The pro-independence movement in the war-torn Indonesian province of Aceh expressed optimism on peace moves, a day before an EU delegation was to add weight to negotiations in Finland.
"We are still making progress, gaining ground" in tackling the issues, Bakhtiar Abdullah, a spokesman for the exiled leadership of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), told AFP after talks wound up for the day on Sunday.
However the Indonesian government delegation was not available for comment as the talks, which opened last Thursday, continued.
The European Union delegation, which will attend the talks on Monday, is due to discuss plans for the future monitoring of any peace deal. Over 12,000 people have died in the war between Indonesian government forces and the rebels, which began in 1976.
While welcoming the possible EU role in monitoring an agreement, the GAM spokesman called for the international community to bring more pressure to bear for a successful outcome.
"We have had some common understanding that we need some regional monitoring and this has been agreed and we are going to meet them on Monday," Abdullah said earlier. "They will be hearing what we have to say, and most likely discussions will go on around the situation in the field." "It is positive that the international community wants to see a solution but it should try to have some more pressure to make these negotiations a success," he said.
"Of course the situation in the field is very bad... We need a sustainable and peaceful solution, not just an agreement for the sake of an agreement."
Sunday's topics under discussion were self-government, the definition of a possible amnesty, economic arrangements and integration of the members of the GAM into the Acehnese society.
The delegations focused on security issues on Saturday, when GAM said it was demanding a ceasefire as part of any security agreement, something the Jakarta government has so far refused.
Martti Ahtisaari, who is the chief mediator in the meeting which is being hosted by the Crisis Management Initiative, or CMI, will host a press conference after the talks on Tuesday.
CMI, which has made a proposal on the thorny security issue, hopes that it will be able to announce progress in that area by then.
The EU experts due to attend on Monday will be two European Commission experts and two experts from the EU's decision-making Council of Ministers. "There is no commitment" between the EU and negotiating parties "but there are some discussions about possibilities", Maria-Elena Cowell, from CMI.
Aceh has been a battleground for government and armed rebels since 1976 when GAM launched its campaign for independence, angered by what it said was Jakarta's exploitation of the province's oil and gas resources. Over 12,000 people have died in the fighting to date.
The latest series of talks, which began in January, came after the December 26 Indian Ocean tsunamis wreaked havoc in the region, killing an estimated 128,000 people in Aceh alone. The current round of talks is the fourth since then.