Ati Nurbaiti, Banda Aceh – After three decades of absence, Aceh's former resistance leader Hassan Di Tiro arrived in Banda Aceh in Saturday to a cheerful greeting by thousands of his su

Banda Aceh – Hasan di Tiro, founder of the former rebel group GAM in Indonesia's Aceh, returned on Saturday after more than 30 years exile, welcomed by thousands of people in the provin

Jakarta – An army soldier kidnapped Sunday morning by an armed group in East Aceh was released in Cot Keh Village in Peureulak on Monday morning.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Aceh might be dubbed the "Veranda of Mecca", but that seems to have done little to help the 81 candidates for the Aceh provincial legislative council who

Banda Aceh – Political parties in Indonesia's Aceh province pledged peace Friday for the first national elections since government and rebel forces signed a deal to end decades of war.

Aceh – Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Special Detachment anti-terror squad (Densus 88) will investigate the bombing of former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) leader Muzakkir Manaf's residence in Ace

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – The Aceh Independent Election Committee (KIP) emphasized Sunday that the planned Koran proficiency test for legislative candidates in the province would

Jakarta – Candidates of House of Representatives member from Aceh are scheduled to follow Koran reading test next week, as part of candidacy criteria.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – The predominately Muslim province of Aceh Nanggroe Darussalam is requiring thousands of its legislative candidates to take a Koran proficiency test befor

Abdul Khalik – A US court's decision to proceed with a trial against oil giant ExxonMobil has exposed the Indonesian government's ignorance over the paid military protection of foreign

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Legal experts and civil society groups welcomed a US Federal court ruling Thursday to proceed with a trial against US energy giant ExxonMobil, which stands accus

Jakarta – Indonesia's armed forces chief dismissed Thursday a US federal court judge's ruling that ExxonMobil must face a lawsuit over alleged killings and torture by troops in Aceh pro

Ramadhian Fadillah, Jakarta – ExxonMobil is to be taken to court for allegedly supporting human rights violations by the Indonesian military (TNI) in Aceh.

Stephen Coates, Jakarta – The Indonesian military's links to human rights abuses while helping foreign mining firms are being exposed in a lawsuit by local villagers against US energy g

Washington – ExxonMobil must face a lawsuit filed by Indonesian villagers alleging that the US oil giant is liable for killings and torture committed by military security forces, a fede

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – After hard and painful events, ranging from political and military conflict to the tsunami disaster, the people of Aceh can now enjoy more political free

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – A vegetable vendor was busy tending to customers at a makeshift stall at the central market of Banda Aceh on Friday.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – A fight broke out between members of the Banda Aceh public order agency and the province's sharia police unit Thursday, during a musical stage show held

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Acehnese politicians are no longer required to be proficient in reading the Koran to be eligible for the upcoming national legislative elections.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Justice for victims of conflict and human rights abuses in once-restive Aceh could be a long time coming, with the government and the court yet to show a

While 34 national political parties will contest the general elections in April 2009, the contest in Aceh will be very different.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Six local Aceh parties now eligible to contest the 2009 elections, are determined to make a clean sweep of the 96-seat provincial legislative council, no

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Around 24,000 Acehnese who emigrated to Malaysia to escape the war and devastating 2004 tsunami face deportation, with Kuala Lumpur saying it will not ex

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Proposals for the establishment of two new provinces in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam have met with criticism from a prominent activist and a local politician.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Lhokseumawe – Residents in a North Aceh village almost cut off a thief's hand late Saturday, in what was the first known attempt at sharia-style punishment of its kin

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – A patrol car belonging to Wilayatul Hisbah of the sharia police in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh Nanggroe Darussalam province, was burned out early Mon

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Leaders of Lhok Nga and Leupung districts in Aceh Besar regency have asked French Lafarge co-financed cement factory PT Semen Andalas Indonesia (SAI) to

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Local political parties in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam are at risk of being excluded from the 2009 elections due to delays in registration by the Aceh chapt

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – After a prolonged verification process, the government is set to approve 12 local parties to be registered with the Justice and Human Rights Ministry.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has renamed its local party, and ended its armed struggle for Acehnese social welfare under the Indonesian political system.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Despite peaceful conditions, the reintegration of ex-combatants and victims of human rights abuses in the once-restive Aceh province has stalled on polit

Adi Warsidi, Banda Aceh – Former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari has said that in general the peace process in Aceh is running well, however, the reintegration process is not yet

Imran MA, Jakarta – The Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) office in Lhokseumawe has been occupied by hundreds of tsunami victims.

Adi Warsidi, Banda Aceh – As many as 300 tsunami victims from the West and South coasts of Aceh have rejected the policy of the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Board (BRR) for Aceh an

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – A score of protesters gathered at the offices of the Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) here Tuesday to demand money to rebuild their hom

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – An American freelance journalist believed to be linked with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has been deported from Aceh after attempting to enter the province on

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Three years after the Aceh peace agreement, many former rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) are still serving their jail sentences in prisons in Sumatra and

Afrida, Banda Aceh – Hundreds of people set fire to the offices of former separatist rebels in Central Aceh on Saturday, killing four people and throwing one person down a 35-meter wel

Adi Warsidi, Banda Aceh – The GAM Party, one of the local political parties in Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh, has officially changed its party name and symbol.

Jakarta – Poverty in tsunami-struck Aceh has fallen below the pre-disaster level, a new World Bank report shows, due to both peace and the large reconstruction effort.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Journalists in Aceh Nanggroe Darussalam have protested against a draft qanun (bylaw) on Islamic media and broadcasting proposed by the Aceh legislature and the

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – It has been a year since Aceh held a direct gubernatorial election made possible by the peace agreement between Jakarta and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), yet a

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Only two out of 10 local political parties in Aceh Nanggroe Darussalam have satisfied requirements to participate in the verification process scheduled for Feb

Jakarta – After three years post-tsunami reconstruction in Aceh has resulted in worsening deforestation, Greenomics Indonesia says.

Jakarta – Leading human rights groups urged Tuesday for the creation of a truth and reconciliation commission to address past crimes against humanity in Aceh.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – The Aceh Reintegration Agency (BRA) has urged to the government to speed up its slow compensation of former members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), and confli

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Banda Aceh – A new Aceh government has already been formed, security has improved and the Aceh Monitoring Mission which was tasked to watch over the implementation o

The Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR), which was given the task of helping to rebuild communities in the wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami of late 2004, is set

Calang – Hundreds of Indonesians prayed at mass graves in Aceh province on Wednesday to remember relatives who died in the Indian Ocean tsunami three years ago.

Alfian, Jakarta – Disaster and post-tsunami support focused on reconstruction and rebuilding in Aceh, Sumatra, has seen tsunami-survivors and others lose the will to work, a social scie