Aceh peace talks in Switzerland
Aceh peace talks in Switzerland to hammer out details of cease-fire
Lely T. Djuhari Associated Press Jakarta
Peace talks between Aceh separatists and the Indonesian government slated for mid October in Switzerland will hammer out ways to end hostilities in their 25-year conflict, a rebel spokesman said Sunday.
"We have been given proposals by the Indonesian government earlier this month on how to carry out a cessation of hostilities," said Bachtiar Abdullah, a spokesman for the Free Aceh Movement, in a phone interview from Stockholm, Sweden, where the movement's government-in-exile is based.
"We are currently studying it and will discuss it in mid October," he said.
Rebels want independent international mediators to monitor the cease-fire, which Jakarta has previously opposed but now supports, according to Abdullah.
The two sides entered into a cease-fire in 2000 but that collapsed the following year amid escalating bloodshed.
Abdullah voiced concern about the recent military clampdown on foreigners in Aceh. On Sept. 10, security forces detained British researcher Lesley McCulloch and American nurse Joy Lee Sadler. Police accuse them of contacting the guerrillas and possessing rebel documents and photos.
"It is not true. The women never met any of my men in Aceh," Abdullah said.
Top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned rebels on Saturday not to stall the peace talks organized by the Geneva- based Henry Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue.
"For Indonesia, the sooner the talks begin, the better," Yudhoyono told reporters after a two-day tour of western Aceh. Jakarta has offered the region greater autonomy in handling its internal affairs and a larger share of revenue from the province's resources. It has urged insurgents to accept the autonomy offer by Dec. 7, the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadhan, or face a possible military crackdown.
Up to 10,000 people - mainly civilians - have been killed in fighting since 1976 in the gas and oil-rich province on the northern tip of Sumatra island. About 900 have died so far this year.