Separatist rebels in Aceh province accused Indonesia's military of stepping up their campaign in the tsunami-shattered region, a charge that underlines the obstacles to peace ahead of a crucial third-round of talks in Finland later this week.
"The Indonesian military are increasing their numbers and killing more and more of our people," Abdullah Zaini, a rebel negotiator living in exile in Sweden, said late Saturday. "That is against the sprit of the negotiations, that is what we do not understand."
An Indonesian army spokesman denied that troop numbers were being increased, but said that military operations against the rebels were ongoing in the oil and gas-rich province, which has been wracked by conflict for 27 years.
Officials and mediators say that Indonesia's government and rebels of the Free Aceh Movement made significant headway in ending the war during the previous two rounds of talks in January and February in the Finnish capital of Helsinki. Indonesia's vice president has predicted an agreement could be reached by July.
The rebels have hinted they may accept a self-government package in exchange for dropping their independence demand. However, analysts have warned that disagreements over the details, and opposition from nationalist Indonesian military generals, could easily derail any agreement.
"There is hope, that is we are continuing the talks," Indonesian Communications and Information Minister Sofyan Djalil told The Associated Press. "We want to hear what they want," said Djalil, who is also a delegate to the talks.
Neither he or Zaini would disclose the agenda of the negotiations, scheduled to begin on April 12 in Helsinki, but both said the talks would touch on "substantive" issues. The process is being mediated by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari.
An earlier peace process collapsed in 2003, when Indonesian generals opposed to a cease-fire arrested rebel negotiators, kicked out international observers and launched an offensive that has killed about 3,000 people.
The Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami in which at least 127,000 people in Aceh perished helped restart negotiations, partly because of the international scrutiny the disaster brought to the conflict.
Thousands of soldiers, aid workers and journalists from around the world poured into the province of 4.1 million people, a war zone formerly closed to foreigners.