INDONESIA: Indonesia has signed a peace agreement with separatist rebels who have fought for nearly 30 years to create their own state in the western province of Aceh, lending a crucial boost to rebuilding efforts in the tsunami-battered region.
Under the accord, signed at a ceremony on Monday in Helsinki, the Free Aceh Movement set aside its long-standing demand for independence and agreed to begin immediately turning over its weapons to international observers, drawn mainly from the European Union. Disarmament is to be completed by the end of the year.
In return, the Indonesian government agreed to revise its electoral laws to allow the Acehnese to form their own local political parties and nominate candidates for all levels of government. Indonesia will also significantly scale back the size of its security forces in Aceh, now estimated at 35,000 soldiers and police. The government agreed to notify the observers of any military manoeuvre involving more than a platoon.
"There is always a time for rain to stop and there is always a time for war or conflict to end," said Indonesian justice minister Hamid Awaluddin, who led the government delegation, after signing the accord.
The agreement capped five rounds of talks held in Helsinki with the mediation of former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari.
Previous deals to end one of the world's longest running civil wars, including an agreement three years ago, have collapsed in part because of resistance from an Indonesian military determined to end the conflict solely by force. The conflict has killed about 15,000 people, many of them civilians.
The latest peace accord, however, has unprecedented support from the Indonesian administration. Efforts to negotiate a settlement came largely at the initiative of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a retired general. Moreover, the separatist movement, known by its Indonesian initials as Gam, had demonstrated a willingness to compromise after government forces badly bruised the rebel ranks during a two-year offensive.
But both sides acknowledged that the turning point was the massive December tsunami, which killed at least 150,000 Acehnese. With much of the province in ruins and foreign governments offering hundreds of millions of dollars in aid, Indonesian and rebel leaders decided to set aside the conflict for the sake of reconstruction. - (LA Times-Washington Post service)