Five rebels killed as peace deal reaches

Five rebels killed as peace deal reaches

Indonesian soldiers shot dead five rebels in Aceh province at the
weekend as a new peace deal was agreed between the government and
separatist leaders, a report said on Tuesday.

The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels were shot dead during
three separate skirmishes in South Aceh district on Sunday,
military sources and local residents were quoted as saying in the
Serambi Indonesia newspaper.

Aceh military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Eri Sutiko told AFP
he could not immediately confirm the shootings.

The reported deaths happened on the day a new draft peace
accord was agreed in the Finnish capital Helsinki between
Indonesian government officials and rebel leaders after a week of
intense talks.

The agreement is expected to be signed in mid-August and
delegates have said a ceasefire would only come into force once
the treaty was signed.

The western province of Aceh has a long and tumultuous
history, with the current separatist conflict just the latest in
a long series of violent upheavals.

The Helsinki peace initiative was partly spurred by the
December 26 tsunami disaster, which killed an estimated 131,000
people in Aceh.

The draft accord aims to bring a "peaceful, comprehensive and
sustainable solution" to end the conflict, which has raged in the
province since 1976 and claimed almost 15,000 lives.

GAM gave up its demand for full independence and said it would
disarm, while the government announced it would withdraw its
troops from the province once the rebels hand in their weapons.
-- Agence France Presse