GAM seeks cease-fire in security pact

GAM seeks cease-fire in security pact

Agencies, Helsinki

Separatists from the war-torn province of Aceh pushed for a cease-fire in their almost 30-year conflict with the Indonesian authorities, at peace talks on Saturday in Finland.

Bakhtiar Abdullah, a spokesman for the exiled leadership of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) who are taking part in the talks in Helsinki, told AFP that a cease-fire should be part of a security agreement that was to be discussed with the government delegation.

"We have had only negative answers so far, but we will pursue (the issue)," he said. "It will be part of a security package."

Members of the Indonesian government delegation at the talks were not immediately available for comment. The Jakarta government has to date refused any cease-fire during the talks, saying that the GAM rebels constituted a permanent security threat.

Jakarta has also signaled that it is losing patience with the peace process, and that it sees the current talks as the last chance to reach a deal.

However, the GAM spokesman dismissed such reports as "typical Indonesian propaganda".

"The process is still going on," he said.

On the general progress in the latest round of talks, which opened on Thursday, the rebel spokesman said: "As far as the GAM is concerned, we think these talks are constructive ... but of course it takes time to get a very concrete sustainable settlement after 30 years."

"We have made some substantial progress ... it is moving in the right direction but we still have to iron out some points of sensitivities which unfortunately I'm bound to keep confidential," Bakhtiar Abdullah told Reuters.

Earlier, a source familiar with the negotiations said a broad deal had been reached on political issues such as how parties based only in part of Indonesia could contest national elections. Aceh is on the northern tip of Sumatra island.

"The matter of the political parties has been solved. The matter will now be handled in Jakarta, for the government to work out," the source said, adding that the negotiators would now take the deal to the government and legislature.

The government is under pressure from the legislature, where nationalism runs deep, to deliver an acceptable deal soon.

Meanwhile, the Finnish mediator's office said on Saturday that European Union observers would join the peace talks on Monday, a day before the current fourth round of closed-door negotiations were scheduled to end.

"They will be there only as observers, and will not take an active part. They will sit in on negotiations that deal with the monitoring of any peace agreement," Maria-Elena Cowell, a spokeswoman for the mediator, former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, was quoted by AP as saying.

But Cowell could not provide more details.

At the end of the previous round of talks on April 16, Ahtisaari said the parties had made a breakthrough in the talks, opening the way for "substantive issues". He also said he would request the EU provide peacekeepers to monitor a possible pact.

The head of the Indonesian delegation, justice minister Hamid Awaluddin, said at the time that his government approved of Ahtisaari's attempts and that it would make a similar request to the regional Asian organization, ASEAN.

The latest series of talks, which began in January, came after the Dec. 26 Asian tsunami wreaked havoc in region, killing an estimated 128,000 people in Aceh alone.

The ongoing talks are being mediated and organized by Ahtisaari's Crisis Management Initiative, which said on Friday that the latest round of talks was taking place in a good atmosphere, with some progress.

The first day on Thursday focused on amnesty, integration in society and economic issues, while Friday's meeting centered on self-government and economic issues.

On Saturday, the issue of security guarantees was on the agenda.

Despite the peace efforts, clashes between the rebels and the armed forces in Aceh continue on an almost daily basis.

On Friday, Indonesian soldiers shot dead three separatist rebels during a raid in North Aceh district, a rebel stronghold, soldiers who took part in the skirmish told reporters.

Just over a week ago, Indonesia decided to lift a one-year-old state of civil emergency in the province.