Kate Lamb, Banda Aceh – At first glance the oddity of a lone palm tree on the shoreline, or a piece of graffiti with the words "hantu laut", meaning ghosts of the sea – also the words s

Jakarta – The Indonesian government has yet to fulfill its commitment to realize the Helsinki Agreement in Aceh, a rights group says.

Ade Mardiyati – After the devastating tsunami in 2004, Aceh – then in the midst of an armed rebellion – entered a new era.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Activists in Aceh on Friday criticized the lack of civil involvement in the autonomous region when they met with Martti Ahtisaari, the diplomat who brokered t

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Former rebels of the Free Aceh Movement celebrated the 33rd anniversary of the founding of their now-disbanded organization by holding mass prayers and provid

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – The aging former leader of the disbanded Free Aceh Movement is expected to arrive in the province on Saturday for the second time since he fled the country in

Michael Vatikiotis, Singapore – To visit Aceh today is to experience something the world rarely sees; the dividends of peace.

The world's "post-conflict" areas are a living laboratory with ever changing experiments, the Aceh Reintegration Agency (BRA) and the local population being among its guinea pigs.

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

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

Jakarta – Economic and political authority needs to be shared equally in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam to ensure the brighter future envisioned at the signing of the 2005 Helsinki Memorandum

Jakarta – A call by Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Governor Irwandi Yusuf for the Acehnese to surrender all of their illegal guns has so far gone unheeded, police say.

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

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

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

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

Foster Klug, Washington – The head of the European Union-led peace monitoring mission in Indonesia's devastated Aceh province predicted on Thursday a smooth transition when the European

Milla Sundstrvm, Helsinki – "Amid all the destruction and loss the mood was high. People were making bricks, digging fishponds, building fishing boats.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono conferred honorary state medals Friday to former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari and three other foreigners for their role

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – It is rare to get a behind-the-scenes look at historic events.

Fakhurradzie M.

Nurdin Hassan, Banda Aceh – Tens of thousands have rallied in Indonesia's Aceh, celebrating a full year of peace but calling on Jakarta to honour the pact which ended three decades of s

Michael Morfit, Jakarta – The Free Aceh Movement, known locally as the Gerakan Acheh Merdeka (GAM), and Indonesia's government on Monday marked the first anniversary of a peace agreemen

Banda Aceh – Thousands of people from various regions of Aceh have began arriving in Banda Aceh to commemorated one year since the Helsinki agreement that falls on August 15 tomorrow.

Tiro – Eyes red with tears, Alamsyah Mahmud recalls how in 2001, Indonesian paramilitaries swooped on his village in Tiro, the birthplace of Aceh's rebel movement, rounding up people an

Rudy Madanir and Christine Tjandraningsih, Jakarta – A recent survey has found that the majority of people in Aceh are satisfied with the current condition in the northernmost Indonesia

Jakarta – A former senior separatist from Indonesia's Aceh said Thursday that a new generation of rebels could be spawned within a decade amid dismay over the implementation of a peace

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has demanded the immediate revision of a number of articles of the Aceh Governance Law that are not in compliance with the Helsink

Lambaro Neujid – Former separatist rebels in Indonesia's Aceh have enjoyed a year of peace but, as they slowly try to build new lives for themselves, they are worried about the future.

Banda Aceh – Many residents in Indonesia's Aceh say they are unaware of the specifics of a new law giving the ravaged province greater autonomy, but don't want any opposition to it to d

Jakarta – A human rights group suspects there have been "systematic attempts" to shatter the peace in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

Jakarta - A number of non-government organisations from the Aceh Working Group (AWG) are urging the Aceh Rehabilitation Agency (BRA) to give greater focus to its task and initial role a

Adi Warsidi, Banda Aceh – Yesterday (11/6), the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) resigned from the committee of the Aceh Reintegration Board (BRA), the organization for Aceh reintegration, whic

Chazizah Gusnita, Jakarta – The Aceh Reintegration Agency (BRA) continues to be criticised with its poor performance considered to be threatening the peace process.

Nani Afrida, Takengon (Central Aceh) – "These are the best times I've experienced in my whole life," said Aman Masnah, 70, a resident of Keunawat village, Lut Tawar district in Central

Kanis Dursin, Banda Aceh – Following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the government and the Free Aceh Movement in Helsinki last Aug.

Jakarta – Providing jobs, financial assistance and housing to thousands of former guerillas and political prisoners is essential for ensuring the success of the peace deal in Aceh, the

Banda Aceh – The European Union has agreed to extend the mandate of a peace monitoring mission in Indonesia's Aceh for three months until September, the mission said Friday.

Shinta Shinaga, Banda Aceh – The peace process in Aceh has encountered a stumbling stone. Militia groups still exist and recently their level of activity has even been increasing.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – After many years when it was too dangerous for him to visit his Aceh family home, Muslim Ibrahim finally returned with last August's signing of a peac

Banda Aceh – European Union peace monitors in Indonesia's Aceh province said Monday the EU has extended their mission by another three months until June 15.

The peace process in the Indonesian province of Aceh is about to face its next big test., with parliament setting up a special committee to debate a draft law granting a level of autono

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Helsinki – As snow floated down from the dark skies over Finland's capital Helsinki, Vice President Jusuf Kalla and exiled leaders of the Free Aceh Movement (GA

Helsinki – Peace broker Martti Ahtisaari on Saturday praised former enemies Indonesia and the Aceh rebels for honoring a treaty that ended almost 30 years of bloodshed in the former sep

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Extending the term for the international Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) would be a good way to help Indonesian authorities and former separatists establish a long

The Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) said the tenure of the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) in Aceh should end as originally scheduled because otherwise a bad prec

Aguswandi, Banda Aceh – The one-year commemoration of the tsunami could be the last time the world focuses on Aceh.

Jakarta – An EU-led team monitoring a peace deal in tsunami-ravaged Aceh province will extend its mission by at least three more months to oversee crucial elections, Indonesia's vice pr

Before the tsunami, Banda Aceh was a ghost town at night except for patrols of feared paramilitary police.

John Aglionby, Jakarta – Indonesia is today scheduled to complete the withdrawal of its 21,000 non-local soldiers from Aceh as part of a peace agreement to end a 29-year separatist insu