Major boost for peace

Major boost for peace

Indonesia and the separatist Free Aceh Movement rebels made their first tentative step towards peace on Friday by signing a truce after more than two decades of violence.

It is the first time that the Indonesian government has officially accepted that the FAM exists. The truce, signed in Switzerland, is to be effective from June 2 for an initial period of three months.

Pundits were quick to point out that the Indonesian army will remain in Aceh and that the agreement makes no mention of any move by Jakarta to acknowledge the FAM's quest for independence.

But the agreement does establish an excellent framework, monitored by both sides, from which negotiations towards resolving this conflict can take place.

The truce is remarkable in that for the first time in nearly three generations, possibly longer, peace may fall on Aceh.

Politically, the government and the FAM remain as far apart as ever but the fact they are talking constructively, have been able to reach one agreement and have set excellent guidelines to retain the truce, augurs well for the future.

Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid is giving the provinces more autonomy and a greater share of their own wealth.

Aceh, the closest of all Indonesian provinces to Thailand on the northern tip of Sumatra, produces 14 percent of the country's oil wealth and has massive reserves of natural gas.

Jakarta now needs to take the lead and continue the dialogue begun in Geneva to ensure a lasting peace.

-- The Bangkok Post