Jakarta – The US embassy here on Friday deplored the "senseless" and "brutal" murder of three Indonesians involved in the peace process in restless Aceh province, and urged the government to investigate the killings.

Jakarta – Two human rights activists and their driver were shot dead in Aceh in an attack that suggests humanitarian workers were being targeted by Indonesian security forces in the rebellious province, a rights group said on Friday. Police confirmed the killings, but said they suspected rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) were responsible.

Banda Aceh – The Banda Aceh Court sentenced Central Information for Aceh Referendum (SIRA) chief Muhammad Nazar on Wednesday to 10 months in prison for displaying hostile intentions toward the state. The 27-year-old defendant was found guilty of inciting hostility against the state.

Jakarta – Hundreds of activists of the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) held a rally in front of the Dutch Embassy on Wednesday to demand that the Dutch government return Aceh to the Acehnese.

The protesters started arriving at 1 a.m. and occupied the slow lane in front of the embassy building on Jl. HR Rasuna Said in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

Pip Hinman – The Indonesian military is stepping up its war against the Acehnese people.

Jakarta has declared a "limited military operation" to "rid" Aceh of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). The Indonesian government has branded GAM a "separatist" organisation.

Banda Aceh – At least 14 people were killed in a series of clashes between government forces and separatist rebels in Indonesia's restive province of Aceh, police and residents said Sunday.

Daniel Cooney, Jakarta – Indonesia has deployed about 1,500 troops to protect Exxon Mobil oil fields from rebel attacks in the violence-plagued province of Aceh, the government said Saturday.

Jakarta – The United States government maintained on Thursday its opposition to separatism such as that in Aceh, but warned the Indonesian government to be "conscious of the local people's human rights."

Chris McCall, Jakarta – Rebel leaders in war-torn Aceh yesterday denounced plans by Jakarta to mount a new military operation there and said it would lead to a bloodbath on an appalling scale.

Banda Aceh – A leading supporter of independence for Aceh walked out of his trial Wednesday when it refused to call Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid or his representative as a witness.

Muhammad Nazar, chairman of the Information Centre for a Referendum in Aceh (SIRA), walked out of the Banda Aceh district court in protest with his defence lawyers.

Chris Latham & Pip Hinman – On February 20 the "cease-fire" between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian military (TNI) was extended for the third time since the so-called humanitarian pause in 2000. These declarations mean nothing, Syadiah Marhaban from the Aceh Referendum Information Centre (SIRA) told Green Left Weekly.

Jakarta – Indonesian authorities are planning to launch "limited security operations" against separatist rebels in the troubled province of Aceh, Defence Minister Muhammad Mahfud said Tuesday.

Banda Aceh – The judges of the Banda Aceh District Court ruled on Monday that the court could continue to try Acehnese independence activist Muhammad Nazar, ruling that the court had legal grounds on which to proceed. "The case will go ahead as there are sufficient legal grounds to justify this," presiding judge Farida Hanoem said during the second session of the trial.

Jakarta – Exxon Mobil Indonesia's decision to halt oil and gas production in the troubled Aceh province has forced other major companies in the area to shut down too.

PT Arun LNG Co, a major exporter of liquefied natural gas to Japan and South Korea, officially stopped operations on Saturday, the Serambi daily said.

Statements by top Indonesian Military (TNI) officers last week signaled mounting pressure on President Abdurrahman Wahid to take a harder line against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), with which he has been negotiating for a peaceful solution to the Aceh problem.

Banda Aceh – The trial of an Acehnese independence activist charged with revolt opened at the Banda Aceh District Court on Thursday amid a tight security cordon and a silent protest.

Dan Murphy, Lhokseumawe – The Aceh coffee is thick and sweet, the grounds sticking to the teeth the way they like it here, as a tense group sips and talks in the thatched shade of a cafe across from an ExxonMobil pump station.

Banda Aceh – At least seven people were killed and scores of others injured during a fresh outbreak of violence in Aceh between Sunday and Monday, officials and witnesses reported on Tuesday.

Five bodies bearing bullet wounds and lacerations were found in East Aceh on Monday during the celebration of Idul Adha in the predominantly-Muslim province.

Jakarta – Five judges have been appointed to the trial of Central Information for Aceh Referendum (SIRA) chief Muhammad Nazar in the Banda Aceh District Court, which will begin on Thursday, Antara reported.

Banda Aceh – Seven people were killed in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province, three of them when government troops retook a town held for 14 hours by rebels, police and residents said Saturday.

Two fishermen and an unidentified man were killed, apparently in the crossfire, when the troops retook Idi Rayeuk, a town of some 15,000 people in East Aceh on Friday.

Peace agreements come and go but on the ground nothing ever changes in Aceh. The death toll has continued to rise, even following a mid-January accord for a one-month moratorium on violence. Volunteers working for a group to assist victims of torture were murdered in cold blood, in a deliberate move to curb the activities of human rights defenders.

Banda Aceh – Violence has again escalated in Aceh with at least 11 people being killed in various incidents on Wednesday, while talks continue between government representatives and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist rebels regarding security arrangements.

The closed-door meeting took place at Kuala Tripa Hotel here discussing details about the security arrangements.

Jakarta – An official said on Friday that the long awaited trial of proindependence activist Muhammad Nazar would be transferred to Banda Aceh rescinding a previous decision to try the case in a neutral area, Medan, North Sumatra.

Banda Aceh – Violence continued in Aceh as Indonesian Police and Military officers held talks with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) on Thursday and Friday, officials said. As of Friday afternoon, no immediate results had been revealed.

Jakarta – A member of the Indonesian Military/National Police faction in the Aceh provincial council said rogue forces in the province had exacerbated tensions between security forces and separatist rebels.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – The renewal of a ceasefire between secessionist rebels and the Government in Aceh was greeted by more violence, but human rights activists say the peace pact reached in Geneva last week is still better than nothing.

Banda Aceh – At least two people were killed and 10 others were wounded in the latest violence to hit the troubled Aceh province despite a new peace deal, police and rebels said Tuesday.

Geneva – Indonesian officials and rebel leaders from Aceh have agreed to extend their ceasefire indefinitely and to hold broad political dialogue to end the conflict in the separatist province.

Geneva – Indonesian government representatives and separatist Aceh rebels agreed Friday a security pact to replace the current ceasefire in the troubled province, sources close to the talks said.

Banda Aceh – Resolute rebel group Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has threatened to create trouble nationwide if the joint police and military operation to restore order in the province continues.

Banda Aceh – The trial of Central Information for Aceh Referendum (SIRA) chief Muhammad Nazar remains up in the air after the government brushed off a Supreme Court ruling on Thursday that the trial venue be moved from Sabang, Aceh to Medan, North Sumatra.

Jakarta – Tensions in Aceh remain as three more civilians were shot during military and police operations against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in East Aceh and Aceh Besar on Monday, a volunteer said on Tuesday.

Banda Aceh – Seven people were killed in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province, police and residents said Monday, as government and separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) representatives headed for a fresh round of talks in Switzerland.

Banda Aceh – Government representatives and rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) commanders reached an agreement here on Saturday on ways to reduce the violence in strife-torn Aceh.

Banda Aceh – Separatist rebels on Friday shot dead an Acehnese army trooper and wounded 13 others in a pre-dawn ambush on the village prayer house where they were resting in Indonesia's restive Aceh province, military sources said.

Banda Aceh – The dossier on the detained chief of the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA), Muhammad Nazar, has been handed over to the court in Medan to be processed for trial, an official said on Monday.

"The dossier was received on Friday," an official at the court was quoted by Antara as saying. The date of Nazar's trial, however, has not been set.

Banda Aceh – Detained chief of the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) Muhammad Nazar rejected on Wednesday the proposal to move the trial against him to Medan, capital of neighboring North Sumatra province. The activist insisted that the case be tried in Aceh.

From behind the bars of his prison cell, as he awaits his trial for anti-state activities, mild-mannered Aceh independence activist Muhammad Nazar is still a man Jakarta fears.

Banda Aceh – Detained chief of Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) Muhammad Nazar demanded on Friday that the case against him be brought to court "to reveal the truth behind all the conflict in Aceh".

Jakarta – New fighting in Indonesia's restive Aceh province has killed at least four people, police said Saturday.

Banda Aceh – At least four people, including two soldiers, were killed in the latest violence to hit the Indonesian province of Aceh, the military and local residents said Thursday.

The two soldiers were shot dead in a rebel ambush in Juli Keude Dua, Bireun district, on Wednesday, said the head of their army battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Erda Bachtiar.

Chris McCall, Meulaboh – He races as fast as he can in his battered minibus, but screeches to a halt for the men with big guns. Roads in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh are nowhere to linger without reason.

Banda Aceh – The Indonesian government and separatist rebels in Aceh have agreed to work together to implement a one-month truce in the violence-wracked province, a joint statement obtained yesterday said.

Banda Aceh – The implementation of law in Aceh has almost come to a halt as many judges have fled the province because of security concerns.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) is demanding 30 million rupiah (S$5,700) for each firearm they give up. Defence Minister Muhammad Mahfud said this condition had stopped the process of disarmament.

Jakarta – South Aceh Police found a mass grave with 14 bodies, three of which were suspected to be those of the missing researchers from the Bandung-based Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), in Tebangan village, South Kluet district, an officer said on Wednesday.

Jakarta – While expressing support for a united territory of Indonesia, United States Ambassador to Indonesia Robert S. Gelbard offered on Wednesday to help ensure the agreement between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and Indonesian government a success.

Pip Hinman – Acehnese activist Kautsar has been struggling for his people's right to self-determination for some years. In 1998, he helped to form Student Solidarity with the People (SMUR), the main Acehenese student-led popular movement for independence.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – While President Abdurrahman Wahid gave his backing for another ceasefire between Acehnese rebels and the government, analysts said the bloodshed over the past few days indicated that neither side was prepared to take the truce seriously.

Chris McCall, Banda Aceh – "Let our people go quickly or Indonesia will suffer the same fate as Yugoslavia." That was the dire warning from separatist rebels, as the Indonesian province of Aceh began a new truce yesterday.