BANDA ACEH, INDONESIA - Muslims who commit adultery can be stoned to death under a new sharia law approved Monday by lawmakers in Indonesia's staunchly Islamic province of Aceh.

The law - which also criminalizes offences including rape, the consumption of alcohol and gambling - was passed unanimously in the province on the northern tip of Sumatra island.

"All parties agreed unanimously to pass the bill into a law, including the article stipulating the punishment of death by stoning," parliamentary special hearing chairman Bachron M Rasyid told reporters.

"This law will be effective in 30 days with or without the approval of Aceh's governor," he said.

The law replaces elements of the civil code with sharia or Islamic law. It stipulates punishments of up to 100 lashes of the cane for unmarried people who commit adultery and death by stoning for married people.

The administration of Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf, a former rebel fighter of the separatist Free Aceh Movement, is opposed to the strict sharia law. It had urged a delay in the bill's deliberation.

Aceh had previously only partially adopted sharia law, enforcing modest Muslim dress codes, mandatory prayers five times a day, fasting and the giving of alms to the poor.

The Islamic law code was introduced under a broad autonomy package granted by Indonesia's central government in 2001 to pacify the hardline Muslim region's demand for independence.

Separatists in Aceh had been fighting the Indonesian government since 1976 until a peace deal in 2005.

Nearly 90 percent of Indonesia's 234 million people are Muslim. Most practise a moderate form of the religion. --AFP