Govt, GAM discuss tough issues at upbeat peace talks

Govt, GAM discuss tough issues at upbeat peace talks

Agencies, Helsinki

The Indonesian government and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) leaders tackled tough issues here on Friday at peace talks aimed at finding a solution to the decades-old conflict in the tsunami- ravaged province, and Finnish organizers said the atmosphere was positive and constructive.

The two parties met outside Helsinki for a second day after agreeing on an agenda that includes security and political participation by rebels within a "self-government" framework. The GAM members have been struggling for independence for decades.

"There are several options concerning local parties and we have to weigh them up very carefully," Damien Kingsbury, an adviser to the GAM delegation, was quoted by AP as saying.

"We have an awful lot on the agenda, but signs are that we are on track and it's pretty positive."

The negotiations, mediated by former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, are being held behind closed doors at a secluded manor house. They are scheduled to end with a news conference by Ahtisaari on May 31.

"The atmosphere is good given the difficult background," said Maria-Elena Cowell, a spokeswoman for Ahtisaari's office. "Cooperation between the two parties is functioning."

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said Jakarta will never allow the oil- and gas-rich province to separate from the rest of the country, but would give the region a greater say in the running of its affairs. The government has some 35,000 troops in the province of 4.1 million, where more than 12,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

The rebels, who originally were fighting for full independence, have agreed to opt for a form of self-government at the Finland talks, Kingsbury said.

"It's a compromise, and one that the Indonesian government also understands and accepts," he said, but added that the details still had to be worked out. "There's a clear commitment on both sides to come out with a positive result."

The government has said it would like an agreement with GAM by July or August. "This is not unrealistic. That could be achieved," Kingsbury said.

The first day of talks on Thursday focused on amnesty, integration in society and economic issues, and was held in a "very good atmosphere", GAM spokesman Bakhtiar Abdullah told AFP.

Hours before the fourth round of talks started, a gun battle in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam resulted in the deaths of three suspected separatist rebels and a policeman when the officers raided a house in Bireuen district, surprising three rebels and sparking the firefight, witnesses said.

At the end of the previous round of talks on April 16, Ahtisaari said the parties made a breakthrough and that substantive issues would next be discussed, including local administration, security and elections.

The Indonesian government and GAM leaders, some of whom are now citizens of Sweden after seeking political asylum there years ago, have said they are satisfied with the talks, and have confidence in Ahtisaari, a former peace broker during the Balkan conflict.

The head of the Indonesian delegation, justice minister Hamid Awaluddin, said in April that his government approved of attempts by Ahtisaari to ask the European Union for peacekeepers for the region, adding that Jakarta was willing to request the same from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Earlier this week, the Indonesian government was said to be growing impatient and said it had warned that it would not hold more talks with GAM should the current round fail to strike a deal to put an end to the conflict.

But Abdullah remained optimistic. "Some people continually say the negotiations should not go on, but we are in Helsinki now, we hope we can achieve (something), however long it takes," he said.

The December tsunami disaster was instrumental in bringing the two sides to the negotiating table, with the first round of talks held in January, after a previous peace deal was scuttled by Jakarta in 2003.

The war in Aceh, one of the world's longest-running conflicts, has its roots in the occupation of the independent Aceh sultanate by Dutch colonialists in 1870.