Jakarta – Deserters from the Army's elite Special Forces (Kopassus) have been accused of involvement in widespread violence in restive Aceh province, where hundreds of people, mostly civilians, have been killed recently.

Jakarta – Security concerns led the General Elections Commission (KPU) and the government to cancel the elections in the Pidie and North Aceh regencies of Aceh.

KPU chairman Rudini said here on Monday the decision was made after taking into account escalating tension in the regencies and the possible risks if elections went ahead there.

Mark McDonald, Jinjiem – The soldiers came for Mira Rasyid on a warm March evening and hauled her off to an interrogation center built into a thick grove of bamboo. Throughout that night in 1998, and every night for the next five months, she says, they tortured and raped her.

Jakarta – Two school teachers were found dead in northwestern Indonesia after being led away by unidentified gunmen that police suspect are separatist rebels, a report said Monday.

The victims, Ubit Pakek, 58, and Tgk. Hasballah, 54, were teachers in separate primary schools in Pidie regency, the official Antara news agency said.

Jakarta – Unidentified men shot dead two soldiers in two separate attacks in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh, reports said here Saturday.

Lhokseumawe – Thousands of people have fled their homes and taken refuge in and around US oil company Mobil Corp. (MOB) complex in troubled Aceh province after soldiers were deployed in their villages, officials and witnesses said Wednesday.

Nicole Gaouette, Banda Aceh – Ayub Abas calls his work a legacy. "Our parents fought for freedom against Dutch colonizers," he says, stocky in crisp fatigues, an AK-47 slung over his shoulder. "This is the same struggle, just a different enemy."

Jakarta – A human rights group said on Tuesday the military released misleading information about recent unrest in Aceh, including that separatists terrorized residents into fleeing their homes.

Thousands of evacuees across Aceh started returning home Tuesday to their villages even though there is no guarantee of their safety. It appears that the evacuees decided to go home after realising that their circumstances in the camps were no better - in their villages they are afraid of the army and in places to which they have fled they are threatened with disease and hunger.

Jakarta – Indonesian troops shot dead five civilians, including two children, in the troubled province of Aceh, reports said here Sunday.

The soldiers opened fire after a loud bang was heard as a convoy of trucks carrying members of the Mass Riot Control Force passed Peureulak in East Aceh district on Saturday, the RCTI television said.

Jakarta – Two Indonesian soldiers were killed and six injured when they were attacked by 10 armed men in the troubled province of Aceh Friday, the state news agency Antara said.

Jakarta – Three bodies, including those of two soldiers, were found in the restive province of Aceh yesterday after gunmen attacked an Air Force radar tower in another area, government officials said.

The bodies were found in side streets in Teupin Batee village in the morning, the head of East Aceh district, Alauddin Ae, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Lhokseumawe – Hopes that delayed elections could be held in several districts of the troubled province of Aceh faded yesterday with the killing of at least three more security personnel.

Sigli – The state of health among refugees in the sub-districts of Bandar Dua and Ulim, Pidie is beginning to cause anxiety. Disease is striking the children in particular.

Marianne Kearney, Lhokseumawe – Amid an escalation of violence in the northern Sumatran province of Aceh and increasing demands for a referendum, Acehnese separatist rebels say they are ready for war.

Jakarta – Indonesia's Armed Forces will take every step to stop the troubled region of Aceh from seceding from the country, a senior military official was quoted as saying yesterday.

Stockholm – The Aceh Sumatra National Liberation Front (ASNLF) has already decided not to take part in the June 7 parliamentary elections this year. ASNLF believes that the Indonesian elections is nothing but jus a democratic farce, and that will not bring any good for the people of Aceh.

Lhokseumawe – Aceh provincial government has imposed an overnight curfew in the oil-rich but riot-torn district of North Aceh.

A statement issued Thursday in Lhokseumawe, the capital, bars people from leaving their homes between midnight and 4:30am.

Jakarta – Gunmen killed two soldiers in Indonesia's Aceh province in the latest violence to hit the troubled region where more than 50 people have been killed in the past month, the military said Thursday.

Jakarta – Minister of Defense and Security/Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Wiranto told a plenary Cabinet meeting on Wednesday he would send more troops to Aceh because of increased rebel attacks against security officers and civilians, a minister said.

[The following is a posting by Tapol described as a reliable eye-witness report of an incident apparently set up by the military to discredit GAM separatists.]

Banda Aceh – Hundreds of Indonesian troops were deployed Sunday searching for rebels who allegedly killed nine police officers and soldiers in an ambush, the military said.

Jakarta – At least 4,000 people have fled their villages in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh fearing violence following a deadly rebel ambush which left four dead, officials and police said Saturday.

Raphael Pura, Krueng Geukueh – In his crisp safari suit and gleaming black shoes, sub-district officer Marzuki Muhammad Amin looks the very image of local authority as he strolls this dusty hamlet. With Indonesia's first free election in 44 years less than two weeks away, he says he should be exhorting fellow citizens of Aceh province to vote.

Jakarta – Voting in Indonesia's June 7 general election may be delayed in troubled Aceh province by up to a month because of recent violence, a report said Thursday.

"There is a possibility the elections will be delayed for security reasons," Home Affairs Minister Syarwan Hamid was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Post.

Maskur Abdullah, Medan – Violence flared on the Indonesian island of Sumatra Tuesday, with the military reporting six dead at the hands of separatists while a bloody confrontation also erupted between police and farmers.

Lee Kim Chew, Banda Aceh – Fighting hard to protect its turf in deeply religious Aceh, the Islamic United Development Party (PPP) – one of the ruling parties in Indonesia – is going for the jugular.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Prospects of a free and fair election in the troubled province of Aceh are fading by the day, and the presence of extra troops may be a hindrance rather than a help.

"Yes there are several areas in Aceh with problems," said a source at a main independent election monitoring organisation.

Jakarta – Most of the people gunned down by the military in the staunchly Islamic province of Aceh earlier this month were shot at from behind, suggesting they were running away or lying down in a bid to avoid being struck, says a leading human rights group.

The Deputy Head of the Provincial Government in Aceh, Yusri Hadjerat (who belongs to the ABRI faction in local government) told students and the people to "kill" the provocateurs who have been causing unrest. "If you meet with a provocateur, whether they belong to GAM or to the military or whoever they may be, they must be killed," emphasised Yusri in Banda Aceh on Tuesday 11/5.

Lhokseumawe – Five grenade blasts Tuesday rocked the headquarters of the air defence battalion in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province but there were no casualties, the military said.

The early morning attack on the base in this major city in Sumatra island came a week after soldiers, including some from the base, opened fire at civilians leaving at least 41 civilians dead.

K. Basrie, Banda Aceh – Victims and witnesses of the May 3 shooting at Krueng Geukueh in North Aceh asserted over the weekend that the military has lied to the world about the incident, in which at least 41 people, including children and women, were killed.

Vaudine England, Lhokseumawe – The day after special services were held in mosques around Aceh to commemorate the dead from Monday's massacre, four Hercules aircraft brought more than 400 special police officers to Lhokseumawe in Aceh province.

Vaudine England, Banda Aceh – Contrary to official claims yesterday that the death toll in Monday's massacre in the Aceh province town of Lhokseumawe was 31, human rights groups said the toll was at least 63 and could easily reach 100.

Krueng Geukueh – An army massacre of unarmed protesters in Indonesia's Aceh province may breathe new life into the restive territory's independence movement, diplomats and residents said on Thursday.

Lhokseumawe – A regional military commander in troubled Aceh province has defended the army's shooting of protesters, as officials said Wednesday the death toll had risen to 31.

Colonel Johny Wahab was quoted by the Kompas daily Wednesday as saying the protestors action threatened the entire town of Lhokseumawe, the main town in the North Aceh district on Sumatra island.

The Medan-based daily, Waspada in its Tuesday May 4 edition has confirmed that the number shot dead in the massacre in North Aceh on Monday 3 May is 23 and says that 101 are wounded.

Lhokseumawe – A crowd of thousands held a Free Aceh gathering and feast at the village of Cot Plieng, Blang Mangat sub-district, North Aceh on Sunday night (25th-26th April). At the same time, a crowd burned two buses belonging to Mobil Oil Indonesia at Alue Liem in the same area.

Lhokseumawe – Two people were killed when police in the Indonesian province of Aceh opened fire Tuesday to disperse thousands of pro-separatist students, residents said.

Lhokseumawe – Residents Monday raised separatist flags over their homes in several villages of Indonesia's northern Aceh district, a day after the flag figured prominently in a mass rally here, a witness said.

Lhokseumawe – Thousands of school students went on the rampage Thursday in three towns in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province to demand a referendum on self-determination, witnesses said.

The junior and high school students ripped national flags and state emblems off government offices in Lhoksukon, Baktya and Syamtalira Arun.

Sigli – The security authorities in Pidie District continued with an operation Wednesday to pull down referendum banners which have been hung across the main provincial highway from Banda Aceh to Medan and along district roads in Pidie. According to witnesses, the banners were removed very early in the day.

Jakarta – A presidential advisory group and students on Tuesday called on Indonesian President B.J. Habibie to fullfill his promises to the people of troubled Aceh province, including dragging past human rights violators there to court.

Desmond Wrightm, Banda Aceh – Indonesia's president on Friday apologised to the restive province of Aceh for years of human rights abuses, as thousands of protesters demanding self-rule clashed with police and soldiers.

Hospitals said 111 people were injured, eight seriously, in clashes between protesters and security forces. Three people had been shot.

Thousands of students from a number of universities took part in a demonstration outside the local assembly building in Banda Aceh denouncing President Habibie's visit to Aceh and calling for a referendum. They arrived at the assembly in convoys of vehicles.

Jakarta – Two Indonesian soldiers believed to have been abducted by separatists in the troubled province of Aceh have been found dead following the arrest of one of the alleged killers, a report said Tuesday.

Jakarta – Hundreds of Indonesian youth rallied outside the United Nations office in Jakarta on Monday demanding independence for the troubled Aceh province, witnesses said.

The noisy demonstration by 200 members of Student Solidarity for Aceh comes five days ahead of a visit to the separatist-plagued province by Indonesian President B.J. Habibie.

Martin Regg Cohn, Pusong – As Muslim worshippers ambled toward the onion-shaped domes of the village mosque, truckloads of combat troops moved into position. For the soldiers lying in wait, the noon call to prayer was their cue to attack.

Jakarta – A soldier and a local official, were shot dead by unidentified men in separate incidents in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province, it was reported here Thursday.

Jakarta – Students in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province have launched a campaign for a referendum on self-determination for the troubled territory, residents and a report said Monday.

The State Antara news agency said hundreds of banners and placards had been put up at markets and on roadsides along the east coast of the province, home to about four million people.