BANDA ACEH: Authorities in Indonesia's devoutly Muslim province of Aceh, who have introduced Islamic sharia law as a concession to curb separatist sentiment, said Monday they will start enforcing an Islamic dress code in towns and cities this month. Another six deaths were meanwhile reported in the decades-long struggle between security forces and rebels fighting for independence for the province in the north of Sumatra ialand, Provincial secretary Thantawi Ishak said the regulations would be introduced on March 15.
"In the first phase, proper Muslim attire for women will be required in all urban areas in Aceh," he told AFP. Islam requires women to cover everything except their face, hands and feet. Muslim men must cover their midriff and wear shorts which cover their knees. Ishak said police would conduct street checks but initially violators would just be warned and excluded from urban areas. Future sanctions would be decided in talks between the sharia office, the Muslim Scholars' Council and local police.
"Firm sanctions would come from Allah because the order to cover up the body comes from the Holy Koran," he added. The Indonesian government in 1999 authorised provincial authorities to implement partial Sharia law. Last year parliament also passed a law which grants the province greater autonomy and a much larger share of oil and gas revenues. Ishak also said all government and private offices must instal business signs in Arabic-style script. Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population, but Islam is not the official religion and sharia law is not in force anywhere else in the archipelago.
An estimated 10,000 people have died since the Free Aceh Movement began to fight for an independent Islamic state in December 1976. Three civilians including a woman were found dead with gunshot wounds in the Bireuen district on Saturday following a military search in the area the previous evening, residents said. Hundreds of villagers have fled their homes, they said. At Juli Teupin in the same district villagers found the body of a farmer but the cause of death was not immediately known.