Aceh's new deal

"There will be peace." A bold statement indeed from Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin at the conclusion of the Aceh peace negotiations in Helsinki.

Free Aceh Movement (GAM) spokesman Bakhtiar Abdullah also expressed a degree of confidence that the peace process would be successful.

History will inevitably decide whether Hamid, Bakhtiar and other delegates in Helsinki will be remembered as heroic peacemakers or merely as pawns of "darker forces" in the perpetual politicking surrounding Aceh.

This is not the first time peace seems at hand. In the past repeated promises were made and broken. Pledges were declared and forgotten and decades of goodwill ended in more suffering and loss.

Just over 24 months ago, the government declared martial law in the province and began one of the biggest military offenses since the invasion of East Timor in 1976. Now under a new regime it is offering peace under a rather restricted political format.

Unlike in previous negotiations, there was an air of urgency and necessity to the five rounds of talks, which began earlier in the year. The Dec. 26 tsunami, which killed about 130,000 people in Aceh, prompted negotiators to bend and compromise further than each side had ever been willing to do before.

And so Sunday's announcement of a draft peace agreement set to be formally signed next month is very much a product of the fear of a second "tsunami" -- a wave of hunger, widespread poverty and impoverishment -- if aid and reconstruction is delayed by the continuing political conflict between GAM and Indonesian forces.

One way or another, GAM's willingness to drop its demands for independence, and the perseverance of the government in continuing the talks has been crafted by the giant tsunami waves.

Though the circumstances that prompted the agreement were tragic, the silver lining is that the accord is now on the verge of being signed.

Details about the agreement remain scant and will not be made public until the formal signing next month. But the overall outline envisages amnesty for rebels forces, disarmament of rebels and the withdrawal of soldiers from the province.

One of the most delicate issues during the negotiation that will continue to be a sensitive point of debate is the question of political participation and representation for GAM.

The government initially rejected GAM's demands for a local political party. Fortunately with some diplomacy a compromise was reached. Just exactly what that compromise is has not been revealed because it is likely to be used as ammunition by the peace spoilers to undermine the settlement.

Peace in Aceh should not be scuttled based on a law that erroneously perpetuates the domination of Jakarta-based parties. Such laws can be changed and should not stand in the way of a peace which has been wanting for decades.

The first and last stretches of a journey are always the toughest. In the next month there will be enemies of the process, concerned with vested short-term political interests rather than the welfare of Acehnese or the peace of mind of Indonesians.

They will not immediately make themselves apparent, unless public sentiment turns in their favor. These are people who will misuse nationalist dogma and clothe themselves in rhetoric, glories and the lies in our history books.

It is these people that the Indonesian people, Acehnese and rebel forces should unite to fight. They are the real enemy, the foes of peace.

Patience and forgiveness should also be readied in abundant supply for the coming year. A period of adjustment is always necessary in any new arrangement. There will no doubt be misunderstandings and disputes over the implementation of the peace agreement. We should not let the technicalities, however, jeopardize the bigger objective of peace.