Govt, GAM take stock of truce

Govt, GAM take stock of truce

GENEVA (Agencies): Indonesian government representatives and
separatist rebels from Aceh met in secret near Geneva Saturday to
take stock of a two-month-old "humanitarian pause" agreed between
the two sides to try to end violence in the restive province,
officials said.

The meeting was to evaluate the results of work by two
committees on the island, made up of representatives of both
sides, who have been observing security and humanitarian aspects
of the truce in force since June 2.

Each side accuses the other of violating the truce. Three
weeks after it was introduced 34 people had been killed and 72
others injured in different incidents around Aceh.

And two months on, 50,000 have fled their homes seeking refuge
in mosques and other public sites.

President Abdurrahman Wahid has proposed prolonging the
unprecedented truce, which came into effect June 2 after
negotiations between the two sides in Geneva.

"We want to extend the truce, but we have to know first the
position of the Indonesian government, whether they will change
their attitude by abiding by the agreement or not," Zaini
Abdullah, a Stockholm-based Free Aceh Movement representative,
said on the eve of the meeting Friday.

The government signed the truce accord with the Free Aceh
Movement (GAM), which has been fighting for an independent state
for more than two decades, on May 12 in Switzerland.

Saturday's closed-door meeting, which began at 11.45 a.m.
(0945 GMT) in a secret location, could go on into Sunday,
officials said.

The meeting is the second to take place in Geneva since the
ceasefire, officially called a "humanitarian pause", went into
force.

The first meeting, which was not publicized, took place at the
end of June.