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| Friday, 28 January 2005 |
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Indonesia, Aceh rebels to relaunch peace talks HELSINKI, Thursday (Reuters) A top-level delegation from Indonesia and exiled rebel leaders of the country's Aceh province were to meet in Helsinki for talks aimed at restarting a peace process that faltered 21 months ago. Finland's snow-covered capital, venue for secretive talks tentatively scheduled to continue until Sunday, is worlds apart from Aceh, which was devastated by the Dec. 26 tsunami and has been embroiled in an independence struggle for nearly 30 years. Indonesia's Chief Security Minister Widodo Adi Sutjipto is expected to head a delegation including Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda and Justice Minister Hamid Awaluddin. The delegation is the highest-level team Jakarta has ever sent for talks with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). Previous talks were led by diplomats but an Indonesian government source said Awaluddin had been "approaching GAM for some time". The Acehnese side will field GAM's self-styled Prime Minister Malik Mahmud and Foreign Minister Zaini Abdullah, who head an exiled government based in Stockholm since the 1970s. "The delegations will be at high level, (that) shows a strong commitment from the parties," said Matti Kalliokoski, vice chairman of Crisis Management Initiative (CMI), the non-governmental organisation facilitating the meeting. CMI is the brainchild of former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, who helped broker peace in Kosovo and will attend this week's talks. Kalliokoski said Finnish police would keep tight security at the talks, which will be closed to the media. "The aim is to re-establish the dialogue between the parties," Kalliokoski told Reuters in an interview. |
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