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Indonesia, rebels sign peace accord

Efforts to end one of Asia`s longest-running conflicts reached an important step Monday when Indonesia signed a peace accord in Helsinki with Acehnese rebel leaders. Should the peace hold, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono can lay to rest a conflict that has disrupted the northern tip of Sumatra island since 1976, claiming over 12,000 lives and traumatizing an entire generation of men and women.

The accord could pave the way for Indonesia to calm other restive areas, most notably Papua, where separatist sentiment runs high. It could also provide pointers for other Asian countries, such as the Philippines, in how to untangle seemingly intractable separatist rebellions over long-standing grievances. To be sure, major hurdles lie ahead, not least the demilitarization of a province awash in illegal arms. A former Islamic sultanate that fiercely resisted Dutch colonization, Aceh has long complained of misrule from Jakarta.

In return for surrendering their arms, the fighters in the Free Aceh Movement, whose dwindling forces are put at 3,000, will be offered an amnesty and a chance to run for political office in an autonomous Aceh. In addition, 70 percent of the revenues from Aceh`s abundant natural resources, including oil and gas, will go to the provincial government.