Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Aceh, one of the proudest and most defiant of Indonesia's provinces, has become the first province in the reform era to elect its own Governor, defying Jakarta's calls to wait until security improves.

Banda Aceh – Indonesian troops killed at least six people Wednesday as thousands streamed toward the capital of the province of Aceh for a massive two-day pro-independence rally, residents said.

Jakarta – Some 2,000 pro-independence Acehnese staged a huge rally in front of the UN office in the Indonesian capital Wednesday demanding international intervention to end the fighting in the rebellious state.

Banda Aceh – The provincial parliament in Indonesia's troubled province of Aceh has elected a new governor as violence between government forces and separatist rebels killed at least seven people, reports and police said Sunday.

Rayhan Anas Lubis/GB, Banda Aceh – The offices of the Aceh Referendum Information Centre (SIRA) in Banda Aceh, capital of Indonesias violence-ridden northern-most province, were raided over night by members of the police Mobile Brigade.

Banda Aceh – Three policemen and a civilian were killed as separatist rebels and Indonesian government forces clashed in the restive province of Aceh, police said Thursday.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Months after an accord was signed between Aceh's separatist rebels and the Indonesian Government, the brutal war in the province has deepened.

Banda Aceh – At least seven bodies were found, one of them of a policeman, in the separatist-plagued Indonesian province of Aceh, police and residents said Monday.

[Who is a Free Aceh rebel, how does he operate, and what fuels Aceh's separatist war? Lee Kim Chew visited the guerilla bases in the strife-torn north Sumatran province to find out. This is the first of three articles.]

Jakarta – Indonesian forces shot dead three alleged rebels during armed clashes in the troubled province of Aceh in north Sumatra, as separatist representatives seek a team to probe the escalating violence there, reports said Wednesday.

Banda Aceh – At least four civilians, including a five-year-old child, were killed and three others seriously injured in the latest violence in the restive Indonesian province of Aceh, police and residents said Sunday.

Banda Aceh – The campaign of violence perpetrated by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist rebels over the past 10 months has claimed 74 lives, police said here on Monday.

Banda Aceh – Indonesian police shot dead three civilians Monday in the village of Julok in East Aceh Regency in Aceh Province, the representative of a joint committee set up by the government and a major separatist group said Tuesday.

Jakarta – Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid is expected to come under mounting pressure from the country's largest political party to impose a state of civil emergency in restive Aceh province when he meets parliament this week, a report said Monday.

Dini Djalal, Banda Aceh and Lhokseumawe – Aceh is a war zone. Children are so accustomed to explosions and gunfire they make a game of dropping to the ground to avoid injury.

Jakarta – An armed group set fire to 10 houses in a pre-dawn attack on a village in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province. More than 1,200 people fled the village of Paya Tampah, in the Bandar Baru sub-district of East Aceh after the attack, which took place about 2 am on Sunday.

Jakarta – As many as 95 people have been killed and hundreds injured in Aceh in the last 24 days despite the extension of the Humanitarian Pause between the government and the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) a local rights group said.

Banda Aceh – Indonesian police and separatist rebels in Aceh province on Monday welcomed a three-month truce extension with a landmark clause on efforts to find a political solution. But civilian groups immediately demanded a voice in the dialogue, and said it would be meaningless if they were left out.

Banda Aceh – A soldier was killed and nine people injured in fresh violence as crude bomb explosions rocked the restive Indonesian province of Aceh, police and residents said Thursday.

Banda Aceh – A series of explosions and arson attacks rocked the capital of the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh overnight but caused no casualties, police and residents said Tuesday.

Banda Aceh – Three Indonesian soldiers, a policeman and a rebel were killed in separate incidents of violence in the restive Indonesian province of Aceh on Monday, police said.

Banda Aceh – Violence in restive Aceh province in the last year cost over Rp 42,8 billion (US$5.1 million) in material losses, the province's governor Ramli Ridwan said on Friday.

Associated Press in Banda Aceh – The head of an Islamic university in the restive Aceh province was shot to death on Saturday, police said.

Chris McCall – Aceh's rebels urged UN intervention in the troubled Indonesian province yesterday following the killing of 107 people there in the past 10 days.

Banda Aceh – Seven people, including two soldiers were killed in the latest violence in the restive Indonesian province of Aceh, residents and police said Wednesday.

The victims died in three districts just days ahead of a meeting between government representatives and Aceh rebel forces in Geneva on Saturday to decide on whether to extend a three-month truce.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government has ruled out extending a peace deal in war-torn Aceh province beyond December, news reports said on Saturday.

Chris McCall, Jakarta – Troubled Aceh prepared a hero's burial for its slain son Jafar Siddiq Hamzah yesterday as fellow human rights activists around the world condemned his murder. They said the killing was part of a pattern of growing intimidation of rights workers in the Sumatra province.

Banda Aceh – At least 12 people, including three policemen, were killed in an upsurge of violence in the Indonesian province of Aceh, police and rebels said Friday.

Banda Aceh – An Indonesian officer and two non-commissioned officers were killed on Friday when their jeep was hit by a grenade in Indonesia's restive Aceh province, police said here. Two other non-commissioned officers were seriously wounded in the attack, in the Bandar sub-district of central Aceh, Superintendant Yatim Suyatmo told

Jay Solomon, Lhokseumawe – A small plane circles to land at the massive Arun gas facility on the northern tip of Sumatra island. Below, pipelines shimmer in the tropical sun. "It's a beautiful sight," says an executive from Mobil Oil Indonesia Inc., looking out the window.

Banda Aceh – At least 24 people were killed in two days of violence in Indonesia's restive province of Aceh, rebels and reports said Thursday.

The first incident claimed the lives of 15 soldiers and policemen on Thursday when their truck was hit by a grenade during a skirmish in North Aceh, a deputy leader of the Free Aceh (GAM) rebel group told AFP.

Chris McCall, Jakarta – The Government and rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) yesterday half-heartedly announced that their ineffective truce would be extended, at least for now. A day after the truce officially expired, a joint statement was issued announcing new talks this month in Switzerland, where the deal was first signed in May.

Jakarta – The government yesterday stepped up pressure on rebels in restive Aceh province to halt violence which could jeopardize a three-month-old ceasefire agreement expected for extension.

H Dharmastuti/Swastika & AH, Jakarta – The Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) and the National Police (Polri) are said to be the worst violators of the Humanitarian Pause in Aceh. Unknown armed groups are second on the list, with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) ranked last.

Vaudine England – The Independent Commission on Aceh, which has helped bring soldiers and officers to trial over human rights abuses in the strife-torn province, said in its final report that the Government's current deal with separatist rebels was a failure, and that a threatened crackdown risked an East Timor-like crisis.

Jakarta – A three-month truce in Indonesia's restive Aceh province enabled rebels to set up a "shadow government" across almost two-thirds of the province, a government commander based there said, arguing the truce must not be extended.

Jakarta – Indonesia yesterday demanded that separatists drop demands for independence for Aceh, and warned that it was losing patience in the search for peace for the troubled province.

Banda Aceh – A commander of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist rebels in restive North Aceh regency Abu Sofyan Daud conceded that the movement has special links with officers in the Indonesian Military (TNI).

Banda Aceh – Residents in Indonesia's troubled Aceh Province began a strike Wednesday, refusing to conduct any activities or to hoist the red-and-white Indonesian national flag to mark Independence Day on August 17.

Rayhan Anas Lubis/Swastika & Lyndal Meehan, Banda Aceh – A mass prayer for those killed, raped and abused by the Indonesian Armed Forces and government organised by pro-referendum groups in Banda Aceh on Wednesday, has ended in clashes with police.

Iin Yumiyanti/Swastika & Lyndal Meehanm, Jakarta – As commemorations to mark the 55th anniversary of the declaration of independence on 17 August approach, groups of local people in North Aceh have begun confiscating and forbidding locals from raising the 'Red and White' Indonesian national flag.

Jakarta – Over 100 civilians in Indonesia's East Aceh regency were assaulted by Indonesian police and soldiers who went on a rampage of shooting and arson in retaliation for the death of a fellow soldier, a local daily Serambi Indonesia reported yesterday.

Washington – Human rights groups on Tuesday voiced deep concern over the fate of a New York-based activist missing in Indonesia's Aceh province, and demanded more action from US officials on his case.

Banda Aceh – A large number of residents were injured after a gang of soldiers and police officers reportedly ran amok on Sunday, destroying shops and markets in the Idi Rayeuek district of East Aceh on Sunday. Unconfirmed reports said three civilians were killed in the melee.

Nuruddin Lazuardi/Fitri & Lyndal Meehan, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, or Kontras, has demanded the Attorney General's office investigate the disappearance of Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, the head of the International Forum for Aceh (IFA).

Banda Aceh – A separatist leader in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province has vowed to minimize the group's armed struggle and adopt more diplomatic means to achieve independence.

Abdullah Syafiie, charismatic army chief of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), said a truce signed in May by the separatists and the Indonesian government constituted a partial victory for the rebels.

Jakarta – The United States on Wednesday expressed "deep concern" over the sudden disappearance of a US-based human rights activist in the Indonesian city of Medan last Saturday.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid has agreed to extend the cease-fire with separatist rebels in Aceh province for three more months, a Cabinet minister said Wednesday.

Representatives of the government and the Free Aceh Movement have been holding talks in Switzerland about extending the June 2 truce that was due to expire in September.

Geneva – Representatives of the Indonesian government and separatist rebels in the Aceh province met yesterday to assess the success of the ongoing three-month truce.

President Abdurrahman Wahid has proposed prolonging the unprecedented truce, which came into effect on June 2 after negotiations between the two sides in Geneva.

Ibnu Matnoor, Banda Aceh – He is only nine years old and he does not want to be a beggar. Yet there is no other way to put food on his family's table.

"I have to beg in order to buy rice for my mother and brother," said Muhammad Ridha at a rice store in Matang Geulumpung Dua, Bireuen regency, in strife-torn Aceh last week.