Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – Amid the military operation to crush the separatist movement in Aceh, the government has begun to screen a total of around 67,000 civil servants in Aceh to ensure their loyalty to the Unitary Republic of Indonesia.

A'an Suryana, Lhokseumawe – The court martial of three soldiers for the rape of four women in Aceh will start on Friday, a court official in the North Aceh town of Lhokseumawe said on Wednesday.

Jakarta – Indonesia's military claimed control over the whole of Aceh province yesterday, six weeks after it launched a huge operation to crush separatist rebels.

Geneva – The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), the world's largest coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) engaged in the fight against torture, would like to express its deep concern about the ongoing conflict in the province of Aceh, which, to a great extent, is being ignored by the international community.

Lesley McCulloch – In the police stations of Aceh, in Indonesia's far northwest corner, fear is the daily diet of the detainees. Not fear of the outcome of a due legal process, but fear of torture by Indonesian police to force a false confession.

Nani Farida and A'an Suryana, Banda Aceh/Lhokseumawe – Following Monday's bomb blasts in Aceh's provincial capital Banda Aceh, authorities said they would tighten security in the city, as terrorist acts mark a new threat in the war against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels.

Three Indonesian soldiers arrested for raping four women in war-torn Aceh province have confessed to the crimes, the military said.

The private soldiers are now being detained at military police headquarters in North Aceh, said military operations spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Yani Basuki.

Sidney Jones, Indonesia project director of Brussels-based analysts International Crisis Group suggests that the Jakarta government has an electoral interest in stirring up a nationalist backlash against foreign involvement in peace talks with separatists in Aceh.

Lhokseumawe – Aceh Separatist Movement (GSA) members may have infiltrated Acehnese society over the past few weeks to obtain newly issued "red-and-white" citizen's cards, a military officer said.

A'an Suryana, Lhokseumawe – Soldiers captured on Friday two alleged Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatists who acted as the rebels' district chief and police chief for the GAM district Tangse in the village of Pulo Kawah in Pidie regency.

Kafil Yamin, Jakarta – Indonesia's armed forces might be winning the propaganda war in Aceh, thanks to "embedded" journalists, but activists warn that peace remains out of sight after more than a month of military operations. Instead, they say, the offensive in Aceh province that began on May 19 has taken a severe toll on civilians and on the rule of law.

A'an Suryana, Takengon – Tens of thousands of Central Aceh residents thronged Gelanggang Musara Alun soccer field in Bebesen district on Thursday for a rally against the separatist movement in the province.

Martial law authorities in Indonesia's Aceh have further tightened restrictions on foreign journalists and overseas non-government organisations (NGOs).

Jakarta – Twenty bodies were uncovered in two mass graves in Aceh province, police said yesterday, as President Megawati Sukarnoputri warned that a military offensive against rebels in the region may be extended.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights is drafting tough regulations to limit the presence of foreign non-governmental organization (NGO) activists in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, further closing the province to independent scrutiny.

The spectre of past human rights abuses in East Timor and West Papua haunts the people of Aceh, where the Indonesian armed forces have begun attacking and murdering civilians as part of its crackdown on pro-independence fighters. John Martinkus, who risked his life in entering the rebellious province, details a disturbing but all-too-familiar picture of military atrocities.

James Balowski, Jakarta – It has now been a month since martial law was declared in Indonesia's northern-most province of Aceh. But the "integrated operation" launched by the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) to smash the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and win the hearts and minds of the Acehnese people has, if anything, only succeeded in alienating them further.

Health officials in Indonesia's conflict-hit Aceh province have treated thousands of refugees for illnesses since they were moved into camps around the province to avoid fighting, an official said Wednesday.

Berni K. Moestafa, Lhokseumawe – The Indonesian Military (TNI) has asked foreign and Indonesian journalists working for foreign media to temporarily leave Aceh, following a recent presidential decree that restricts foreign news coverage of the ongoing operation to crush separatists.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – The Indonesian army has sent dozens of British-made Scorpion tanks to Aceh ignoring concerns that it is defying British conditions of sale designed to prevent human rights abuses.

The TNI military spokesman for Aceh, Colonel Ditya Soedarsono, said the army had landed the tanks at the weekend to battle separatist rebels (GAM).

Nisam – An American holed up with rebels in Aceh province presented himself on Tuesday to the Indonesian Military which has threatened to prosecute him for allegedly spying.

Sri Wahyuni, Yogyakarta/Jakarta – Chairman Ahmad Syafii Maarif of Muhammadiyah, the country's second largest Muslim organization, reiterated on Monday his call for the government to end the war in Aceh and reopen dialog with the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Luhut M.P. Pangaribuan, Jakarta – The martial law in the province of Aceh was issued in a decree signed by President Megawati Soekarnoputri. The decision was taken based on the reasoning that a comprehensive approach and dialog had failed to change the separatist intentions of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) from unitary state of Indonesia (NKRI).

One month has passed since the "integrated operations" under the auspices of a military emergency were launched to settle the Aceh conflict once and for all, and the question has become, are we moving closer to a solution? Judging by the latest events and most recent statements, it is anybody's guess.

Lhokseumawe – Three dozen British-made Scorpion tanks have joined Indonesian troops in Aceh to fight local separatists, risking further dispute with the European country.

The heavily armed tanks arrived on Sunday as part of the reinforcements from the West Java-based First Cavalry Battalion of the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad).

Banda Aceh (AFP) – More than 170 civilians have become casualties in the first month of Indonesia's military offensive against separatist rebels in Aceh province, a human rights group report said on Saturday.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The martial law administration in Aceh has moved to tighten control over media reporting on the current military operation in the troubled province with defiant journalists facing the threat of expulsion from the area.

YS Tong, Banda Aceh – They see with their eyes the victims of almost every battle, dead or alive, in conflict-torn Aceh province, located at the tip of northern Sumatra.

Jakarta/Banda Aceh – House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung on Friday called on the Aceh martial law administration to release detained politicians who supported the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatists out of fear rather than voluntarily.

Army chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu says American journalist William Nessen, who has spent the past six weeks with separatist rebels in Aceh province, could be punished by death if he is proven to be a spy.

A'an Suryana and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) called on Friday for an end to the military operation in Aceh, slamming it as having failed to live up to its initial objectives.

Banda Aceh/Jakarta – Leading the life of a human rights activist working in war-torn Aceh is obviously not something that everyone is cut out for.

Intimidation, assault, abduction and even murder have long been occupational hazards for activists in the province, which has been the scene of a bloody conflict for over 27 years.

Nur Raihan, Banda Aceh – Two volunteers from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Zakaria (72) and Nuraini (27), have been held by the Pidie district police since Friday morning.

Jakarta (AFP) – Indonesian police said Friday that more than 100 civilians have been killed during a month-long military offensive to crush separatist rebels in Aceh province.

National police spokesman Col. Zainuri Lubis said the victims have been identified by their families, who denied they were members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Tiarma Siboro & Berni K. Moestafa, Jakarta/Lhokseumawe – After one month attempting to crush independence rebels in Aceh, the Indonesian Military (TNI) says it is to change strategy so as to intensify night operations.

Banda Aceh – A bloody clash between Indonesian troops and rebels in troubled Aceh killed at least 12 people, a military official said on Thursday, showing the war to crush the rebellion was far from over.

Pidie/Jakarta – While in most parts of Aceh people seek shelter to get away from the frequent gunfights between government troops and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) fighters, hundreds of residents in Pidie have been displaced following a military search for rebels.

Matthew Moore – The Indonesian Government has issued new rules restricting access by foreigners to Aceh, but has not imposed a feared complete ban.

Meulaboh (Antara) – A commander of Aceh's separatist movement has surrendered to the Indonesian military, reportedly disillusioned by the rebel group's extortion and kidnapping activities, a military officer said here Thursday.

Arif Shodiq Pujiharto, Jakarta – They were intending to hold an action opposing violence against civilians in Aceh. But because they carried pictures of President Megawati Sukarnoputri and Vice-president Hamzah Haz which had been crossed out, two demonstrators were arrested by police.

Acehnese refugees forced into camps to escape fighting between Indonesian troops and separatist rebels are suffering health problems due to overcrowding and lack of clean water.

Almost 41,000 people have been moved into the tented camps, sometimes against their will, during the first month of a major offensive to crush the Free Aceh Movement.

Max Lane – When Hasan de Tiro proclaimed the independent state of Aceh and launched the Aceh Sumatra National Liberation Front, also known as the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), in 1978, he attracted little support.

James Balowski, Jakarta – Just hours after claiming significant progress in its operation to crush the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and its supporters, the Indonesian military (TNI) on June 9 lost seven soldiers in an ambush in the Bireuen regency in northern Aceh.

YS Tong, Banda Aceh – Thousands of unarmed Acehnese civilians from Banda Aceh began to gather in a field as early as 7am on Tuesday for what has now become a routine activity since the military operation started in late May.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The government issued on Tuesday a decree that restricts foreigners from traveling to the war-torn province of Aceh.

Banda Aceh – Indonesian Red Cross workers have removed 194 bodies from conflict zones in the western province of Aceh since a military offensive against rebels there began last month, the Red Cross said on Wednesday.

Michael Casey, Jakarta, Indonesia – An American journalist on the run with rebels in Aceh province said Wednesday that Indonesia's military wants to detain him on trumped-up charges and possibly shoot him.

Freelance journalist William Nessen defied a military order to surrender to the army by June 14, saying he first needs assurances he will not be jailed.

Jakarta – Most of the human rights workers in Aceh feel threatened with arbitrary arrest if they try to continue working in war-torn Aceh as the martial law administration in the province has alleged that they are involved with armed separatists.

Berni K. Moestafa, Lhokseumawe – Indonesia's most sophisticated jet fighters dropped bombs and fired rockets at rebel positions on Monday, in their first airstrike during the first month of war against Free Aceh Movement (GAM) units.

Monday's airstrike was the first time that the American F-16 Fighting Falcon was used in combat since Indonesia purchased the jets in 1996.

A major Indonesian military assault on separatist rebels in Aceh province could continue for five more months, the army and armed forces chiefs said.