Aceh peace treaty in sight as talks near political agreement

Aceh peace treaty in sight as talks near political agreement

Nina Larson
Agence France-Presse
Helsinki

An Aceh peace treaty appeared to be in reach on Saturday after
Indonesian officials offered to meet rebel demands for political
participation by at least temporarily allowing the creation of
local political parties in the province.

"I think an agreement is within reach," Free Aceh Movement
(GAM) spokesman Bakhtiar Abdullah told AFP on the fifth day of
peace talks in Helsinki on Saturday.

The government of Indonesia, he said, had agreed to partially
concede to demands for local political participation in Aceh, a
main sticking point in the negotiations, by permitting the
creation of local political parties in the province for a trial
period of one year.

"This is part of the (Indonesian) proposition still under
discussion," he said, adding that the offer had been included in
a memorandum of understanding that the parties were expected to
agree upon by the end of the day.

GAM has demanded the right to create local political parties
that are not controlled by the capital in Jakarta, something that
today is prohibited by the law.

"Only a few minor issues remain ... We're hopeful," Abdullah
said.

His comments again lifted hopes that the talks, which in
recent days have yoyoed between euphoric optimism and dismal
pessimism, could soon end the 30-year conflict that has cost some
15,000 lives.

The ongoing round, which is the fifth held in the Finnish
capital since January, has been described as decisive if the
parties want to sign a final peace accord next month as
anticipated.

The renewed efforts to make peace were prompted by a need for
international aid to reach Aceh, which bore the brunt of last
December's tsunami. More than 129,000 people in the province
perished.

While the sides have made significant progress on a number of
issues, including an agreement that GAM would give up its demand
for full independence and would disarm and that the government
would withdraw its troops from the troubled province, they have
remained stuck on the issue of local political participation in
Aceh.

After a rollercoaster-ride of alternately good and disastrous
progress reports on the subject, they appeared by Saturday close
to a deal.

"It is clear that some kind of mutual understanding has been
reached regarding the political participation issue," Maria-Elena
Cowell, a spokeswoman for the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI)
foundation organizing the talks, told AFP.

The talks, which are being held at the Koeningstedt estate
outside Helsinki, are scheduled to wrap up on Sunday with a press
conference held by former Finnish president and mediator of the
talks Martti Ahtisaari.