Critical Aceh peace talks to commence

Critical Aceh peace talks to commence

Achmad Sukarsono, Reuters/Jakarta

The fate of one of the world's longest-running conflicts may be decided in a few days when negotiators representing the Indonesian government and rebels in Aceh province meet in Finland this week.

It will be the fifth round of talks since peace negotiations resumed between the two warring sides under Finnish mediation in the wake of the Dec. 26 tsunami disaster that flattened Aceh and left nearly 170,000 people dead or missing.

It looks to be the most crucial.

Earlier rounds have produced agreement in principle between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) on many contentious issues, but the meeting expected to start on Tuesday is the one where delegates have to put pen to paper and agree on a draft document spelling out the specifics.

"If there is no agreement, that can mean all-out war again," Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla has said.

The Aceh conflict that has flared and sputtered over three decades has already killed more than 12,000 people, mostly civilians.

Kalla is the mastermind behind the talks that have been criticized by some generals, nationalist members of the parliament and even a government think tank.

The critics fear the deal will make major concessions to the rebels that will encourage separatists in other parts of the sprawling archipelago of multi-ethnic Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation.

"We have asked the talks to stop but the government wants to walk alone. So, any outcome will be the responsibility of the government, especially Kalla," Permadi, an outspoken legislator from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, told Reuters.

If the July talks can end with an agreed draft, the two sides will formally sign a truce in August, government officials say. GAM guerrillas refused to say whether a deal could be struck next week. "The Helsinki talks are not over yet. So, we are not interested in making assumptions," said Sofyan Dawood, spokesman of GAM's military wing.

Their struggle has its roots in a long history of the fiercely proud and devoutly Islamic Acehnese fighting against outsiders, including the Dutch in colonial times, and more recently in complaints over how much of Aceh's revenue from natural gas and other resources was going to the central government.

There are still some sticking points.

The early talks suggested the rebels were willing to abandon their demand for complete independence for Aceh, but in exchange wanted to be able to operate as a political party in Aceh.

Jakarta, however, has said that would mean revising the country's national electoral laws and would provide an incentive for groups elsewhere in the nation with unique ethnic, religious or cultural concerns to ask for similar privileges.

Under existing law all parties in Indonesia must have a headquarters in Jakarta and branches in more than half of the country's 33 provinces.

One route it appears Jakarta may push is for existing parties to let the rebels into their ranks.

A government official close to the talks has told Reuters Kalla had called leaders of other parties and told them to recruit former GAM members and allow ex-separatists to run for political positions on their tickets.

Despite vocal criticism from many in parliament, the Indonesian public believes the government's dovish approach may succeed in securing a workable deal, according to a recent poll.

But the opposition is up for a fight. "We can't let this process keep on going. My understanding is GAM is closer to creating a new state," Sidharto Danusubroto, deputy of the House's defense commission, told Reuters.

"If there is any agreement that threatens the existence of the unitary state of Indonesia, the parliament will reject it."