Peace talks amid tsunami chaos
JAKARTA, Indonesia – Mediators on Sunday persuaded the Indonesian government and Aceh rebels to meet for negotiations on a cease-fire, trying to forge peace out of the tsunami tragedy. Indonesia raised its death toll from the disaster by as many as 7,600 people.
An American admiral dismissed fears that the U.S. military is ending its relief effort for tsunami victims in Indonesia too soon as a U.N. agency delivered aid on its own for the first time Sunday – a sign that civilian groups are preparing to fill the gap when militaries pull out.
The massive earthquake and tsunami that battered south Asia on Dec. 26 devastated parts of Indonesia and Sri Lanka where insurgencies have simmered for decades. The influx of relief workers and journalists into the region since the disaster has drawn unprecedented international attention to those conflicts and intensified diplomatic efforts for peace.
Now, there are signs of progress on both fronts.
Finland’s Crisis Management Initiative, headed by former President Martti Ahtisaari, confirmed Sunday that Indonesian government officials and rebel leaders would meet this week in Helsinki to discuss a formal cease-fire in tsunami-ravaged Aceh province, where separatists have been fighting for an independent homeland for nearly 30 years.
“There is a hope that the scale of the disaster and the movement for rebuilding Aceh will help lead to social and political reconciliation between Indonesia and (the rebels),” said Dewi Anwar Fortuna, a prominent analyst and former presidential adviser.
Despite an informal truce announced by both sides since the disaster, there have been isolated reports of fighting, raising concerns about the security of relief operations in Aceh on the island of Sumatra. On Sunday, the Indonesian military said it had killed 200 alleged rebels in the last four weeks.
Early today, a top Norwegian peace envoy held unscheduled talks with a Tamil Tiger rebel leader, spurring hopes of finalizing a pact with Sri Lanka’s government that would give the guerrillas greater control of tsunami aid in the Tamil majority north and east, officials said.
If finalized, it would be the first time the government and the rebels will be directly working together since peace talks broke down more than two years ago.