Parliament extends Aceh emergency

"We have no objection to the plan... The extension is necessary as we have to maintain the security situation in the province," House Speaker Agung Laksono said, according to the Jakarta Post newspaper.

Laksono said local council members had told him of their support for the extension, due to be reviewed on Friday, and legislators from Aceh deemed the move necessary as there were still threats from Free Aceh Movement guerrillas.

The rebels have been fighting for independence in the resource-rich but impoverished province since 1976.

Indonesia's top security minister, Widodo Adi Sucipto, has said the six-month old state of civil emergency -- which replaced martial law imposed at the May 2003 start of the military campaign -- is likely to continue.