Security on table as EU join Aceh peace talks<\/p>\n
Agencies, Helsinki<\/p>\n
Security issues and foreign monitoring were on the table as
\nEuropean Union observers on Monday joined Indonesian government
\nofficials and Aceh separatists on their fifth day of peace talks
\nin Helsinki, mediators said.<\/p>\n
\"The delegation of the Indonesian government and the
\nrepresentatives of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) are to discuss
\nsecurity issues in general and monitoring of a potential
\nagreement in particular,\" the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI),
\nwhich is hosting the talks, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Finnish president and career diplomat Martti Ahtisaari, who
\nlike in three previous rounds of negotiations this year is
\nmediating the ongoing talks, \"met in the morning the EU experts
\nacting as observers at the talks on Monday\", CMI added.<\/p>\n
The EU experts attending the talks include two European
\nCommission experts and two experts from the EU's decision-making
\nCouncil of Ministers.<\/p>\n
\"There is no commitment\" between the EU and negotiating
\nparties \"but there are some discussions about possibilities\", CMI
\nspokeswoman Maria-Elena Cowell said on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The four EU representatives are the first outsiders to sit in
\non the closed-door negotiations since the talks were revived in
\nJanuary by Ahtisaari. A previous peace process collapsed in 2003.<\/p>\n
Progress has been reported at the meetings, with hopes of a
\npossible agreement in July or August, negotiators and Ahtisaari's
\noffice said. The current six-day round is scheduled to end
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
\"We are on track. The talks are constructive, and we have high
\nhopes this round will end tomorrow as planned,\" said Cowell.<\/p>\n
\"They will hear plans of how an agreement would be enforced,
\nincluding the number of monitors, withdrawal of Indonesian troops
\nfrom the region and decommissioning of commands, and other
\nmatters that seriously affect security\".<\/p>\n
At the end of the previous, third round of talks in April,
\nAhtisaari said he would request EU peacekeepers monitor a
\npossible pact.<\/p>\n
The head of the Indonesian delegation in Finland, justice
\nminister Hamid Awaluddin, said his government would make a
\nsimilar request to the regional Asian organization, ASEAN.<\/p>\n
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said Jakarta
\nwill not allow the oil- and gas-rich province to separate from
\nthe rest of the country, but would allow it a greater say in
\nrunning its affairs. The Indonesian government has some 35,000
\ntroops in the province of 4.1 million, where more than 12,000
\npeople have been killed in 27 years of fighting.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, the two parties discussed proposals by GAM for
\namnesty for its members and self-government. Previously, the
\nrebels had demanded full independence but have agreed to opt for
\na form of self-government at the Finland brokered-talks.<\/p>\n
\"Exactly what is meant by self-government is one of the
\ncentral issues, and who is considered to be eligible for amnesty
\nis another,\" said Meeri-Maria Jaarva, a member of Ahtisaari's
\nmediation team.<\/p>\n
Jaarva said they hoped to agree on a political role for GAM
\nleaders - many of whom have been exiled in Sweden for decades -
\nbut was cautious about providing details.<\/p>\n
Also on the agenda was a cease-fire, security issues and
\neconomic relations between Jakarta and a possible self-governing
\nAceh, she said.<\/p>\n
Aceh has been a battleground for government and armed rebels
\nsince 1976 when GAM launched its campaign for independence,
\nangered by what it said was Jakarta's exploitation of the
\nprovince's oil and gas resources.<\/p>\n
The latest series of talks, which began in January, came after
\nthe Dec. 26 Indian Ocean tsunamis wreaked havoc in the region,
\nkilling an estimated 128,000 people in Aceh alone.<\/p>",
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