Landmark Aceh deal to offer autonomy, elections

Landmark Aceh deal to offer autonomy, elections

Joanne Collins, Reuters, Jakarta

International mediators trying to get Indonesia and rebels in
Aceh to sign a fresh peace deal said on Friday the pact would be
a landmark agreement offering provincial elections and the
setting up of a team of monitors.

Bill Dowell, a spokesman for the Geneva-based Henry Dunant
Centre which is mediating in the dispute, said the outline of the
agreement would be unveiled later on Friday in Banda Aceh,
capital of the troubled province on the northern tip of Sumatra
island.

He said the deal was the culmination of a year of negotiations
and hoped it would be signed by Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels
and the government in December, after the Muslim fasting month of
Ramadhan.

Jakarta had wanted to sign the deal before the fasting month
began but the rebels sought a delay until after Ramadhan, saying
there were still some issues to be ironed out.

"It is more comprehensive than anything that has happened
before and what it is basically calling for is the formation of a
joint security committee," Dowell told Reuters by telephone from
Banda Aceh, 1,700 km (1,060 miles) northwest of Jakarta.

It also provides for the holding of free and fair local
elections in Aceh -- the first for any Indonesian province -- but
details, including how GAM might be involved, were yet to be
fleshed out.

"The idea is to grant some autonomy to the region and have
elected officials represent the people of the region," he said.

The decades-long conflict has claimed thousands of lives and
more than two years of peace talks in Switzerland have done
little to halt the bloodshed. Several ceasefires have been
signed, but are almost immediately ignored by both sides.

Indeed, the deal comes as Indonesian troops continue to lay
siege to a group of rebels at a village in North Aceh.

According to an outline of the peace deal obtained by Reuters,
the committee would monitor security, investigate violations and
be the point of reference for all complaints.

Dowell said that committee would create around 25 monitoring
teams of six people each with equal representation from the rebel
group, the government and the Henry Dunant Centre.

"The Henry Dunant Centre's orientation and needs assessment
teams will begin deploying on Saturday to prepare for eventual
deployment of peace monitors, once the agreement has been
signed," he said.

Dowell said a well-recognized, international personality,
acceptable to both sides, would be chosen to sit on the
committee. Under the deal, called the Cessation of Hostilities
Framework Agreement, the following would apply:

* A free and fair process for provincial elections to be set
up to ensure the broadest participation of all elements of
Acehnese society.

* Both sides would immediately cease hostilities, acts of
violence and intimidation, destruction of property, illegal
arrests, harassment and illegal searches.

* At a time to be agreed on, begin a process of joint
demilitarization.

* The joint committee, operational within a month of signing
the agreement, would designate "peace zones", which would include
certain schools, mosques and other facilities.

When asked whether the siege would impact the signing of the
deal, Dowell said: "It hasn't stopped the process but it may be
more reason for reflection by some parties before going ahead."

Between 500-1,000 troops have encircled the rebels for nearly
two weeks, and at the weekend fired several mortars which
military officials have said was necessary to separate a number
of civilians apparently holed up with them.

Many of Aceh's four million people want independence, but most
just long for peace and an accounting of past wrongs carried out
during decades of military operations under the iron rule of
former President Soeharto, who stepped down in 1998.

Jakarta has ruled out independence, saying the best it could
offer was last year's autonomy package that gives Acehnese more
control over their affairs.