Security on table as EU join Aceh peace talks

Security on table as EU join Aceh peace talks

Agencies, Helsinki

Security issues and foreign monitoring were on the table as European Union observers on Monday joined Indonesian government officials and Aceh separatists on their fifth day of peace talks in Helsinki, mediators said.

"The delegation of the Indonesian government and the representatives of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) are to discuss security issues in general and monitoring of a potential agreement in particular," the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI), which is hosting the talks, said in a statement.

Finnish president and career diplomat Martti Ahtisaari, who like in three previous rounds of negotiations this year is mediating the ongoing talks, "met in the morning the EU experts acting as observers at the talks on Monday", CMI added.

The EU experts attending the talks include two European Commission experts and two experts from the EU's decision-making Council of Ministers.

"There is no commitment" between the EU and negotiating parties "but there are some discussions about possibilities", CMI spokeswoman Maria-Elena Cowell said on Sunday.

The four EU representatives are the first outsiders to sit in on the closed-door negotiations since the talks were revived in January by Ahtisaari. A previous peace process collapsed in 2003.

Progress has been reported at the meetings, with hopes of a possible agreement in July or August, negotiators and Ahtisaari's office said. The current six-day round is scheduled to end Tuesday.

"We are on track. The talks are constructive, and we have high hopes this round will end tomorrow as planned," said Cowell.

"They will hear plans of how an agreement would be enforced, including the number of monitors, withdrawal of Indonesian troops from the region and decommissioning of commands, and other matters that seriously affect security".

At the end of the previous, third round of talks in April, Ahtisaari said he would request EU peacekeepers monitor a possible pact.

The head of the Indonesian delegation in Finland, justice minister Hamid Awaluddin, said his government would make a similar request to the regional Asian organization, ASEAN.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said Jakarta will not allow the oil- and gas-rich province to separate from the rest of the country, but would allow it a greater say in running its affairs. The Indonesian government has some 35,000 troops in the province of 4.1 million, where more than 12,000 people have been killed in 27 years of fighting.

On Sunday, the two parties discussed proposals by GAM for amnesty for its members and self-government. Previously, the rebels had demanded full independence but have agreed to opt for a form of self-government at the Finland brokered-talks.

"Exactly what is meant by self-government is one of the central issues, and who is considered to be eligible for amnesty is another," said Meeri-Maria Jaarva, a member of Ahtisaari's mediation team.

Jaarva said they hoped to agree on a political role for GAM leaders - many of whom have been exiled in Sweden for decades - but was cautious about providing details.

Also on the agenda was a cease-fire, security issues and economic relations between Jakarta and a possible self-governing Aceh, she said.

Aceh has been a battleground for government and armed rebels since 1976 when GAM launched its campaign for independence, angered by what it said was Jakarta's exploitation of the province's oil and gas resources.

The latest series of talks, which began in January, came after the Dec. 26 Indian Ocean tsunamis wreaked havoc in the region, killing an estimated 128,000 people in Aceh alone.