Thousands of people gathered at the largest mosque in tsunami-ravaged Aceh province yesterday to witness the televised signing of an agreement to end a three-decade civil war that has claimed 15,000 lives. The crowd clapped and shouted as the Indonesian government inked the deal with separatist rebels in Helsinki, Finland, but the celebration was remarkably subdued.
"All we want is peace," said Nassruddin, a high school physics teacher who goes by one name. "A few years ago we teachers were targeted by the rebels. They burned a lot of schools. We were always scared."
"I can't predict what will happen now," the 47-year-old said. "I only know we want to see an end to the fighting, we want prosperity, and to feel safe."
Many were hopeful the deal would bring a permanent end to the conflict. But others warned fear and mistrust runs deep, saying a 200-member international monitoring mission that will oversee the disarmament of the rebels and the demobilization of Indonesian troops was crucial to its success.
The last agreement collapsed in 2003, with the rebels and the government each accusing the other of violations. The army kicked out foreign observers, declared martial law and arrested rebel negotiators.
But conditions this time are much different and the chances of success much higher. The Dec. 26 tsunami that killed more than 130,000 people in Aceh and left a half-million homeless created a strong impetus for both the Indonesian government and separatist rebels to return to the negotiating table. Leaders of the Free Aceh Movement, many of whom have lived abroad for years, decided they didn't want to add to the suffering. And the government recognized that peace would smooth the way for a more than US$5 billion reconstruction and rehabilitation effort.
When the two sides met in Helsinki last month to wrap up negotiations, both made major concessions.
"The context was very different," said Rizal Sukma, a member of the non-governmental Aceh Recovery Forum. "You had a powerful humanitarian conflict that put pressure on both parties to iron out their differences."
The rebels gave up their long-held demand for independence and agreed to hand in their weapons. In return, the government offered them amnesty, economic compensation and, most importantly, the right to political representation. In addition to its own flag and hymn, Aceh will hold elections next year and 2009 to chose a regional head and a legislature. Members of the Free Aceh Movement will be eligible for those posts.
Another contentious issue, the province's vast mineral wealth, was also settled: 70 percent of the current and future revenues from Aceh's natural resources, including oil and gas, will go the local government. Syarwan Madi, who lost several friends in the fighting, all rebel sympathizers, said he hoped for peace but was skeptical the government would follow through with its promises.
"I don't think the government is sincere," Madi said, who predicted the military would continue to hunt down members of the Free Aceh Movement in six months time, when international peace monitors leave.
They won't give up on the resource-rich province so easily, he said.
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