Speakers: Malik Mahmood, GAM chief negotiator; Hamid Aaluddin, Indonesian Justice Minister; Allan Nairn, award-winning journalist and activist.

Following are key passages from a seven-page Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebel group, signed on Monday in Helsin

Dan Eaton, Banda Aceh – Indonesia's military and Acehnese rebels on Tuesday cautiously welcomed a peace pact but each expressed doubts the other would stick to the deal.

Associated Press in Banda Aceh – As a ship carrying hundreds of troops leaves Aceh's port, soldiers and police wonder if an accord being signed by the Indonesian government and separati

Tiarma Siboro and Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – An atmosphere of peace prevailed in Aceh ahead of an historic day that many hope will mark an end to almost three decades of bloodshed.

Jakarta/Medan – The choking haze from forest fires on Sumatra island has spread to more areas on Sunday, including Medan and Pontianak, threatening public health and disrupting transpor

Michael Casey, Jakarta – Indonesia will prosecute 10 companies – eight of them Malaysian – for illegally lighting fires on Sumatra Island that have enveloped much of Malaysia with smoke

Jakarta – Thousands of supporters of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) continued their protests on Sunday against a court ruling annulled the victory of Nur Nahmudi Ismail and his runn

Jakarta – Internal conflict within the National Mandate Party (PAN) has risen to new level with the resignation of co-founder and current legislator Fuad Bawazier.

Jakarta – Rights activists Usman Hamid and Rachland Nashidik have been named suspects arising out of a defamation complaint filed with the police by former National Intelligence Agency

Mark Forbes, Jakarta – The gunfire that marked 30 years of bitter secessionist fighting in Aceh has given way to another sound – the beating of 114 traditional rapai drums during a cere

Allan Nairn – Today (August 15, 2005) the Aceh Freedom Movement (GAM, Gerakan Aceh Merdeka) will sign a deal with the government of Indonesia under which they agree to disarm and accept

AK-17, Banda Aceh - A day before the signing of the peace agreement, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has protested the continued presence of TNI (armed forces) controlled militia in Aceh.

Helsinki – The Indonesian government and Muslim Aceh rebels signed a historic peace accord aimed at ending decades of bloodshed in a region devastated by last year's tsunami.

Banda Aceh – Separatist guerrillas in Indonesia's restive province of Aceh will respect a peace pact to be signed with the government, one of their top spokesmen said.

Banda Aceh – Hopes are high that a peace deal to be signed Monday will finally end decades of bloodshed between troops and separatist rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province, but analysts w

Jakarta – The Hizbut Tahir Indonesia (HTI) activists staged a peaceful rally with about 5,000 Indonesian Muslims against what they called "the conspiracy of colonizers in Aceh and Papua

Stockholm – Rebel leaders from Aceh accused the Indonesian government of failing to disarm militias in the province, a day before both sides are to sign a landmark peace deal in Helsink

Jakarta – Not everybody is impressed by the nationwide campaign for the use of condoms to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Jakarta – Environmentalists have criticized a draft presidential regulation on forest use as not providing protection for forests because of its outright "pro-business agenda".

Jakarta/Medan – The authorities say they are trying to identify companies responsible for the current forest fires in the Sumatra region which have caused choking haze in neighboring Ma

Michael Casey, Jakarta – A militant cleric jailed for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings will be among 53,000 inmates receiving sentence reductions to mark Indonesia's independence day,

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – At least 10,000 Papuans stormed into the office of the Papua provincial legislative council in Jayapura on Friday, demanding the government to review its

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – With the Helsinki peace deal only a few days away, some Acehnese figures urged the government on Thursday to prepare the technicalities for a plan to grant amn

How often we are reminded. How quickly we forget.

Alan Sipress, Lhok Bubon – The massive tsunami that crashed into Sumatra island in December ripped Ibu Yusniar's home from its concrete foundation.

John McBeth, Jakarta – Indonesian officials can be excused for feeling just a little outraged over the US House of Representatives passing legislation that implicitly questions the stat

Jakarta – People in war-torn Aceh province are cautiously optimistic that three decades of fighting will come to an end when the Indonesian government signs a peace agreement with separ

Aguswandi, Jakarta – A greater devolution of power to the regions in Indonesia than that accommodated by present autonomy law provisions should be an option in peace building.

Denpasar – The leaders of Indonesia and East Timor launched a truth commission into the violence that marred the push for independence in what is now the world's youngest nation.

Jakarta – The South Jakarta District Court ruled on Wednesday that last year's dismissal of chief welfare minister Alwi Shihab as the National Awakening Party (PKB) leader was legitimat

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Multa Fidrus, Jakarta – Condemning Garuda Indonesia management's move to close the offices of the Association of Garuda Flight Attendants (Ikagi), labor unions th

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The government will not ban the teachings of the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI) nor dissolve the group, but will let the government-sanctione

Jakarta – Controversy over the issue of special autonomy for Papua has shifted to allegations of the misuse of Rp 5.6 trillion (US$577.3 million) in the government's autonomy fund alloc

Washington – As a peace deal nears in a 29-year war in Aceh, US lawmakers are seeking support for an independence movement in another Indonesian province: West Papua, also the site of a

No endeavor will succeed if it does not have the genuine support and blessings of the primary stakeholders in the process.

The Free Aceh movement or GAM and the Indonesian government will sign an agreement in Helsinki next Monday designed to bring an end to hostilities in Aceh province.

The trial over the murder of Indonesia's top human rights campaigner has been criticised by activists who doubt that it will reveal the truth behind a case that has grabbed internationa

Sibylle Kaczorek, Sydney – On August 2, Sister Susan Connelly, assistant director of the Mary MacKillop Institute for East Timor Studies, said that "fairness" should be the overarching

Zakki P.

Jakarta – Thousands of workers at state oil and gas company Pertamina say they will hold a nationwide strike on Wednesday in protest against a plan for massive layoffs.

Mark Forbes, Jakarta – The trial of a Garuda pilot accused of poisoning Indonesia's leading human rights campaigner is becoming a key test for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, as inv

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Garuda pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto stood trial at the Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday on charges of masterminding and executing the murder of

A former Indonesian minister, who during his career in the government was deeply involved in handling rebellious provinces, has reportedly told President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that P

The following is abridged from a July 27 article by Thamrin Ananda, the chairperson of the Acehnese Popular Democratic Resistance Front (FPDRA).

Jakarta – Efforts to end three decades of bloodshed in Aceh received a major boost on Tuesday as the government secured full support from the House of Representatives for its peace agre

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – United Nations and rudimentary SOS flags were unfurled during a ceremony commemorating International Indigenous Day on Tuesday morning in Jayapura.

Jakarta – An Indonesian pilot hs gone on trial for the arsenic-poisoning murder of a leading rights activist in a case seen as a test of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's commitment

Damar Harsanto and Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Workers in the entertainment industry are paying dearly for the current police campaign against drugs in cafes and amusement centers across th

Scott Baldauf, Banda Aceh – When the tsunami came to sweep away her seaside home, her three children, and her husband, Yuniarti thought that she had lost everything she could possibly l