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DATE=5/11/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ACEH-CEASEFIRE (L)
NUMBER=2-262222
BYLINE=GARY THOMAS
DATELINE=BANGKOK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO:  Rebels in Indonesia's restive Aceh province 
are due to sign a cease-fire agreement with the 
government Friday.  Southeast Asia Correspondent Gary 
Thomas reports the truce is a prelude to talks aimed 
at securing a permanent peace.
TEXT:  Insurgents from the Free Aceh Movement and 
Indonesian government envoys are scheduled to sit down 
Friday in Geneva to initial a three-month cease-fire.
The cease-fire is set to begin 15-days after the 
agreement is signed.  It would be the first formal 
truce in the long war between separatists who seek an 
independent Aceh and the central government in 
Jakarta.  During the truce, the rebels and the 
government will hold talks on a permanent peace.
Thousands of people have been killed in Aceh in the 
past 10-years.  The Acehnese are bitter about the long 
military and police crackdown in their province.
The Indonesian army and the police have pledged to 
abide by the cease-fire.  But residual anger by the 
Acehnese over their treatment by the Indonesian 
government - and particularly by the military -- have 
raised doubts about how long a truce can hold.
Aceh is rich in natural resources.  Acehnese complain 
bitterly that the central government in Jakarta has 
looted their province, but left little in return 
except bloodshed and heartache.  The military, 
particularly under former President Suharto, has been 
blamed for widespread human-rights abuses in its 
campaign to wipe out the separatists.
That bitterness fuelled separatist sentiment, 
especially when East Timor was granted a referendum on 
its future last year.  Signs appeared everywhere 
calling for a referendum in Aceh, and the Aceh 
Merdeka, the Free Aceh Movement, got new life.
But President Abdurrahman Wahid is anxious to heal the 
wounds inflicted by his predecessor and to stop any 
slide to Acehnese independence.  The government put 
out peace feelers to the separatists and reined in the 
military.
And, for the first time, soldiers were put on trial 
for the military's excesses in Aceh.  Twenty-four 
soldiers are currently on trial for the massacre of 
58-civilians last year.  Some of the soldiers admitted 
executing civilians, but said they were acting on the 
orders of their commander.
It is not clear if the government's gestures will be 
enough to get the separatists to drop their demand for 
independence.  The Free Aceh Movement is reported to 
be divided on the issue.   (SIGNED)
NEB/GPT/RAE
11-May-2000 07:32 AM EDT (11-May-2000 1132 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.