Banda Aceh – The chairperson of the Preparatory Committee for the Acehnese People's Party (KP-PRA) is urging the government to immediately ratify the Draft Government Regulation on Loca

Radzie, Banda Aceh – The Preparatory Committee for the Acehnese People's Party (Komite Persiapan Partai Rakyat Aceh, KP-PRA) will hold its first congress between February 27 and March 2

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Aceh needs at least 100 more judges to fully implement sharia across the province, with many sharia courts operating with only three to five judges.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – After surviving Aceh's long struggle and even being jailed in 2003, former rebel leader Irwandi Yusuf has been installed as governor of the once-defiant provin

Fabio Scarpello – When former rebel Irwandi Yusuf was sworn in on Thursday as the first directly elected governor of Indonesia's Aceh province, the ceremony capped one of Southeast Asia

Putting decades of armed conflict and the devastating tsunami behind it, Aceh will embark on a new era when the new governor takes office Thursday.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The government is drafting a regulation that would likely shackle local political parties in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

Jakarta – Aceh Governor-elect Irwandi Yusuf met Monday with Army chief of staff Gen. Djoko Santoso to seek support in leading the province.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Clad in a white dress and scarf, 20-year-old Liza Wahyuni binti Sulaiman kneeled on the platform.

Adi Warsidi, Banda Aceh – The Acehnese government will continue to struggle for the formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (KKR) even though the Constitutional Court has put

John Aglionby, Jakarta – ExxonMobil must respond to a lawsuit alleging Indonesian soldiers under its control at a natural gas plant in Aceh province abused and murdered local people, a

Simon Montlake, Pidie – With her payments book and bundle of patterned sarongs, blouses, and head scarves, Juayriah bin Abdurani is rural Aceh's equivalent of the Avon Lady.

Jakarta – A former separatist rebel elected governor of the Indonesian province of Aceh on Thursday said he would not push for independence for the province while in power.

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Nani Afrida, Pematang Siantar – An alliance of non-governmental organizations has asked President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to replace senior officials at the Aceh

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebel Irwandi Yusuf and running-mate Muhammad Nazar won a landslide victory in the first direct election for governor in Nanggr

Banda Aceh – A former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebel won the first direct election for governor of Aceh province, the electoral commission announced on Friday, a step in a peace deal th

Christine T.

Lindsay Murdoch – Two years after the Boxing Day tsunami more than 25,000 poor and landless families in the hardest hit area of Indonesia's Aceh province are being denied housing under

Ahmad Pathoni, Banda Aceh – At 30, Beti has to raise her four young children alone after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami snatched her husband, and she has no regular job.

Nani Afrida and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Banda Aceh – Sharia-style local government bylaws in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam are bringing unnecessary hardship to the Acehnese and discriminating ag

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – While the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) on Friday concluded its 15-month mandate to supervise the implementation of the peace agreement in the province, non-go

Nani Afrida and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Banda Aceh – As the ballot counting continues from last week's elections in Aceh, it is clear voters favored independent candidates with ties to the

Fabio Scarpello in Banda Aceh – A draft sharia law in Aceh that calls for thieves to have their hands chopped off has angered many in the province.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The government has finalized a draft regulation to establish local political parties in Aceh, which will only allow candidates to run for national House of Repre

With two former members of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) apparently set to claim victory in last week's landmark gubernatorial election in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, some parti

Jonathan Dart, Banda Aceh – Every time Ibrahim bin Yatim gets a new DVD, people squeeze into his tiny warung in Montasik, near Banda Aceh.

Jonathan Dart – The task of rebuilding Aceh after the war and the tsunami has changed the role traditionally played by women.

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – A sharia bill that would see convicted thieves have their hands amputated has sparked strong opposition among Acehenese, who believe the

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) should dissolve itself after establishing a local political party within six months, the EU-led international monitors for the forme

Nani Afrida and Tony Hotland, Banda Aceh/Jakarta – The Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) on Friday officially ended its 15-month mandate to supervise the implementation of the peace agreeme

Aboeprijadi Santoso, Banda Aceh – The imminent victory of the Irwandi-Nazar ticket in the Aceh gubernatorial election is a GAM (Free Aceh Movement) victory despite the fact that the for

Nani Afrida and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Banda Aceh – Foreign monitors on Thursday reported to the local poll supervisory body (Panwaslih) a number of violations during Monday's landmark ele

Nani Afrida and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Banda Aceh – While peace finally has descended upon Aceh, past wounds have yet to heal.

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Banda Aceh – Human rights protesters demonstrated in Indonesia's Aceh province on Thursday, urging international monitors overseeing a historic peace deal between the government and sep

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The imminent victory of former rebel candidates in the Aceh gubernatorial election is a signal of the popularity the movement in the resource-rich province and A

Ian Timberlake, Banda Aceh – Civilians in Indonesia's Aceh province show levels of combat-related stress, depression and anxiety comparable with those in Afghanistan and Bosnia, researc

Mark Forbes, Banda Aceh – Voters in Aceh have delivered a massive rebuff to Jakarta, overwhelmingly endorsing a radical rebel candidate as their first elected governor and demonstrating

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The central government brushed off worries Tuesday about the likely victory of a former rebel leader in the landmark Aceh gubernatorial election, saying whoever

Tanja Vestergaard – The elections constitute the culmination of the peace process initiated in 2005 between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian government, following a drawn

Banda Aceh – Thieves could have their hands amputated in Indonesia's Aceh province under a proposed Islamic law that may alarm rights activists and Western governments.

Nani Afrida and Ati Nurbaiti, Banda Aceh – Former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) spokesman Irwandi Yusuf is leading with over 39 percent in unofficial results from the landmark gubernatorial

Jakarta – Elections in Indonesia's tsunami-devastated Aceh province have swept a former rebel leader to victory, unofficial results show as officials tot up the ballots.

Robin McDowell, Banda Aceh – A former rebel leader appeared headed to easy victory Monday in the first elections in Aceh province since the government and the separatists signed a peace

Activists say sharia law bodes ill for their rights as province today elects governor, writes Fabio Scarpello

Nur Raihan, Banda Aceh - Around 100 Aceh activist held a demonstration in front of the Aceh Independent Election Commission (KIP) offices on Monday December 10.

Ian Timberlake, Banda Aceh – Former separatist rebels have no alternative but to follow the political path after laying down their weapons, a key candidate backed by ex-combatants has s

Achmad Sukarsono, Meunasah Bak'you – Teungku Sobirin lost his seven children and home to the tsunami that devastated Indonesia's Aceh province two years ago, but he believes there was a

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The end of the Truth and Reconciliation (KKR) law raises further questions about the government's commitment to the human rights section of the Aceh peace agreem

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – Aceh was like a wild horse in need of a brave jockey to tame it, the former rebel leader making a strong run for governor in the Indonesian province's fir