Indonesia and separatist Aceh rebels signed a landmark ceasefire yesterday aimed at ending one of Asia's longest and bloodiest internal conflicts, but both sides warned lasting peace was not yet assured.
The pact, mediated by the Geneva-based Henry Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, was signed at the center's lakeside headquarters by representatives of the Indonesian government and the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in the presence of Western diplomats.
"It is an historic day for the people of Aceh," said Martin Griffiths, the director of the center -- an impartial international organization.
The pact, which took two years to negotiate, calls for a ceasefire and elections in 2004 in the oil- and gas-rich province at the northern tip of Sumatra.
Rebels must disarm over seven months and a monitoring team made up of rebel, Indonesian and foreign representatives will ensure that the ceasefire holds.
"Both sides explicitly express their commitment ... to cease hostilities and all forms of violence toward each other and the people in Aceh," read the six-page peace accord.
While past attempts have failed to end a conflict in which thou-sands, mainly Aceh civilians, have died in the past two decades, analysts say the Geneva deal has more chance of success.
They point to strong international support for the accord, including from the US, and the desire of President Megawati Sukarnoputri's government to show progress toward stability as it battles to hold together a poor, ethnically and religiously diverse nation of 215 million people.
Although Jakarta has generally been optimistic about prospects for peace in Aceh, chief negotiator Wiryono Sastrohandoyo warned that the hardest part was beginning.
"Although the agreement is called a `cessation of hostilities'... there is still a great deal of work to be done ... before we can say durable peace has been enshrined in Aceh," he said.
Zaini Abdullah, chief negotiator for the separatist rebels in the staunchly Muslim province of 4.2 million people was also cautious in remarks to the signing ceremony. "The document we are signing is a first step," he said.
The key outstanding disagreement, left unresolved by the peace plan, is that the rebels want independence, while Jakarta is only prepared to grant special autonomy.
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