The peace process between the Indonesian government and rebels in Aceh province is working, with rebels handing in more weapons than planned and prisoners released ahead of schedule, the International Crisis Group said. ``There are serious challenges ahead, most importantly the reintegration'' of rebel fighters, Gareth Evans, president of the Brussels-based crisis group said, according to an e-mailed report. ``What has been achieved so far is a real credit'' to the government and rebels.
Reintroducing former rebels to civilian life and Indonesia's parliament approving a law that would allow the rebel Free Aceh Movement to become a political party are the main obstacles to overcome, the group said in its report. Indonesia's government and the rebel movement known as GAM signed a peace accord in August in their third attempt in four years to end a conflict that has killed more than 12,000 people in the Southeast Asian nation since 1976. Peace talks began this year after the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami left more than 165,000 people dead or missing in Indonesia's western-most province. The peace accord will help Aceh get more autonomy and greater control over revenue from oil and gas in the province, which accounts for 5.5 percent of Indonesia's gas reserves. Aceh lies on the northern part of Sumatra island, where ancestors of the rebels once fought Dutch colonial rulers. | No link, but I saw an article the other day that nature is taking its course and Aceh is expecting quite the baby boom in the next year. They've had mass weddings in the camps and are getting right down to the business of rebuilding a lost generation. |
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