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Indonesian govt, Aceh rebels to sign peace pact
(AP)
Updated: 2005-08-15 08:50
The Indonesian government and Aceh rebels met for last-minute talks before
the signing of a peace treaty Monday aimed at ending nearly 30 years of fighting
in the oil- and gas-rich province that has killed 15,000 people, AP reported.
Spurred by the need to get reconstruction aid to the December 26
tsunami-ravaged region, the parties embarked on a seven-month peace process,
culminating in the accord, under the mediation of former Finnish President
Martti Ahtisaari.
In Banda Aceh, hundreds of people turned out Sunday at the city's biggest
mosque - most sent by the government in a convoy of trucks - to pray
for peace. Giant screens have also been installed in the mosque so Acehnese can
witness the signing of the agreement in Finland.
Acehnese students shout 'peace' as they hold a
demonstration to support the peace agreement between the Indonesian
government and Free Aceh Movement in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Sunday August
14, 2005. [AP] | "I'm very optimistic," said Nurmala, a 42-year-old widow and mother of seven.
Her husband was killed by Indonesian soldiers, who accused him of being a member
of the Free Aceh Movement, or GAM. "This time there will be peace."
In an about-face, rebels of the Free Aceh Movement, or GAM, have agreed to
renounce a demand for full independence and will disarm. In return, the
government has offered them amnesty, land, jobs and political representation. It
has said it will also pull out tens of thousands of soldiers and police from the
province by the year's end.
A previous truce ended after only six months in 2003, when the Indonesian
army expelled foreign observers, declared martial law, arrested rebel
negotiators and mounted an offensive in which more than 3,000 people died.
However, both parties said on arrival in the Finnish capital they were
optimistic about the pact and held last-minute talks Sunday. Neither side would
comment on the meetings.
After the fifth round of talks ended in July, the two sides declared they
were committed to "a peaceful, comprehensive and sustainable solution to the
conflict."
Details of the pact were to be released after the signing ceremony, but
negotiators said it would deal with the governing of Aceh province and rebel
participation in the political process, as well as the establishment of a
monitoring mission of some 200 unarmed European Union and Southeast Asian
observers.
The latest hostilities in the area broke out in 1976. Although many Acehnese
want an end to the bloodshed, there has been general support for independence
because of abuses. Human rights groups accuse Indonesia's army of executions,
disappearances, torture and rapes.
Aceh, once an independent sultanate, was invaded in 1870 by the Dutch, who
attached it to their East Indies colony, which gained independence as Indonesia
in 1949. The result was almost constant warfare, as guerrillas battled the
Dutch, Japanese invaders during World War II, and later Indonesian rule.
After the tsunami, which killed 130,000 people in Aceh alone, aid workers
poured into the formerly closed province, leading to international pressure on
Jakarta to halt the violence - particularly from the United States and the
European Union.
The peace pact will ease the delivery of international aid to the devastated
province of 4.1 million inhabitants. The number of Indonesian troops in the
region will be cut from 35,000 to 13,000, and police from 15,000 to 10,000.
The pact is also expected to allow the separatists to field candidates in
April mayoral elections. The government has reportedly agreed to change a law
banning local political parties - a key rebel demand - within 18
months.
Experts say the peace deal could help defuse separatist tensions that have
threatened to tear Indonesia apart since the ouster of dictator Suharto in 1998
and East Timor's secession a year later. It also would provide a blueprint for
resolving another secessionist crisis in Papua, at the other end of Indonesia's
vast archipelago.
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