[This article was distributed on September 25 on an online discussion list of academics focusing on Indonesia and appears here via the Joyo Indonesia News Service.]

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Two home-made bombs exploded near the airport hours before President Megawati Sukarnoputri's lightning visit to Aceh yesterday, adding urgency to her pledge

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – A fortnight after the former University of Tasmania lecturer Lesley McCulloch and a friend were picked up by police in Indonesia's Aceh province, two things loo

Detained British academic Lesley McCulloch and American Joy Lee Sadler are "private intelligence" agents determined to see Aceh split from Indonesia, Jakarta intelligence sources say.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Lesley McCulloch, a former University of Tasmania lecturer, will wake up today on a mattress on the floor of a windowless office in Banda Aceh police station at

John Aglionby, Jakarta – A British academic and her American friend detained in Indonesia 12 days ago for allegedly researching the separatist conflict in Aceh province while on tourist

Ibnu Mat Noor and Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – Two foreign women who are being detained for suspected involvement in separatist activities while on tourist visas, will likely stand trial i

Jakarta – At least 70 young people coming from across Aceh province gathered in Banda Aceh on Wednesday to seek a common understanding on government policy and a peaceful solution to th

[An Australian academic who's still being questioned by Indonesian police in the northern province of Aceh has spoken to the ABC from the bathroom of the police station.

Nani Farida and Ibnu Mat Noor, Banda Aceh – Dozens of people were injured and more than 80 shophouses burned in the latest outbreak of violence in Aceh.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – A Scottish academic detained for a week by police in Indonesia's Aceh province said yesterday she had been beaten, deprived of sleep and threatened with a knife

Jakarta – The British embassy in Indonesia is very concerned over complaints that police have mistreated a British woman detained since last week in restive Aceh province, a diplomat sa

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has reminded the government of its unfinished investigations into a number of alleged crimes against humani

Banda Aceh – Two personnel of the Police Mobile Brigade were killed in a firefight with rebels in Seunuddon, North Aceh, some 300 kilometers east of Banda Aceh on Saturday, according to

Banda Aceh – A woman teacher was executed in war-torn Aceh on Thursday, adding to the growing list of more than 50 teachers killed since 1998.

Ibnu Mat Noor, Banda Aceh – Two unidentified gunmen in Aceh ignored the cries by a schoolboy for his mother's life on Thursday morning, shooting her in the head before stealing her moto

Jakarta – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which is fighting for the war-torn territory's independence, accepted the government's tentative plan for further dialogs in Geneva, Switzerland,

An Indonesian soldier and two civilians were killed in the restive province of Aceh, the military and residents said.

[Lesley McCulloch, a lecturer in Asian Studies at the University of Tasmania in Australia, says government forces and the independence movement are responding to the problem in very

Banda Aceh – Rebels in Indonesia's restive Aceh province ambushed a convoy of vehicles carrying several top security and government officials, leaving a police commander critically inju

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The peace talks between the government and separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) slated to be held in Geneva early this month are still hanging in the bal

Ibnu Mat Noor, Banda Aceh – Two schoolgirls from the same village as the head of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) were abducted and executed by armed gunmen in Pidie regency, Eastern Aceh o

Only misery, not wealth, flows from the ExxonMobil gas pipeline that passes near this poor Aceh village, residents say.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Indonesia's supreme military commander has warned the separatist movement in Indonesia's troubled province of Aceh that he would prefer war to a negotiated sett

Rizal Sukma – After being postponed for almost two weeks from August 5, the government finally issued a "new policy" for Aceh on August 19.

Banda Aceh – Adj. Brig. Syarifuddin was killed by unidentified gunmen and 10 others, presumed to be civilians were killed on Wednesday and Thursday in strife-torn Aceh.

Jakarta (Agencies) – The war of words between leaders of the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) independence group continued, an Army captain was killed and at least

Banda Aceh – Security authorities in Aceh have arrested 12 members of the pro-independence Front for Acehnese People's Democratic Resistance.

The Swedish Ambassador to Indonesia Harald Sanberg says his government won't take any legal action against Hassan Tiro, the exiled chief of Indonesia's separatist Free Aceh Movement (GA

Indonesian troops killed five suspected separatist rebels in Aceh province during a raid on a suspected rebel base, a military spokesman said.

Jakarta – Indonesia said on Monday more peace talks with Acehnese rebels could be useful, only four days after playing down chances of dialogue by saying the separatists would have to a

[Indonesia's troubled province of Aceh may see an escalation in conflict, if the government and separatist rebels fail to agree on conditions for peace talks.

[What could US oil giant Exxon-Mobil have to do with the deadly conflict in the Indonesian province of Aceh?

Dan Murphy, Langsa – Nurjannah jumped back when the soldier poked his head out of the early morning sunlight into her kitchen.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – The Indonesian government yesterday gave separatist rebels in Aceh a three-month deadline to drop their independence demand and resume peace talks, as part of a

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – New government policies expected to be unveiled today for the restive province of Aceh are likely to be a combination of a carrot and stick approach.

Banda Aceh – At least 5,000 people paraded in Aceh province yesterday to celebrate the country's independence in a show of support for Jakarta's rule over the region.

Muklis Ali and Dean Yates, Jakarta – Indonesia on Monday gave rebels in Aceh province until December to resume peace talks, backing away from the threat of an intensified military crack

Nani Farida and Apriadi Gunawan, Banda Aceh/Medan – A series of bomb explosions punctuated the celebration of Independence Day in conflict-torn Aceh, as another bomb explosion rocked a

Bernarda Rurit, Jakarta – TNI did not force the Acehnese to display the Red-and-White flag to celebrate Indonesian Independence Day on August 17, according to Indonesian Army spokespers

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – The ethnically distinct and mostly conflict-free districts of central Aceh want Jakarta to let them break free from Aceh and establish a new province, prefer

At least 10 people were wounded when a bomb exploded among a crowd of civil servants preparing to celebrate Indonesia's independence day in the Acehnese capital, officals said.

Jakarta – The top United States military officer in the Pacific yesterday urged Indonesia to avoid bloodshed in Aceh, where there are increasing signs that the government is preparing t

Jakarta – More than 700 Achenese demanded independence from Indonesia during a demonstration in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh on Thursday, just two days before the anniversary of

Jakarta – The House of Representatives (DPR) has urged the Swiss-based Henry Dunant Center (HDC) to persuade the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to end their armed struggle.

Jakarta – In a new role, General Anthony Zinni, the Bush administration's envoy to the Middle East, has met Indonesian officials in an effort to find a solution to the long-running but

Jakarta – US retired General Anthony Zinni on Thursday said he was optimistic peace could prevail in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province if Jakarta and separatists push for talks.

Jakarta – A retired US general, who has been mediating between Jakarta and the rebels in Aceh, said on Thursday that the only way to achieve peace in the restive province was through ta

Jakarta – An independent team of five prominent public figures is working to expedite a solution to the conflict in Aceh, advising the government not to impose a state of civil emergenc

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Legislators at the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) renewed their calls on Wednesday for the government to give priority to dialog in solving the Aceh probl