Govt, HDC upbeat Aceh talks will yield peace deal

Govt, HDC upbeat Aceh talks will yield peace deal

Agencies
Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri expressed optimism that the
government would sign a peace accord with the Free Aceh Movement
(GAM) during their meeting in Geneva on Oct. 31, to end the
conflict that has claimed the lives of thousands of people,
mostly civilians.

There have been positive signals that a solution to the Aceh
problem may be reached in the next round of talks, she said
during an overnight stopover in Athens, Greek, en route to attend
the APEC summit in Mexico.

"Perhaps, they (GAM) are ready (to resolve the conflict)
through dialog, instead of through violence," Megawati said on
Wednesday night local time (Thursday in Jakarta).

She said the government had set the end of the Ramadhan
fasting month, which starts on Nov. 6, as the deadline to settle
the Aceh problem through peace talks.

Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh said on Wednesday the talks would
resume in Geneva on Oct. 31 or Nov. 1. under the auspices of the
Geneva-based Henry Dunant Center (HDC) that has organized the
dialogs since January 2000.

However, both GAM and HDC said that no exact date had been set
for the new round of peace talks.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono echoed on Thursday Megawati's optimism
that a peace pact on Aceh would be signed in the next meeting.

"If there are no obstacles, in the near future I hope at the
end of the month a peace agreement can be signed," Susilo said
after a meeting with Puteh and Aceh district chiefs in Jakarta.

He said an agreement in Geneva would herald a full peace deal
based on the wide-ranging autonomy law for Aceh issued last year.

"If this can take place, it will mean that Aceh will enter a
new chapter, a new era that we have all long awaited," the
minister said.

The law grants Aceh a greater share of its extensive oil and
gas revenues and allows it to implement sharia law.

HDC director Martin Griffiths, who made a visit to Aceh this
month, said he also was confident the upcoming peace talks would
yield an agreement and that the deal could be struck before
Ramadhan.

"The dialogue process which began in January 2000 has never
before had the energy and the commitment from both sides that we
see today," Griffiths said recently.

Previous cease-fire deals have always broken down with each
side accusing the other of bad faith.

At their last talks in May the two sides agreed to hold a
"democratic all-inclusive dialog" based on the autonomy law and
to set up measures to implement a cease-fire.

But, bloodshed has continued since then in the resource-rich
province. A middle-aged couple shot dead by gunmen were the
latest victims of violence there, the local military said on
Thursday.

Some 10 unidentified gunmen murdered Hasan Basri, 50, and his
wife Rosmawati, 45, at their home in the Idi Rayeuk area of East
Aceh district on Tuesday, said provincial military spokesman
Major Zaenal Mutaqin.

He blamed the killings on GAM, which has been fighting for an
independent state since 1976.

In a separate incident, two armed men torched a van carrying
thousands of copies of the Banda Aceh-based Serambi daily
newspaper in North Aceh on Thursday, witnesses said. Another van
from the paper was set alight on Tuesday.

Local residents said the gunmen were known by locals as GAM
members who had reportedly criticized the newspaper for its
stance against them.

A total of nine newspaper delivery vans have been burnt by
unknown groups in Aceh in the past three years. The Serambi was
forced to close down for about two weeks in August last year
after threats from rebels over its reporting.