- Title: FINLAND: ACEH DELEGATION OPTIMISTIC AHEAD OF TALKS WITH INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT.
- Date: 12th April 2005
- Summary: (BN11) HELSINKI, FINLAND (APRIL 11, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV/PAN: ACEH DELEGATION WALKING OUT OF AIRPORT DOORS 0.18 2. GV: FREE ACEH MOVEMENT (GAM) SPOKESPERSON BAKHTIAR ABDULLAH STANDING IN FRONT OF CAR 0.21 3. GV/PAN: CARS DRIVING AWAY 0.36 4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ABDULLAH SAYING: "We hope we could come to an agreement on some of the basic issues and with regards to the kind of situation on the field, which has not subsided of the military escalation, we hope that we could work something out. And of course, in this round we are going to discuss substantial issues. I don't know the outcome, but we are cautiously optimistic that we could resolve some of these sticking points, or whatever issues that are on the table." 1.14 5. GV: ABBDULLAH TALKING TO REPORTER 1.18 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 27th April 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: HELSINKI, FINLAND
- Country: Finland
- Reuters ID: LVA4F2WM2UDC0ETUDPAIIB5WFZ30
- Story Text: Free Aceh Movement spokesperson says 'cautiously
optimistic' ahead of third round of talks with Indonesian
government representatives in Finland.
Members of the Indonesian government and
representatives of the Free Aceh Movement are to convene in
the third round of talks facilitated by Finnish President
Martti Ahtisaari and the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI)
on Tuesday (April 12) near the Finnish capital Helsinki.
Violent clashes and a war over words may present
hurdles for the Aceh peace talks, aimed at ending three
decades of separatist rebellion in the tsunami-ravaged
Indonesian province.
A new round of talks that began in January will be held
in Helsinki from April 12-17, and the rebels and Indonesian
government say that while they are optimistic of an
eventual deal, obstacles remain.
Key among them are continued fighting, and
sensitivities over terms like "special autonomy" and "self
government".
"We hope we could come to an agreement on some of the
basic issues and with regards to the kind of situation on
the field, which has not subsided of the military
escalation, we hope that we could work something out. And
of course, in this round we are going to discuss
substantial issues. I don't know the outcome, but we are
cautiously optimistic that we could resolve some of these
sticking points, or whatever issues that are on the table,"
said GAM spokesperson Bakhtiar Abdullah.
GAM has been fighting a simmering rebellion against the
Indonesian government for nearly 30 years, with at least
12,000 people estimated to have died in the fighting.
hr/os
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