Preliminary Indonesian peace talks to begin in Helsinki

Indonesian government and Aceh rebels to meet on Thursday under Ahtisaari leadership

Martti Ahtisaari

Endriartono Sutarto

Malik Mahmud

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Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari is to try to negotiate a peaceful settlement between the Indonesian government and separatist rebels from the northern province of Aceh. The preliminary talks will be held in Helsinki later this week.
      The location was something of a natural choice, since Ahtisaari has already for some time been serving as a go-between in building dialogue between the Jakarta administration and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). Aceh was the worst-hit area in the recent Asian tsunami, but it is believed the involvement of the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) led by Ahtisaari predates the disaster.
     
CMI confirmed rumours of the planned meeting in a brief statement on Sunday. The terse nature of the information coming out of the former President’s office was explained by the sensitive nature of the meeting and "in order to create a conducive atmosphere" for talks.
      According to the news agency Associated Press, talks are to begin on Thursday of this week. A spokesperson from Ahtisaari’s office would neither confirm or deny this date, and said also that the physical location for the meeting was still undecided.
      Former President Ahtisaari spoke to Helsingin Sanomat on Sunday evening, reporting that the two parties have announced their attendance at the meeting. In other respects he preferred not to comment on the matter, saying the time was not yet suitable.
     
The Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja stated earlier on Sunday that the Helsinki government would support Ahtisaari’s overtures and that it hoped they would lead to speedy results.
      Confirmation of the talks came from the rebel side on Sunday evening.
      "We have just received confirmation that there are to be discussions in Finland. I will not speculate on the subject of the talks, when they are to be, or where they will be held", said spokesman Bakhtiar Abdullah from the GAM leadership-in-exile, located in the Stockholm area in Sweden.
     
Earlier in the day, the self-styled GAM Prime-Minister-in-exile Malik Mahmud had stated that they had not been contacted over the talks. He claimed that he had heard only from journalists and the media that a meeting was planned in Finland for this week.
      Already before any formal invitation was forthcoming, Mahmud had announced the rebels’ willingness to meet with the Indonesian government. Mahmud believes the key issue at hand is how the Acehs, whose lives have been devastated in the recent earthquake and tsunami, could be best helped. He noted that the separatists had already issued a statement calling for talks on how to establish a lasting ceasefire and on how aid operations in the stricken province could be organised most effectively.
      "Our contacts with the Indonesian government broke down almost two years ago. I believe that this provides an opportunity to reopen channels of communication", said Mahmud.
     
According to wire service reports, the Indonesian military chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto announced on Sunday that the army had called a halt to attacks on separatist forces in order to give prospective peace talks a chance.
      Indonesian security forces began a major campaign against GAM rebels in the spring of 2003 after the collapse of earlier peace negotiations.
     
Aceh, known for its oil and gas resources, was originally a powerful sultanate that stood up to the Dutch colonial authorities when they occupied the northern part of Sumatra in 1870.
      Aceh was joined with Indonesia when the Dutch withdrew in 1949. In the view of the locals, the sultanate should never have been included in the package, since Dutch sovereignty over the region had never been formally acknowledged.
      The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) began its separatist rebellion in 1976, and hostilities have cost at least 12,000 lives. There have been several attempts to put an end to the bloodshed. In December 2002 it was believed a breakthrough had been made when both sides reported agreement on a peace deal that would have given Aceh partial autonomy and 70% of the revenue from its oil and gas reserves.
      In return the rebels were to lay down their arms and abandon their calls for separation from Jakarta. The discussions broke down acrimoniously in May 2003, and thereafter the Indonesian government has pursued an aggressive policy towards the province.
      The submarine earthquake and tsunami on December 26th wrought terrible destruction to the region and prompted both sides to declare an unofficial ceasefire. This notwithstanding, the Indonesian government has claimed to have killed some 200 rebels since then, charging that they were stealing aid shipments meant for tsunami victims. According to GAM sources, some of those killed were civilians.


Links:
  Crisis Management Initiative
  Indonesian Government
  Acehnet

Helsingin Sanomat