Govt, GAM begin talks on key issues

Govt, GAM begin talks on key issues

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The latest round of peace talks between the Indonesian government
and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) kicked off on Tuesday in
Helsinki, with both sides saying an agreement to end the conflict
was within reach.

The Indonesian chief negotiator, Minister of Justice and Human
Rights Hamid Awaluddin, said that the first day of the fifth
round of the talks had run smoothly, despite controversy among
Indonesian politicians, who recently criticized the peace process
for being "off track".

"We (the government) have come up with a proposal to grant
amnesty to the rebels. We hope such a legal policy would pave the
way for them (the rebels) to participate in political issues and
the rehabilitation process in the province.

"The government has also promised to boost economic
development in Aceh and expects the former rebels to join
hand-in-hand with the other Acehnese (people) to rebuild Aceh,"
Hamid told television station SCTV on the sidelines of the talks.

The Helsinki talks, initiated after the Dec. 26 tsunami, are
aimed at seeking ways to end the three decades of bloody
conflict, in which over 15,000 people have been killed.

The July meeting could be the final round of informal talks
between the two parties. Two weeks ago, Martti Ahtisaari of the
Crisis Management Initiative (CMI), which is facilitating the
talks, submitted a draft agreement to Jakarta and the GAM
leaders. That document is expected to be the basis of a possible
peace accord, the implementation of which would be monitored by
up to 200 observers from the European Union (EU).

Ahtisaari has said that if Indonesia and GAM reached a
comprehensive agreement there would be a need for the monitoring
of the decommissioning of arms and the withdrawal of military
forces from Aceh.

Some earlier reports have said Vice President Jusuf Kalla will
come to Helsinki in August when the final peace agreement is
expected to be reached.

The Indonesian government has said it will never let Aceh
separate from Indonesia, but will give it a greater say in
running its affairs. The rebels have publicly dropped their
independence demand, and now want the right to form their own
regional political parties to take part in elections for the
provincial government. The GAM leaders' demand to form their own
political parties, however, has been rejected by the Indonesian
government.

"GAM doesn't ask (for) anything but democratic rights, which
include to form their own political parties -- instead of joining
the existing political parties -- for every Acehnese person," GAM
spokesman Bakhtiar Abdullah told The Jakarta Post from Sweden.

"If the Indonesian government cannot accept our proposal on
political parties and local direct elections, which items can we
put on the negotiating table?," Bakhtiar asked.

Hamid insisted that the proposal on the establishment of local
political parties should be dropped, because "it has no legal
basis."

He, however, remained optimistic that the talks would not meet
a deadlock, arguing that "GAM leadership believes that the
ongoing peace talks are the only solution to end the conflict."

Despite the ongoing peace talks, armed clashes between rebels
and government troops have continued in Aceh, claiming the lives
of dozens of people, including civilians, and injuring foreign
humanitarian workers.

A Jakarta-based non-governmental organization Aceh Working
Group (AWG) has asked the government to monitor the rising number
of militia groups in Aceh, fearing the groups could be used as
"political instrument" by the military to halt the peace process.