Max Lane – "The death toll in Aceh from the tsunami is closer to 300,000 people", Thamrin Ananda, chairperson of the Aceh People's Democratic Struggle Front (FPDRA), told Green Left Wee

Tiarma Siboro and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Plans to hold further peace talks between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) look likely to stalemate as both parties c

Fedhly Averouss Bey, Jakarta – Army chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu says that a resolution to the conflict between the Republic of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) doesn't rea

Jakarta – Indonesia on Tuesday rejected an offer by Acehnese rebels to put their independence claims on hold in return for an eventual referendum on the issue, but mediators were optimi

Jakarta – Negotiators from the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) wound up two days of talks in Helsinki on Saturday without a concrete result on how to end the deca

Acehnese rebels have said they are willing to put their demand for secession on hold if Indonesia accepts a "face-saving" formula that would allow the tsunami-hit province to hold an in

Jerry Norton and Jim Loney, Jakarta – Talks to end a decades-long conflict in Indonesia's tsunami-stricken Aceh province could be on a fast track to nowhere unless there are changes in

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Tsunami-devastated Aceh, which only a month ago was a war zone, has now become the testing ground for a concerted push to persuade the separatist Free Aceh Moveme

Jakarta – Indonesia's president on Thursday offered concessions to separatist rebels in tsunami-devastated Aceh province if they agree to a cease-fire in upcoming peace talks.

Tony Hotland and Ruslan Sangadji, Banda Aceh – The Acehnese have long dreamed of peace and prosperity in their homeland, which has seen decades of conflict and, at the end of last year,

Meidyatama Suryodiningrat and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The wheels of diplomacy and bureaucracy are notoriously slow.

Tiarma Siboro and Rendi A.

An Indonesian ministerial team departs for Finland today to meet Free Aceh Movement or GAM's leadership-in-exile, but though both sides expressed optimism, there is scant hope the talks

Rebels fighting for the independence of Aceh province are willing to engage in peace talks with Indonesia but say the country is not serious about negotiations, a senior guerrilla said

The United States yesterday called for a political solution of the conflict in the Indonesian province of Aceh, with a top Pentagon official arguing that Indonesia's military should be

Indonesia's army and the Free Aceh separatist movement, GAM, have agreed to an unconditional ceasefire in the province so devasted by the tsunami.

Prospects for peace in Indonesia's war-torn and tsunami-hit Aceh province were lifted by an offer of talks from separatist rebels, but tensions continued to overshadow efforts to aid di

Banda Aceh (Agencies) – Indonesia wants a lasting truce with separatists in tsunami-ravaged Aceh province, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on Friday, as both sides expressed a willingne

The leadership of a rebel movement fighting for independence in the tsunami-hit Indonesian province of Aceh has called for ceasefire talks with the government.

The desire by the government of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to create an opportunity for a peace agreement and end the armed conflict with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM)

Matthew Moore in Banda Aceh and Karuni Rompies – Rebels in Indonesia's tsunami-stricken province of Aceh have threatened to abandon their two-week-old cease-fire unless the Indonesian m

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday (10/1/05) met with the ambassadors of Britain, Japan, Libya, Singapore, Sweden and the US to hear their views on how to resolve the separati

INFID Statement on the meeting of the Paris Club, on January 12, 2005 and the Consultative Group on Indonesia on January 19 and 20, 2005

The Australian government should be more vocal about calling an end to hostilities in Aceh, the United Nations Association said.

The massive tsunami that hit Aceh province has brought a temporary halt to fighting between rebels and government troops in the region, and could spur efforts to settle the decades-long

James Balowski, Jakarta – The new government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has barely been in office one month but has already broken a key election promises – to seek a peacefu

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – An intensive peace process should follow the visit of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, or else local people will lose trust in t

Sian Powell, Jakarta – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made a flying visit to the blood-soaked province of Aceh yesterday, demonstrating his resolve to come to grips with

Jakarta – A number of noted Acehnese figures urged the government on Wednesday to reopen dialog with the Free Aceh Movement to help settle the prolonged conflict amicably.

Blontank Poer, Nusakambangan, Central Java – It rained at dawn on Idul Fitri and 188 inmates at the Permisan penitentiary on Nusakambangan island were forced to crowd into the mosque to

Aceh police chief Insp. Gen.

Tiarma Siboro and Nani Afrida, Jakarta/Banda Aceh – Acehnese responded coldly to the government's decision on Thursday to extend the state of civil emergency in the province, complainin

Jakarta – It is hoped that the government can resolve the conflict in Aceh peacefully in the lead up to the end of the period of civil emergency on November 18.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – The Indonesian Government has barred all foreign journalists from the troubled provinces of Aceh and Papua, the first such ban for at least four years.

Jakarta – The Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Widodo AS, has admitted that the operation to restore security in Aceh, as one of five programs which make

Nani Farida and Tiarma Siboro, Banda Aceh/Jakarta – Peace, safety and justice for local officials implicated in corruption are all that the Acehnese are demanding from the Susilo admini

Jakarta – Indonesian presidential front-runner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday called for a peaceful end to Indonesia's bloodiest internal conflict, the 28-year separatist war in

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The United States ambassador-designate to Indonesia B.

State troops have killed more than 230 suspected separatist rebels in Aceh province since martial law was lifted two months ago, an official said Wednesday (21/7/04).

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri officially stripped Abdullah Puteh of his powers as Aceh governor and administrator of the

Jakarta – Acehnese rebels Thursday accused Indonesian police of torturing to death one of their district leaders, the latest allegation of rights abuses against security forces in the w

Banda Aceh – Indonesia's presidential favourite vowed on Friday to achieve peace in rebellious Aceh and restore dignity to people in the strife-torn province if he was voted to office.

Jerry Norton and Tomi Soetjipto, Jakarta – An Indonesian presidential candidate who once headed the country's armed forces said on Thursday that if elected he would move quickly to end

Jakarta – The international community through the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) has asked to prioritize a peaceful solution of the conflict in Nangroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) prov

Meaulaboh – Indonesia's chief security minister said Thursday the government would not hold any kind of peace talks with the separatist movement to halt the war in Aceh province.

Sidney Jones, Indonesia project director of Brussels-based analysts International Crisis Group suggests that the Jakarta government has an electoral interest in stirring up a nationalis

YS Tong, Banda Aceh – Thousands of unarmed Acehnese civilians from Banda Aceh began to gather in a field as early as 7am on Tuesday for what has now become a routine activity since the

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – It was almost midnight in Tokyo when Indonesia's chief negotiator, Wiryono Sastrohandoyo, waited inside a holding room at the Japan International Cooper

Nick Everett, from Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific (ASAP) and co-convenor of the Sydney Walk Against War Coalition and Kylie Moon, coordinator of Books Not Bombs, a youth

[The following is a translation of an interview in Tokyo with Erwanto, a representative Aceh People's Freedom Front (FPDRA).]