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.