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.