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Five rebels killed in Indonesia's Aceh
Indonesian soldiers shot dead five rebels in Aceh province at the weekend as a new peace deal was agreed between the government and separatist leaders, a report said. The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels were shot dead during three separate skirmishes in South Aceh district on Sunday, military sources and local residents were quoted as saying in the Serambi Indonesia newspaper. Aceh military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Eri Sutiko told AFP he could not immediately confirm the shootings. The reported deaths happened on the day a new draft peace accord was agreed in the Finnish capital Helsinki between Indonesian government officials and rebel leaders after a week of intense talks. The agreement is expected to be signed in mid-August and delegates have said a ceasefire would only come into force once the treaty was signed. The western province of Aceh has a long and tumultuous history, with the current separatist conflict just the latest in a long series of violent upheavals. The Helsinki peace initiative was partly spurred by the December 26 tsunami disaster, which killed an estimated 131,000 people in Aceh. The draft accord aims to bring a "peaceful, comprehensive and sustainable solution" to end the conflict, which has raged in the province since 1976 and claimed almost 15,000 lives. GAM gave up its demand for full independence and said it would disarm, while the government announced it would withdraw its troops from the province once the rebels hand in their weapons.
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