Rebel faction vows to keep fighting as negotiators gather in Aceh for signing

A deal between Indonesia and rebels fighting for independence for the Aceh province was thrown into doubt at the last minute yesterday as a major rebel faction said it would carry on fighting.

The Free Aceh Movement is set to sign an agreement with Jakarta in Geneva today for a three-month 'humanitarian pause' that is meant to let the ravaged province re-establish calm after years of human rights abuses and a war that has killed thousands.

But Teuku Don Zulfahri, the movement's Malaysia-based secretary-general, said yesterday he opposed the deal. 'As far as I'm concerned, the fighting for the independence of Aceh is still going on. The people who are negotiating are doing a bad job. I'm very upset,' he said.

The agreement, which avoids the word 'ceasefire', is the first between Jakarta and Free Aceh, which has been fighting for an independent Islamic state since 1976. Its ageing Sweden-based leader, Hasan Tiro, has refused to sign the deal as Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid will not sign. But delegations are due in Geneva for the event, including some of Mr Tiro's closest allies and Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab.

Free Aceh 'health minister' Zaini Abdullah, who has led the rebel delegation at several rounds of preliminary talks, will sign for the rebels. Indonesia's ambassador to Switzerland, Hassan Wirajuda, will sign for the Government. Aceh Governor Syamsuddin Mahmud is expected to act as a witness.

Prayers will go out across Aceh today that the deal will work. Schools have been ordered to stop classes in the mid-morning to pray. Mosques across the region will follow suit around midday. The signing will be in the late afternoon, Aceh time.

Initially for a three-month period, it has been helped by the Geneva-based Henry Dunant Centre, which is experienced in conflict resolution. But insiders admit it does not address many key issues, including whether or when a referendum on independence might be held.

Sources close to the talks say the word 'ceasefire' was omitted because Indonesia's military refused to accept it, fearing it would lead to their withdrawal. Indonesian police and military have always refused to recognise Free Aceh as a political force, insisting its members were criminals. More than 350 people have been killed in the province this year amid a crackdown.

Leading Acehnese hope the deal might ease the bombings, arson and killings that in the past year have spread to virtually the entire province, including the capital, Banda Aceh. The main body pushing for a referendum said the deal was a positive step but violence by the Indonesian military had not stopped.

'I see it in the field. The Indonesian military has still not stopped the violence on the ground,' said Mohammad Nazar, co-ordinator of Sira.

The military, detested in Aceh after years of human rights abuses, has vowed to fight to the death to prevent secession.

Many fear that independence, hot on the heels of East Timor's breakaway, could trigger the break-up of Indonesia, concerns shared by many leading politicians. But the conflict has left a mass of human wreckage in the form of rape and torture victims and was widely seen as virtually insoluble until this deal.

Mr Zulfahri said any meaningful agreement would have to be witnessed by a third country, and accused other Free Aceh members of manipulating Mr Tiro, who is 76 and in poor health.

'What do you expect? He is basically Suharto's age,' he said. 'I'm fighting for the people of Aceh, not for Hasan Tiro. I don't have the power to make them stop but I'll go on fighting.'