRA) will hold its first congress between February 27 and March 2. Following the congress, the party will be declared as the first local political party in Aceh.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Aceh needs at least 100 more judges to fully implement sharia across the province, with many sharia courts operating with only three to five judges.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – After surviving Aceh's long struggle and even being jailed in 2003, former rebel leader Irwandi Yusuf has been installed as governor of the once-defiant province.

Fabio Scarpello – When former rebel Irwandi Yusuf was sworn in on Thursday as the first directly elected governor of Indonesia's Aceh province, the ceremony capped one of Southeast Asia's most extraordinary democratic transitions.

Putting decades of armed conflict and the devastating tsunami behind it, Aceh will embark on a new era when the new governor takes office Thursday. Outgoing acting governor Mustafa Abubakar talked to The Jakarta Post's Dwi Atmanta recently about the legacy of his administration and the landmark transfer of power, which he expects to lead the province to prosperity.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The government is drafting a regulation that would likely shackle local political parties in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

Jakarta – Aceh Governor-elect Irwandi Yusuf met Monday with Army chief of staff Gen. Djoko Santoso to seek support in leading the province.

Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Ricardo Siahaan said that in the 30-minute meeting, Irwandi stressed that support from the military, especially the Army, would be indispensable in helping Aceh's recovery.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Clad in a white dress and scarf, 20-year-old Liza Wahyuni binti Sulaiman kneeled on the platform. Two wilatatulhisbah, or religious police officers, stood next to her. She was about to be caned, and in public.

Adi Warsidi, Banda Aceh – The Acehnese government will continue to struggle for the formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (KKR) even though the Constitutional Court has put the law on the formation of the commission on ice.

John Aglionby, Jakarta – ExxonMobil must respond to a lawsuit alleging Indonesian soldiers under its control at a natural gas plant in Aceh province abused and murdered local people, a US appeals court has ruled.

Simon Montlake, Pidie – With her payments book and bundle of patterned sarongs, blouses, and head scarves, Juayriah bin Abdurani is rural Aceh's equivalent of the Avon Lady. Every week, she hops on a motorbike and makes the rounds of nearby villages to show off her wares and collect payments from her customers, who are happy to pay a dollar a week for a new dress.

Jakarta – A former separatist rebel elected governor of the Indonesian province of Aceh on Thursday said he would not push for independence for the province while in power.

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Nani Afrida, Pematang Siantar – An alliance of non-governmental organizations has asked President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to replace senior officials at the Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR).

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebel Irwandi Yusuf and running-mate Muhammad Nazar won a landslide victory in the first direct election for governor in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, the province's Independent Elections Committee announced Friday.

Banda Aceh – A former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebel won the first direct election for governor of Aceh province, the electoral commission announced on Friday, a step in a peace deal that ended decades of conflict in Aceh.

Christine T. Tjandraningsih, Jakarta – A former rebel negotiator won a landmark gubernatorial election in Indonesia's once-restive Aceh Province, the region's electoral commission announced Friday.

Lindsay Murdoch – Two years after the Boxing Day tsunami more than 25,000 poor and landless families in the hardest hit area of Indonesia's Aceh province are being denied housing under a massive rebuilding program.

Ahmad Pathoni, Banda Aceh – At 30, Beti has to raise her four young children alone after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami snatched her husband, and she has no regular job.

Nani Afrida and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Banda Aceh – Sharia-style local government bylaws in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam are bringing unnecessary hardship to the Acehnese and discriminating against women, people from the province say.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – While the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) on Friday concluded its 15-month mandate to supervise the implementation of the peace agreement in the province, non-governmental organization InterPeace will soon begin work to monitor the peace process.

Nani Afrida and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Banda Aceh – As the ballot counting continues from last week's elections in Aceh, it is clear voters favored independent candidates with ties to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), giving them a mandate to introduce needed changes to the province.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The government has finalized a draft regulation to establish local political parties in Aceh, which will only allow candidates to run for national House of Representatives seats with backing from national parties.

Fabio Scarpello in Banda Aceh – A draft sharia law in Aceh that calls for thieves to have their hands chopped off has angered many in the province. But the local religious authority says the law is not a big deal and reflects the will of the people.

With two former members of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) apparently set to claim victory in last week's landmark gubernatorial election in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, some parties have voiced concern over the future of the province.

Jonathan Dart – The task of rebuilding Aceh after the war and the tsunami has changed the role traditionally played by women.

Groups such as the International Organization for Migration and JARI Aceh have coopted women into learning new skills and starting their own enterprises.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) should dissolve itself after establishing a local political party within six months, the EU-led international monitors for the former war-torn province said here Saturday.

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – A sharia bill that would see convicted thieves have their hands amputated has sparked strong opposition among Acehenese, who believe the punishment should be imposed on those guilty of corruption.

Jonathan Dart, Banda Aceh – Every time Ibrahim bin Yatim gets a new DVD, people squeeze into his tiny warung in Montasik, near Banda Aceh.

It's a small, nondescript wooden shack, surrounded by rice paddies; it can seat only a dozen people, but nobody seems to care – they eat their noodles standing up, and Ibrahim can barely keep up with the demand.

Aboeprijadi Santoso, Banda Aceh – The imminent victory of the Irwandi-Nazar ticket in the Aceh gubernatorial election is a GAM (Free Aceh Movement) victory despite the fact that the former rebel movement is split as it transforms itself into a political party. It's a promise of a new Aceh, and should provide a lesson for all involved.

Nani Afrida and Tony Hotland, Banda Aceh/Jakarta – The Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) on Friday officially ended its 15-month mandate to supervise the implementation of the peace agreement in the province.

Nani Afrida and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Banda Aceh – While peace finally has descended upon Aceh, past wounds have yet to heal. A hundred people, claiming to be victims of past rights abuses in the province, demonstrated here Thursday urging the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) and the Aceh Reintegration Agency (BRA) to resolve their cases.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Former Free Aceh Movement leader Irwandi Yusuf, who leads Aceh's gubernatorial race, will face an uphill struggle to govern the province, analysts said Thursday.

Nani Afrida and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Banda Aceh – Foreign monitors on Thursday reported to the local poll supervisory body (Panwaslih) a number of violations during Monday's landmark elections in Aceh.

Meanwhile, Irwandi Yusuf and running mate Muhammad Nazar continue to lead in the preliminary vote count for the gubernatorial election.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The imminent victory of former rebel candidates in the Aceh gubernatorial election is a signal of the popularity the movement in the resource-rich province and Aceh people's rejection of Jakarta politics, observers say.

Banda Aceh – Human rights protesters demonstrated in Indonesia's Aceh province on Thursday, urging international monitors overseeing a historic peace deal between the government and separatist rebels to stay on.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The central government brushed off worries Tuesday about the likely victory of a former rebel leader in the landmark Aceh gubernatorial election, saying whoever won would deserve the top post in the provincial administration.

Ian Timberlake, Banda Aceh – Civilians in Indonesia's Aceh province show levels of combat-related stress, depression and anxiety comparable with those in Afghanistan and Bosnia, researchers say.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) conducted the study with Harvard Medical School's Department of Social Medicine and Aceh's University of Syiah Kuala.

Mark Forbes, Banda Aceh – Voters in Aceh have delivered a massive rebuff to Jakarta, overwhelmingly endorsing a radical rebel candidate as their first elected governor and demonstrating that resentment against Indonesian rule still burns bright.

Nani Afrida and Ati Nurbaiti, Banda Aceh – Former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) spokesman Irwandi Yusuf is leading with over 39 percent in unofficial results from the landmark gubernatorial election in Aceh.

Banda Aceh – Thieves could have their hands amputated in Indonesia's Aceh province under a proposed Islamic law that may alarm rights activists and Western governments.

Tanja Vestergaard – The elections constitute the culmination of the peace process initiated in 2005 between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian government, following a drawn-out separatist struggle

Jakarta – Elections in Indonesia's tsunami-devastated Aceh province have swept a former rebel leader to victory, unofficial results show as officials tot up the ballots.

The polls, consolidating a peace accord after nearly three decades of war, were hailed by UN chief Kofi Annan as "historic" and by the European Union.