Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono rejected a key political demand by rebels in the restive province of Aceh, denting their claim that a peace deal to end the 30-year conflict was at hand.
Yudhoyono reiterated that the establishment of local political parties in Aceh, an issue which has proved a sticking point in the talks, would not be allowed. "I have repeatedly explained that the Indonesian political party system is a national system," he said.
One of the key demands of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which is seeking autonomy for the resource-rich region on the northernmost tip of Sumatra island, is the right to create local political parties that are not controlled by the central government, which is currently prohibited. Existing laws call for all political parties to be headquartered in Jakarta and have representation in half of the country's provinces.
The government had rejected the demand during ongoing peace talks in the Finnish capital Helsinki, but GAM spokesman Bakhtiar Abdullah told AFP Saturday that it had agreed to a trial period of one year. Indonesian officials in Helsinki however refused to comment on GAM's claim that a peace deal had been tentatively agreed.
Yudhoyono sought to reassure Acehenese that they should have no worries about their political future in a post-conflict era.
"Although we will not readily allow the establishment of local political parties, what is important is... that they have political rights, that along with the other elements in Aceh they have opportunities to take part in the existing political process," he said.
"There should not been any doubt among the GAM, I mean former GAM members, that they will have their political rights and opportunities in the future," Yudhoyono told journalists here. "For me it is very clear. Once the conflict is over it means there is no longer a separatist movement," he said.
"The government, together with the parliament will discuss an amnesty, and once an amnesty is given they will have the same political rights as other citizens."
The ongoing round of talks, the fifth held in Helsinki since January, has been considered decisive in determining whether the parties will sign a final peace accord and end a conflict that has raged Aceh since 1976, leaving nearly 15,000 people dead.
GAM has given up its demand for full independence and said at the talks, which began last Tuesday, that it would disarm, while the government has announced it will withdraw its troops from the province once the rebels hand in their weapons.
"Gradually, within about three months GAM weapons will be surrendered and then destroyed so that a demobilisation process, let us say a disbanding of GAM, takes place," Yudhoyono said.
He said that if the conflict is ended in Aceh, the government will have no need to maintain a large military presence in the province. "There will be a gradual pull-out as the demobilisation proceeds, as the weapon surrenders from the GAM take place, so it would be fair," he said.
When the parties convened for a first round of Helsinki talks in January it was the first time they had met since May 2003, when Jakarta declared martial law and launched a major military offensive in the province.
The renewed efforts to make peace were prompted by a need for international aid to reach Aceh, which bore the brunt of last December's tsunami. More than 131,000 people in the province perished.
The Helsinki talks were due to end later Sunday.