Jakarta – A court in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday sentenced an activist fighting for a referendum on self-determination in troubled Aceh province to one year in prison.

Faisal bin Saifuddin is guilty of spreading enmity and hatred against the state, chief judge Iskandar Tjake said in the verdict.

Violence has left at least ten people dead as explosions and volleys of gunfire marked the start of a two-day strike called by rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province.

Jakarta – The military is establishing a separate command in Aceh to spearhead the war against the rebel Free Aceh Movement, a move which means that soldiers in the province will no longer be accountable to headquarters in Jakarta.

Human rights activists have denounced the move, saying the action will increase military atrocities.

Banda Aceh – Separatist rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province on Friday accused US-based energy giant ExxonMobil Indonesia of providing funds and facilities to soldiers to wage "a brutal military campaign" in Aceh.

Banda Aceh – At least 12 people, including a soldier, were killed in the latest outbreak of violence in restive Aceh province from Wednesday to Thursday, official and humanitarian activists said.

Banda Aceh – At least eight more people including two suspected separatist rebels have been killed in Indonesia's restive province of Aceh in recent days, the military and humanitarian workers said Monday.

Banda Aceh – A family of three shot dead by unidentified gunmen were the latest victims of violence in Indonesia's Aceh province where at least eight others were killed in past days, reports said Thursday.

Jakarta – Indonesian soldiers have killed four suspected separatist rebels in the troubled province of Aceh, the official Antara news agency said Tuesday.

Jakarta – Four bodies have been found in the Indonesian province of Aceh, a region plagued by violence exchanges between government and separatist rebel forces, a press report said Monday.

Banda Aceh – A policeman and five suspected separatist rebels were killed in the latest outbreak of violence to hit Indonesia's restive province of Aceh, police said Sunday.

Moch. N. Kurniawan, – Jakarta Oil and gas producer ExxonMobil Indonesia Inc. will not shut down its gas fields in troubled Aceh province despite an ambush by unidentified armed men on Thursday that killed one employee of the company's contractor, a company spokeswoman said on Friday.

Vaudine England and agencies in Jakarta – An Indonesian military transport plane was destroyed after being hit by rebel ground fire yesterday as it approached an airport in separatist-racked Aceh province.

Banda Aceh – At least seven people were killed in Aceh on Tuesday and Wednesday, three were military personnel and four others were Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist rebels, officials and witnesses said on Thursday. The incidents took place in three different sites in West Aceh, Aceh Besar and East Aceh.

Banda Aceh – The government must be extra careful with an Indonesian Military (TNI) plan to reestablish an Aceh-specific military command, or else the dialog to settle the lingering conflict in the province will be disrupted, an Acehnese figure says.

Lela E. Madjiah, Lhokseumawe – The Indonesian Military (TNI) is considering reestablishing the Iskandar Muda military command, which would be an Aceh-specific military command, if the Acehnese people agree to its resumption, a military commander said here on Sunday.

Four separatist rebels have been killed in the latest violence in Indonesia's troubled province of Aceh, security authorities said.

Soldiers killed four suspected members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in a gunfight Wednesday in Aceh Besar district, said military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Firdaus.

Max Lane – The cities and towns of the northern province of Aceh were almost like ghost towns on December 4, the 25th anniversary of the GAM, the Free Aceh Movement.

Banda Aceh – Four people have been found murdered in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province, apparently the latest victims of separatist violence, health workers said Monday.

The bodies were discovered Sunday in a rubber plantation in Langkat, a district in North Sumatra province which borders Aceh, a local paramedic said.

Banda Aceh – Six people were killed yesterday in Indonesia's Aceh province as rebels marked the 25th anniversary of an independence struggle which has cost an estimated 10,000 lives.

Ibnu Mat Noor, Banda Aceh – At least five people were killed and five more seriously injured in separate, violent incidents in the strife-torn province of Aceh on Wednesday, separatist movement and military sources said here on Thursday.

Jakarta – Indonesia warned rebels in Aceh on Thursday that it would soon step up military operations in the restive province, saying the government's willingness to compromise was ebbing fast.

At least five people were killed in the Indonesian province of Aceh where separatist rebels are fighting government forces, military and rebels said Saturday

Gunfight broke out Friday in the Krueng Sabee area of West Aceh between military soldiers and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels, killing a soldier and three rebels, said military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Firdaus.

Eleven people, including seven separatist rebels, have been killed in Indonesia's violence-torn Aceh province, the military and civilians said.

Max Lane – On November 11, a panel of three judges in Banda Aceh handed down their findings after two weeks of hearings in the case brought by the Indonesian National Police against Kautsar, a central leader of the Acehnese freedom movement.

Jakarta – At least seven separatist rebels and one soldier have been killed in the restive Indonesian province of Aceh in the run-up to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the military and the insurgents said Thursday.

Jakarta – Separatist rebels killed a soldier on Monday in the latest violence to hit Indonesia's Aceh province, the military said.

Banda Aceh – At least five civilians were killed in the Indonesian province of Aceh where separatist rebels are fighting government forces, residents said Sunday.

Four civilians were found dead, all with gunshot wounds in Muara Dua, North Aceh, near a pipeline of the ExxonMobil gas field on Saturday, a resident said.

Ibnu Mat Noor, Banda Aceh – Most of 13 Acehnese leaders who met with Vice President Hamzah Haz in Banda Aceh on Thursday said they preferred a cease-fire and dialog to settle the prolonged dispute between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the government of Indonesia.

Lhokseumawe – Indonesia might grant amnesty to rebels in Aceh province if they abandon their armed, separatist struggle, Vice-President Hamzah Haz said yesterday.

"If the rebels of the Free Aceh Movement ask for amnesty, the government will consider it. But they have to promise not to fight again in the future," Mr Hamzah said while on a three-day tour of the region.

Banda Aceh – At least four people have been killed and three badly wounded in the latest violence to hit the restive Indonesian province of Aceh, the military and residents said Wednesday.

Ibnu Mat Noor, Banda Aceh – At least four people were shot dead in separate villages in Aceh, three of whom were believed to be members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), military and police sources said here on Wednesday, despite GAM's insistence that they were civilians.

Banda Aceh – At least eight people, including two Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels, were killed in a series of incidents over Friday and Saturday, officials and activists said.

Banda Aceh – Seven people, including two members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist group, were killed in separate violence on Thursday and Friday, activists and an official said.

Banda Aceh – Gunmen killed a local government official on Thursday in the latest violence to rock the rebellious Indonesian province of Aceh, police said.

The secretary of the North Aceh district administration, Muchlis Ali, was shot dead by two unidentified attackers in the city of Lhokseumawe, said local police spokesman Adjunct Commissioner Adi Marwan.

Banda Aceh – Indonesian troops shot and killed a former negotiator for separatist guerillas in Aceh province after he resisted arrest, a military spokesman said yesterday.

[This is a special report of The Jakarta Post's reporter Ridwan Max Sijabat and photographer R. Berto Wedhatama, on their recent journalistic trip to Aceh.]

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Banda Aceh – There seems no right policy for Aceh. Whatever policy is pursued by the government seems to reach a dead end. The Acehnese say this failure stems from the fact that policies are introduced when violence is continuing unabated.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Idi, East Aceh – Yasdi, 40, has abandoned his job as a truck driver because he can no longer endure the rife extortion by security personnel on the streets in the province of Aceh. Sitting relaxed in his coffee shop in Idi, East Aceh, Yasdi, of Acehnese descent, recalled how local policemen and soldiers treat motorists and travelers.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – With about 20 people killed in fighting between separatist and government forces in Aceh in under a week, the Government's claims of pursuing dialogue are fast losing credibility. Parliament called on President Megawati Sukarnoputri to focus on the issue.

Ibnu Mat Noor, Banda Aceh – After serving his full 12-month jail term at the Banda Aceh prison, Muhammad Nazar, chairman of the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA), was released on Tuesday.

Ibnu Mat Noor, Banda Aceh – Five dead bodies with gunshot wounds were found in separate locations after a gunfight between security forces and members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) that lasted all of Sunday, an Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) volunteer worker said on Monday.

The Free Aceh Separatist Movement (GAM) denied on Wednesday that it was training rebels of the so-named Free Deli Separatist Movement (GDM), aimed at fighting for the separation of the Deli sultanate in the northern part of North Sumatra from Indonesia.

An employee with the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) in the regency of Bireun, Aceh, Jafar Syehdo, 57, was found dead – with gunshot wounds to his head and body – on a road in the village of Glumpang Payong, Jeumpa district in Bireun on Wednesday night, a Red Cross official confirmed on Thursday.

Jakarta – After weeks of restive calm, at least seven people were killed on Thursday in a series of incidents in the Aceh province, police and reports said.

Jakarta – Troops shot and killed two separatist rebels in separate clashes in Aceh province, officials said on Tuesday.

Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Agus Dwiyanto said an insurgent was killed during a clash in East Aceh on Sunday. On Saturday, a rebel was killed in western Aceh when guerillas ambushed a government patrol.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Indonesian police yesterday linked the blast at the Atrium Senen Plaza on Sunday to members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebel group who have been arrested for involvement in the Jakarta bourse blast last year.

Banda Aceh – Separatist rebels in Indonesia's restive province of Aceh claimed yesterday to have killed 31 soldiers over the weekend, but this was denied by the military.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Simmering differences are emerging between President Megawati Sukarnoputri and her generals on how to resolve the bloody conflict in Aceh. Both sides share the aim of keeping the restive province within the Indonesian fold.

Banda Aceh – At least 11 people were killed in an armed clash in strife-torn Aceh on Wednesday night, local police said.

Medan – More than 500 families of Acehnese who fled clashes between separatist rebels and the military have encroached on Gunung Leuser National Park, a non-governmental organization reported on Friday.