EU considers mission to Indonesia's Aceh province to monitor

EU considers mission to Indonesia's Aceh province to monitor peace agreement

Agencies Brussels/Jakarta/United Nations

The European Union is considering sending a team of monitors to the troubled Indonesian province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) to help implement a new peace agreement there, EU foreign ministers said on Monday.

The EU ministers welcomed the conclusion of peace talks between Aceh rebels and the Indonesian government in Helsinki over the weekend, adding that "the EU was prepared ... to provide observers to monitor implementation" of the pact, if signed.

EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner told reporters the EU head office was looking at providing funds for a mission to bolster human rights and retrain rebels.

"We are very, very pleased that a draft peace deal has been agreed in the Aceh conflict," Ferrero-Waldner said in Brussels.

EU Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana said the 25-nation bloc could send around 200 observers to help monitor the agreement. Solana said he would visit Jakarta next week to hold talks with senior government officials to discuss the mission.

"We have received from the two sides the offer to monitor the peace process that was initialed," said Solana. "After the tsunami, one of the things we wanted to do is to see if we could, at the end of these events, after so much suffering there, to get the peace process (going) in Aceh. We are pretty close."

He added that the EU would be keen to work with other Asian countries in monitoring the pact, if implemented.

Ferrero-Waldner said the EU head office was ready to look at supporting the peace process beyond the US$241 million the EU has already sent in post-tsunami aid.

"We think this is crucial to accompany this process," she said. The measures could include training police, monitoring elections and helping armed combatants reintegrate into society.

She said the EU was "ready to explore all probabilities ... to commit further funds."

A mission to monitor and possibly train police in NAD, if approved, would be the first deployment to Asia under the EU's burgeoning common defense policy.

The two sides agreed to sign an accord in the Finnish capital on Aug. 15 to end fighting that has killed 15,000 people since 1976 -- many of them civilians caught up in army sweeps in isolated villages.

Officials said a peace deal would help reconstruction efforts in NAD, which is still reeling from the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 130,000 people.

Indonesian government said the meeting with EU officials might take place on July 28. Key countries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have also been asked to contribute troops to the monitoring team and have been invited to the meeting.

Details of the monitoring operation such as the length of service and duties of the observers were spelled out in the draft agreement signed on Sunday, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has warmly welcomed the peace deal reached by the Indonesian government and separatist rebels to end almost 30 years of fighting in NAD.

"The Secretary-General commends both sides for their determination to reach a lasting and sustainable peace in Aceh and strongly urges them to demonstrate continued resolve and commitment throughout the implementation of the agreed terms," UN spokeswoman Marie Okabe told reporters on Monday. "He (Annan) hopes this breakthrough heralds a new and brighter future for the people of Aceh."

In Washington, the United States said on Monday that a peaceful settlement to separatist conflict was within sight.

"We understand that the two sides have initialed a draft accord. We are hopeful that a peaceful settlement to this longstanding conflict is within reach," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

He said that the United States "supports the territorial integrity" of Indonesia and added that "effective implementation of any written agreement will be key to achieving a lasting peace in Aceh."