An eight-person team from the European Union has begun monitoring work ahead of elections in Indonesia's Aceh province.
The head of the EU Election Observation Mission, Glyn Ford, says 36 more members will be arriving in just over a week with a further 36 bolstering their numbers shortly ahead of polling day, set for December 11.
Under a peace pact signed between separatist rebels and the Jakarta government, Aceh will for the first time directly elect its governor and vice-governor, as well as district leaders in the polls.
Mr Ford says the 80 EU monitors will be helped by hundreds of local staffers, bringing the team numbers up to 300.
He says the team plans to open up to 12 offices across Aceh to comprehensively monitor the elections.
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