Strike grips troubled Indonesian province

Many businesses and schools in the Indonesian province of Aceh are reported to have stayed closed on Wednesday, the first day of a three-day strike called by separatist rebels.

The strike is in protest against alleged human-rights abuses by the security forces and Jakarta's plan to revive a separate military command for the province.

A journalist in the provincial capital, Aceh, told the BBC that police drove buses and forced some shopkeepers to open their businesses in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh.

Earlier there had been reports of rebel intimidation to force shopkeepers to close.

The Indonesian Vice President Hamzah Haz is continuing his visit to the province.

At the start of the strike explosions and gunfire were heard around the cities of Banda Aceh and Lhokseumawe.

An estimated 10,000 people have been killed since the Free Aceh Movement launched its campaign to establish a separate Islamic state more than 25 years ago.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service