Talk with GAM 'tough', but govt to see it through

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government has described initial peace talks with Free Aceh Movement (GAM) leaders in Helsinki as tough, but is optimistic that a solution can be found.

"The first day was a beginning. It's tough, but (we are) still on course (for the second day of deliberations on Saturday)," Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on Saturday after a meeting at Golkar Party headquarters in Jakarta.

Kalla said the government was hopeful that ways could be found to end the decades-long conflict between the Indonesian Military (TNI) and GAM, which has been fighting for the separation of the resource-rich province from Indonesia.

He underlined the government's commitment to settling the issue, adding that the two sides were set to announce on Sunday the outcome of their dialog.

Three senior ministers led by chief negotiator Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin arrived in Helsinki on Thursday to meet with Stockholm-based GAM leaders for the talks.

The meeting was facilitated by the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) foundation, an organization led by former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari.

The CMI said on Friday the talks had started on a good note.

"Negotiations will continue on Saturday, and we hope that the talks can continue in the same constructive spirit as on Friday," CMI spokeswoman Maria-Elena Cowell told AFP.

The two sides had discussed humanitarian issues arising from the catastrophe in the region and post-tsunami reconstruction, she said.

The government is offering special autonomy status and amnesty for GAM separatists, but has stated that it would reject any demand for Aceh's sovereignty.

Friday's meeting was held at Koenigstedt Manor, a baronial estate some 24 kilometers north of Helsinki used by the Finnish government for representative purposes, AFP reported.

Shrouded in secrecy, it was the first meeting between the government and GAM since peace efforts were disrupted and martial law was imposed on the province in May 2003.

The renewed talks were prompted by the need for peace in the province so that post-tsunami relief work could be carried out effectively.

Over 178,000 people have been killed in northern Sumatra alone.

Following the disaster, the government and separatists declared a mutual cease-fire, but fighting continued. The TNI claimed last Sunday to have killed more than 200 rebels before it vowed to suspend its campaign against GAM.

Despite positive signals from organizers following Friday's talks, few observers expect the Helsinki deliberations to go beyond formalizing a month-long cessation of hostilities.

"I think there is a genuine desire to achieve peace in the Indonesian political establishment, but the control of Aceh's natural resources is something that the central government just can't hand over to the Acehnese," AFP quoted Timo Kaartinen, a Southeast Asia expert and senior lecturer of anthropology at Helsinki University.