Makassar (South Sulawesi) – For the fifth – but hopefully the last – time, delegates of the two warring factions in strife-torn Poso, Central Sulawesi, have agreed to end the three-year conflict that has claimed more than 2,000 lives.

Most delegates at the two-day talks, which were to have concluded yesterday, expressed a strong commitment to end the sectarian conflict which flared up this month.

They focused on conditions for a ceasefire that were believed to include the surrender of arms and formal apologies for wrongdoings. "The peace process in Malino is in progress and it is going well," said top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta, referring to the tightly-guarded peace drive in the mountainous town of Malino.

Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla, who has been acting as mediator, said: "Despite some differences among delegates, the two sides' commitment to peace is major progress towards a permanent solution to the conflict."

The talks took place against a backdrop of tight security with police alert against a repeat of the Christmas Eve bloodshed of last year when bombs near churches killed 19 people.

The government has promised to disarm and repatriate thousands of Muslim militiamen who have arrived recently in the area. The fighters of the Laskar Jihad paramilitary group have been blamed for stoking the simmering conflict.

Most religious and tribal leaders as well as field commanders of militias from the two conflicting camps were present at the talks.

More than 2,000 civilians have been killed, thousands of houses, places of worship and schools have been razed since the conflict was triggered by an argument between two groups of youngsters from different religions in 1998.

Four previous rounds of talks have failed to end the violence. However, Mr Kalla said this meeting was different from previous ones. Besides religious and tribal leaders, field commanders of the warring factions also participated, he pointed out.