Lewa Pardomuan, Jakarta – Violence between Indonesian troops and separatists is hurting the local economy and scaring off investors in the northern Sumatran province of Aceh.

Lhokseumawe – Some 800 students in Indonesia's restive province of Aceh rallied Monday to demand an East Timor-style referendum on self-determination.

Jakarta – A human rights lobbyist on Wednesday called on the United Nations to conduct the same sort of inquiry it is making into alleged atrocities in East Timor in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province.

Jakarta – Leaflets are circulating in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh calling on all Acehnese civil servants to go on strike from October 1, a report said Saturday.

The leaflets, allegedly issued by the separatist Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh) movement, called on the civil servants to halt work from the first minute of October 1, the Aceh-based Serambi daily said.

John Aglionby, Jakarta – Thousands of people in Aceh province in western Indonesia demonstrated yesterday to demand a referendum on independence from Jakarta amid reports of unabated military brutality both there and on the eastern spice island of Ambon.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – On the same day that an independent commission to investigate military abuses was visiting Aceh for the first time, seven leading political parties announced proposals for "special autonomy" for the rich, violence-wracked province.

Jakarta – Police fired warning shots to stop a convoy of 2,000 people heading for a rally in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province, press reports said Friday.

Banda Aceh – Inspired by East Timor's independence referendum, students occupied a government building Monday, demanding a similar vote in the violence-torn Indonesian province of Aceh.

President B.J. Habibie, however, repeated that he would not allow a referendum in Aceh where hundreds have been killed this year in fighting between the military and separatists.

Jakarta – Protests greeted a visit Saturday to the restive Aceh province by a delegation of Indonesian ministers and senior officials bringing aid for refugees fleeing violence between troops and Moslem rebels.

In the latest attack, four gunmen shot dead a soldier in Pidie district on Friday.

Jakarta – Police yesterday beefed up security at the US$2.5 billion Arun LNG refinery following reports of arson over the weekend, and have blamed rebels for a new round of killings in the restive Aceh province.

Ati Nurbaiti, Lhokseumawe – National Police chief Gen. Roesmanhadi was in Lhokseumawe, the capital of North Aceh regency, last month. He was told there had just been contact between security personnel and armed groups, and that two police officers had been shot.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – While international attention is focused on the forthcoming ballot in East Timor, the Indonesian armed forces chief has threatened to impose emergency rule in Aceh.

Jakarta – Continued violence between separatists and the military has claimed 11 lives in the past two days in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh, sources and reports said Saturday.

Aceh – Troops shot a man to death as he ripped down an Indonesian flag in Aceh province Sunday, police and residents said Monday.

North Aceh police chief Syafei Aksal said soldiers killed the civilian in Lhoksukon district, near the city of Lhokseumawe, about 1,750 kilometers northwest of Jakarta.

John Aglionby, Jakarta – The company of Indonesian soldiers was clearly very frightened. Two of their colleagues and one civilian were dead, three other soldiers and half-a-dozen civilians were badly injured; the ground was littered with spent cartridges.

Tim Dodd – Indonesian marines, in their trademark purple berets, walked slowly through the village in double file, automatic weapons at the ready, while people hid in their houses. Today they did not search buildings or take anybody away.

The Free Aceh guerillas are vowing to fight to the death as Indonesian troops step up their crackdown in the province. Lindsay Murdoch talks to those in the firing line.

Jakarta – Indonesian Military Chief General Wiranto on Saturday hinted for the first time that he is willing to negotiate with Aceh guerrillas to end the violence which has plagued the province for decades.

Susan Sim, Banda Aceh – Pressure is mounting on Jakarta to hold peace talks with a belligerent separatist group it is trying to crush and make a policy shift that could amount to an admission that it has lost political and moral authority in the country's westernmost province.

Susan Sim, Pidie – Village chief Idris Yahya started packing when he heard the machine-gun fire early Friday morning. PPRM riot troops were in the vicinity and that meant one thing: It was no longer safe to stay in Keumala.

Jakarta – At least 20 people have been killed in new unrest in Indonesia's bloodied Aceh province, including 14 civilians blasted to death by grenades, separatist rebels and human rights groups said Monday.

Susan Sim, Banda Aceh – One year after the Indonesian military apologised for past abuses and pledged to withdraw troops, a humanitarian crisis is brewing in Aceh as a renewed crackdown on armed insurgents creates a growing refugee problem, social activists here warn.

Jakarta – Separatist rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province on Monday denied charges by human rights watchdog Amnesty International that they were executing military informers.

Jakarta – Indonesian police early Friday removed nine Acehnese protesters from the grounds of the Netherlands embassy here, where they had been camped for more than 36 hours, one of the protestors said.

Jakarta – Amnesty International on Wednesday accused the Indonesian Military (TNI) of rampant violence in Aceh and said that deploying more troops in the province would only worsen the situation.

Banda Aceh – Separatist rebels in Aceh threatened Thursday to blow up a valuable natural gas refinery if Indonesia didn't withdraw troops from the strife-torn province.

Jakarta – A general strike to protest military violence entered a second day Thursday in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province, leaving cities and towns deserted, residents said.

Sander Thoenes, Jakarta – Police launched a crack-down on separatist rebels in the Indonesian province of Aceh yesterday, just as a general strike there highlighted growing support for secession.

Jakarta – Aceh is to Indonesia what Georgia is to the United States – an integral part of the country. East Timor, by comparison, is like what Puerto Rico is to America, a territory.

Jakarta – A total of 7,000 troops will launch an operation to hunt down separatist rebels in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province, the chief of the Aceh police said in a report Monday.

Jakarta – Officials in Banda Aceh have raised concerns over the deteriorating conditions among refugees which have reached some 140,000 people in Pidie, North Aceh and East Aceh. Aceh's secretary to the governor, Sofyan Muchtar, told Antara on Saturday, "Their health is getting worse due to inadequate sanitary facilities and lack of clean water."

Banda Aceh – Police in violence torn Aceh province have found 15 more bodies dumped in ravines near the site of a recent massacre, bringing the death toll to 71, police sources and residents said on Sunday.

The bodies were found on Saturday in western Aceh's Alur Baru village, about two km from a village where dozens of people were gunned down last Monday.

Jakarta – Residents in the troubled western province of Aceh have dug up 51 bodies of civilians killed by Indonesian trooops last week for allegedly possessing illegal arms, a report said Friday.

Rebellion is seriously brewing in Aceh province. With an overseas arms supply, substantial funding and popular support, the Aceh Merdeka movement could pose a threat much worse than East Timor's separatist struggle.

By John McBeth in Jakarta, Syamsul Indrapatra in Banda Aceh, Nate Thayer in Bangkok and Bertil Lintner in Stockholm

More than 100 military personnel from (TNI-AD; Indonesian Armed Forces) commanded by BKO (Operational Unit) of Korem 011/Liliwangsa, composed of Yonif 131 and 133 and backed by one platoon from Battalion 328 Kostrad, commanded by Intel Korem 011/Liliwangsa, LetKol Inf Sudjono, in initial report have massacred more than 39 civilian in the valley of Singgah Mata, Blang Merandeh villag

Yindee Lertcharoenchok – After the first ever face-to-face talks, representatives of the Free Aceh movement and a government-sanctioned Acehnese delegation yesterday expressed hope that both sides could strike an agreement, as early as next week, to end the violence in one of Indonesia's worst strife-torn provinces.

Jakarta – Minister of Justice/State Secretary Muladi ruled out on Thursday the possibility of holding a dialog with the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), saying it was not a legal organization.

Jakarta – The Indonesian military, hit by rising losses in Aceh province, has dispatched a battalion of marines to reinforce units battling separatist rebels, the official Antara news agency said yesterday.

Jakarta – Separatist movements which have simmered in Aceh and Irian Jaya for years could force the government to declare martial law in the two provinces, a minister said on Monday. Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Feisal Tanjung, speaking for Minister of Defense and Security Gen.

Jakarta – A group of separatist rebels shot five anti-riot troop personnel dead and injured a score of others on Monday in a dawn ambush in Reng Krueng village in Pidie regency, 170 kilometers east of the provincial capital Banda Aceh.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Human rights and community groups are accusing the Indonesian military of provoking violence in Indonesia's northern Aceh province, where more than 80,000 people have fled their homes.

Jakarta – More than 80,000 people have fled violence between soldiers and rebels in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh, an official said Thursday.

The refugee numbers had been swelled by more than 6,000 people who left their villages in East Aceh to reach 80,020, the head of the Aceh social affairs office, Zaharir, said quoted by the Antara news agency.

Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Wiranto defended on Tuesday the presence of anti-riot troops in Aceh, following recent clashes which left nine people dead.

Eight alleged rebels were shot dead in two separate clashes in East Aceh and Central Aceh on Monday, the day bodies of two police were found in East Aceh with severe wounds.

Jakarta – Troops killed six suspected separatist rebels and injured three others in two separate incidents in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province, a report said Tuesday.

Jakarta – More than 40,000 refugees packed camps in Indonesia's Aceh province Saturday, an official said, after fleeing their villages out of fear of continuing violence between soldiers and rebels.

A preliminary count of the refugees in Pidie disctrict showed 44,740 people had fled, said the official who asked to remain anonymous.

Jakarta – Anxiety prevailed in the North Aceh district of Matangkuli, near Lhokseumawe, on Tuesday following an overnight gunfight involving security authorities and armed separatist rebels.

Sigli – Some 25,000 people have fled their homes in Pidie district up to Sunday, 4 July and sub-district Tangse is almost entirely deserted. Thousands more villagers have fled a number of villages in sub-distrct Bandar Baru because they no longer feel safe in their homes.

4,000 people fleeing from villages in the sub-district Tangse, Pidie. who were on their way to the mosque in Beureuneun yesterday Friday, were obstrcuted along the way by troops and forced to halt their exodus, staying instead in a mosque in Tangse.

Jakarta – Minister of Defense and Security/Indonesian Military Commander Gen. Wiranto says an investigation into rights abuses from the 10-year-long military operation in Aceh is unnecessary, warning it would open the floodgates for similar grievances left over from the New Order regime.

Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Wiranto denied on Tuesday the presence of security troops in Aceh was causing residents to flee the volatile province.