The Indonesian government has said it would start withdrawing troops from Aceh in September as part of an agreement with rebels to end three decades of fighting that has killed 15,000 people.
Wednesday's announcement followed claims by separatists and soldiers that gunbattles in the tsunami-ravaged province have claimed up to 10 lives in recent days, with each side saying the other was to blame.
Information Minister Sofyan Djalil insisted renewed violence would not affect the peace process.
"The situation in Aceh will improve," he said after a Cabinet meeting in Jakarta. Both sides "want to see an end to combat in the field."
Government negotiators and representatives of the Free Aceh Movement agreed on Sunday after five days of talks in Finland to sign an accord on Aug. 15 to end one of Southeast Asia's longest-running wars.
Lasting peace would ease the massive international relief effort in Aceh, which is still recovering from the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 130,000 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless.
Several earlier accords have collapsed, the most recent in 2003, and claims on Wednesday that fighting had intensified in the days that followed the Helsinki meeting raised new concerns.
But Cabinet ministers insisted on moving forward, revealing details of the draft peace deal, the crux of which gives the rebels, who gave up their demand for independence, some form of political representation in Aceh.
A promised troop reduction in the province would begin in mid-September and be complete by Dec. 31, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin told reporters.
Earlier, officials said the number of security forces, now at 50,000, would be gradually cut to 23,000 under the watchful eye of EU observers and monitors from ASEAN.
"The memorandum of understanding also discusses amnesty for the rebels, the rehabilitation of economic, political and social rights for the former guerrillas, and the collection and destruction of their guns," he said.
Even as the government spelled out its plans, Lieutenant Colonel Ery Sudiko, a military spokesman in Aceh, accused the rebels of taking advantage of the peace initiative to step up their campaign.
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