Jakarta- Greeted by thousands of cheering supporters, the 83-year-old founder of Aceh's rebel movement returned to the tsunami-wracked Indonesian province of Aceh Saturday for the first time in almost 30 years.

Hassan di Tiro fled to Sweden in late 1970s after declaring Aceh independent in 1976, a move triggered that a long-running conflict in the north-western Indonesian province.

About 15,000 people are estimated to have died in the conflict before a truce was reached between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in August 2005, after the devastation and the deaths of about 170,000 people in the province caused by the December 24, 2004 tsunami.

Jakarta - Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Friday congratulated former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari for winning this year's Nobel Peace Prize.

"He is a solution-oriented person, and he also has played important role in Aceh," the state-run Antara news agency quoted presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal as saying, adding that Yudhoyono would soon directly contact Ahtisaari to congratulate him.

Jakarta - The Indonesian Stock Exchange suspended trading in its morning session Friday for the second consecutive trading day amid sharp falls on global markets.

The market announced on its website that "the equities and derivative trading for session I on October 10 is suspended" due to the indices' sharp declines at bourses across the world.

Erry Firmansyah, the market president, told Elshinta private radio programme that it was "impossible for us to resume trading" after Friday's plunges on Asian markets as well as steep losses on Wall Street overnight.

Jakarta - Trading on the Indonesia Stock Exchange was suspended for a second day Thursday although it might resume Friday if conditions allow, a cabinet minister said.

The Indonesian Stock Exchange halted trading Wednesday after the benchmark composite index fell by more than 10-per-cent to 1,451.669, its lowest level since September 2006.

Acting Finance Minister Sofyan Djalil told reporters after a cabinet meeting late Wednesday that Thursday's session also was cancelled and the suspension could be extended through Friday unless market conditions improved.

Jakarta - The Indonesia Stock Exchange halted trading on Wednesday after the benchmark composite index plunged 10.38 percent on fears about the global financial crisis.

Jakarta - Indonesia's central bank raised its benchmark interest rate 25 basis points to 9.50 per cent on Tuesday, signalling its commitment to fight inflation at the risk of slower growth, officials said.

Bank Indonesia Governor Boediono told reporters that the key rate was increased to suit high inflation and to anticipate the global financial crisis.

Inflation soared to 12.14 per cent year-on-year in September from 11.85 per cent in August, driven by resilient domestic demand and higher global commodity and fuel prices.

Indonesia's stock index plunged 10.02 per cent on Monday amid the global credit crisis. On Tuesday, the Indonesian composite index was down 1.76 per cent.