Disillusioned with the government's stuttering relief efforts in tsunami-hit Aceh, one of Indonesia's most popular conservative Muslim political parties organized initial relief efforts here, and come election time, analysts say, it will reap the rewards of its swift response.

The Muslim Justice and Welfare party has the biggest grass roots aid network in the region, says Irwinsyah, who heads the party's branch in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh. And he claims it was among the first organizations to distribute food, water, medicine and hundreds of prayer kits to survivors here.

"We have a highly dedicated volunteer network here. It was much easier and quicker to jump-start them," he said. "The international aid effort is good. We need so much help, but Indonesian Muslims have to show that they give as much as they can too."

Banners for the party, which in the past has campaigned for Islamic Sharia law in this secular country, hang above boxes of mineral water and instant noodles. Volunteers distribute secondhand clothes including Muslim tunics, prayer hats and mats.

Two huge tents separate the female and male refugees at Lambaro mosque's grounds, where the party opened their base one day after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck and the ensuing tsunami tore through Aceh claiming nearly 100,000 lives.

Other Islamic-based political parties and religious groups quickly followed suit.

Irwinsyah said the government didn't react quickly enough and that Muslim groups were helping survivors long before any international aid agencies arrived to assess the disaster.

Indonesia's government had banned foreign aid agencies and journalists from Aceh province because of a 26-year separatist war here, but last week it lifted the ban and welcomed all international aid.

"I had to do something. The government aid meetings were so laboriously slow," said Irwinsyah, who like most Indonesians uses a single name.

The Justice and Welfare party has channeled 500 tons of food and has sent 50 doctors to treat the sick and injured in every district capital, he said.

"Now, local district heads turn to us for help first," Irwinsyah said, his face dripping wet after an ablution ritual before midday prayer.

The speed with which the Justice and Welfare Party reacted to the disaster in Aceh is expected to underscore a resurgence of political Islam in Indonesia, the world's most populous Islamic nation.

The party finished sixth nationally in last year's election, and came a close second in Aceh, a staunchly Muslim province, campaigning on fighting corruption, bolstering moral values, and downplaying its previously strict Islamic credentials.

"I am so glad I voted for the Justice party," said local retiree Muhammad Noer. "They were here the fastest. They are the most trustworthy. I'll definitely vote for them again next election."

Analyst Muhammad Budiyatna said local Muslim groups' low-key relief efforts stretched to places the international effort has so far largely overlooked.

"US and international aid groups are, for the moment, just staying in coastal towns," said Budiyatna. "The Muslim groups are the real foot soldiers in this battle to get aid to the needy."

Come election time, the party will benefit, Budiyatna said. "They are savvy. They know that this is also a kind of political campaign," he said.

The government has acknowledged it was slow to react to the crisis in Aceh, and Welfare Minister Alwi Shihab said that Islamic aid groups have boosted disaster management efforts.

Supporting political parties in their relief operations across Indonesia are a sprawling and informal coalition of Muslim groups and donors including the Indonesian Red Crescent and Mercy.

But organizations such as the FPI, or Islamic Defenders Front, a militant group better known for smashing up bars and nightclubs they deem unIslamic, say they also have sent hundreds of volunteers to pick up corpses, clean up mosques, open soup kitchens and teach religious studies to many children whose schools have been destroyed.

"We have nothing but our prayers to protect us," said FPI spokesman Hilmy Bakar. "The dead are our brothers and sisters in faith. How could we refuse to pick them up and give them a Muslim burial just because we don't have the equipment? This is our religious duty."