Aceh rebels drop demands for independence
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-23 09:15

Aceh rebels withdrew demands of independence for their tsunami-devastated province during meetings with the Indonesian government Tuesday, paving the way for more negotiations, a member of the rebel delegation said.

But the decision didn't mean an immediate end to the fighting that has plagued the gas-rich Aceh province since 1976 and left tens of thousands of people dead in army offensives aimed at rooting out the rebels.

Officials have said that more talks will be needed to come to a final agreement.

Indonesian soldiers take a break from patrolling the road from Banda Aceh to points on Aceh's west coast where the Indonesian Army has reported several firefights with rebels over the last few days including one involving an aid convoy Monday Feb. 21, 2005 in Leupung about 25 kilometers (15 miles) west of Banda Aceh. [AP]

"The demand for independence is no longer on the table. They are demanding self-government now and the Indonesians understand this very clearly," said Damien Kingsbury, an Indonesia specialist from Australia's Deakin University who is part of the Acehnese delegation.

"This is a compromise," Kingsbury said.

The talks resulted from intense international pressure to make peace after Aceh bore the brunt of a tsunami Dec. 26, that killed tens of thousands across southern Asia. The rebels proclaimed a unilateral truce saying they wanted to help rescue efforts, while the Indonesian military said it would continue combat operations until a formal cease-fire was signed.

The office of former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, who is presiding over the negotiations, confirmed progress was made Tuesday and that talks would continue Wednesday as planned. Ahtisaari was to hold a news conference after they end.

But the Free Aceh Movement, or GAM, remained resolute in its goal to have 50,000 Indonesian soldiers and police removed from Aceh, a demand it had going into the first day of talks this week.

In the past, GAM has insisted on a U.N.-supervised plebiscite on self-determination in the region, but Jakarta fears a repetition of the 1999 independence referendum in its former territory of East Timor, where 80 percent of the population opted for independence despite a brutal military campaign to intimidate voters to choose autonomy within Indonesia.

Kingsbury said the rebels will demand that GAM, or a separatist party representing GAM, be allowed to take part in future elections for a local legislature. This would require changing Indonesian laws, which bar separatist parties.

Earlier Tuesday, Indonesian armed forces chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said the military was ready to crack down on the rebels if the current peace talks do not bring about an end to the insurrection.

"If the peace talks end in failure, I hope the government will not be reluctant to take resolute actions against GAM," Sutarto said in the eastern Indonesian port city of Surabaya, where he was attending a naval ceremony.

Sutarto said that previous peace talks with GAM had not produced results, adding that if the separatists "really want a peaceful solution, they should show it to us."

The two sides, who met face-to-face last month for the first time since a previous peace process collapsed in May 2003, discussed security issues and the Indonesian government's proposal for "self-government" for the province of 4.1 million people.

Kingsbury said the parties had agreed on several "issues in principle and are moving forward" to discuss a timeframe for implementation of any peace agreement.

Human rights groups have accused government troops of executions, torture and rape of civilians in Aceh. They say most of the 2,500 people killed since a cease-fire collapsed have been unarmed villagers caught up in army operations.

The war in Aceh, one of the world's longest-running conflicts, has its roots in the occupation of the independent Aceh sultanate by Dutch colonialists in 1870.

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