EU monitors arrive in Aceh, prep for peace process<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Three members of the European Union peace monitoring team arrived
\nin Aceh on Saturday, more than two weeks ahead of the scheduled
\narrival of the full peace mission.<\/p>\n
The three monitors are Dutch national Pieter Feith, and Finns
\nJaakko Oksanen and Juha Christensen.<\/p>\n
Antara reported that the monitors from the European Union, who
\narrived in Aceh from Jakarta, were picked up by officials driving
\na United Nations jeep at Sultan Iskandar Muda Airport.<\/p>\n
The three men, who are expected to lay the groundwork for
\nhundreds of other monitoring officials, are to visit Bireun,
\nLhokseumawe and Central Aceh. The three Europeans declined to
\nprovide any comment to reporters.<\/p>\n
A 300-member peace mission is expected to arrive in Aceh after
\nthe government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) officially sign a
\npeace agreement on Aug. 15 in Helsinki, which it is hoped will
\nend the three-decade-long conflict in the province.<\/p>\n
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the main tasks
\nof the peace mission are to oversee the decommissioning of
\nweapons that will be surrendered by GAM as well as the peaceful
\nwithdrawal of non-local Indonesian troops from Aceh.<\/p>\n
It will also monitor compliance with the peace deal and define
\nmechanisms for dispute settlement in case of violations. The
\ndetails of the mission's work will be discussed during two days
\nof discussions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs starting
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
The European Union (EU) will lead the monitoring mission,
\nwhich will consist of military officers and civilians. About 200
\nmonitors are expected to be provided by the EU.<\/p>\n
Members of the team will also be provided by five contributing
\ncountries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
\n-- Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei and the Philippines.<\/p>\n
The foreign monitors will serve for six months, with a further
\nsix months extension being possible.<\/p>\n
The presence of the mission formed part of the preliminary
\npeace deal signed by Indonesia and GAM on July 17 in Helsinki,
\nFinland. The peace process was restarted after last year's
\ntsunami.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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