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.