President calls on Aceh insurgents to end conflict

President calls on Aceh insurgents to end conflict

Agencies, Singapore

Indonesia's president on Wednesday urged separatist rebels in
Aceh province to negotiate peace, saying an end to the conflict
was essential before the tsunami-battered region could be
rebuilt.

"Aceh's rehabilitation and reconstruction will need to be
carried out under a condition of maximum peace," President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono said during a visit to Singapore.

He said the people of Aceh were no longer interested in
conflict following the Dec. 26 earthquake and ensuing tsunami
that erased entire towns and villages, killing more than 100,000.
Tens of thousands died elsewhere in the Indian Ocean region.

In a speech at a convention center, Susilo said Indonesians
were united in their efforts to help tsunami survivors, and he
urged the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to seek peace.

"I call on GAM at all levels, wherever they are, to terminate
this conflict, to come to permanent peace with dignity, and to
work together to rebuild Aceh under the framework of special
autonomy," said the president, a former military general who won
Indonesia's first direct presidential election last year.

"This is what the Acehnese want, this is what the Indonesian
government is offering, and this is what the international
community supports unreservedly," Susilo was quoted by AP as
saying in a speech hosted by the Institute of Southeast Asian
Studies.

While maintaining that he is "optimistic as ever" about
Indonesia's future, Susilo acknowledged the earthquake-triggered
tsunami "hit us like a brick wall".

"The tsunami brought the country together," he said as quoted
by DPA.

Indonesia's military said last week it had killed at least
five separatist rebels in two clashes in the region, where
international aid workers from several countries are providing
tsunami relief.

Last month, delegations from the two sides met near the
Finnish capital of Helsinki for the first time since peace talks
collapsed in May 2003. They had agreed to the new talks in the
aftermath of the tsunami.

The two sides are expected to meet again on Feb. 21, according
to Finland.

Rebels in Aceh have been fighting for independence since the
1970s. Rights groups routinely accuse the Indonesian military of
human rights abuses, and rebels have allegedly targeted suspected
collaborators with the state.