RI asks ASEAN for observers in Aceh

RI asks ASEAN for observers in Aceh

Associated Press, Vientiane

Indonesia has asked its Southeast Asian neighbors to send observers to monitor a peace deal between separatist rebels and the government in the strife-torn Aceh province starting next month, a Thai official said on Tuesday.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda made the formal request on Monday during a dinner with his counterparts in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkeow. The ministers gathered here for an annual meeting.

"The Indonesian foreign minister wants ASEAN to play the key role in monitoring the situation in Aceh after the peace agreement is signed on Aug. 15," Sihasak said.

He said ASEAN members informally have agreed to assemble military officers and legal experts for the team, which is expected to be drawn mainly from Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand, he said.

Thailand sent a team of observers to East Timor after its independence from Indonesia, and Malaysia has sent one to the southern Philippines, where Muslim rebels are fighting for an independent homeland.

Representatives of the Free Aceh Movement rebel group and government negotiators agreed earlier this month in Finland on a peace accord to be signed on Aug. 15.

About 15,000 people have died in three decades of fighting in Aceh, many of them civilians.

As part of the peace deal, the rebels gave up their demands for independence in return for some form of political representation in Aceh. The accord also calls for an amnesty for the separatists, the destruction of their weapons, and the establishment of a monitoring mission of unarmed European Union and Southeast Asian observers.

Meanwhile, the foreign minister of Timor Leste, a former province of Indonesia, on Tuesday praised Indonesia for being "so open and bringing the EU and ASEAN to observe the peace process in Aceh."

"This illustrates the change of mentality of mind in Indonesia," said Jose Ramos-Horta, who was in Vientiane to attend a regional security forum.

"Five or 10 years ago it was unthinkable that Indonesia would agree to outside involvement in what they considered to be their internal problem. This reflects a leap forward in the sophistication in the way Indonesia deals with certain issues," he said.