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The Jakarta Post, Indonesia 19 January 2005
Summary of report from Jakarta

Indonesia hopes to hold formal peace talks this month with rebels in Aceh province in what would be the first such meeting since a truce between to the two sides collapsed in 2003, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said today.

"We've had some informal contact between the Indonesian government and GAM members in Aceh," Wirayuda told reporters. GAM is the Indonesian acronym for the Free Aceh Movement, which has been fighting for independence for nearly three decades led by leaders who live comfortably in Sweden holding Swedish citizenship.

After the December 26th tsunami the two sides agreed to an informal cease-fire to ease the distribution of aid in the province, where 115,000 people were killed and some 800,000 made homeless. The proposed talks would be aimed "at strengthening the gentlemen's agreement which is now more or less in place in Aceh," Hassan said. He did not specify if the meeting with the rebels would be held in Aceh or in Sweden, where GAM maintains its government-in-exile. Both sides have accused each other of violating the cease-fire.

Abdullah Zaini, a GAM representative in Sweden, said he could not comment on the proposal for formal negotiations. "We still do not know the specifics of the plan," he said. "We would prefer to hold the talks outside Indonesia, but let us see the proposal first."

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