The Free Aceh movement or GAM and the Indonesian government will sign an agreement in Helsinki next Monday designed to bring an end to hostilities in Aceh province.

Melbourne academic Dr Damien Kingsbury is political adviser to GAM. He spoke to Sen Lam at London's Heathrow airport, enroute to Helsinki.

Kingsbury: Well it's certainly a meaningful agreement. The Indonesian Government appears to be sincere in its commitment to the agreement and The Free Aceh Movement is definitely sincere in its commitment. The problem of course will be whether or not the Indonesian military and its militias respect the agreement and allow the process to be implemented.

Lam: Indeed, how soon do you expect the Indonesian troops to withdraw From Aceh after the agreement is signed?

Kingsbury: They're due to begin withdrawing on the 15th September and They will withdraw in four stages, one stage a month for four months and they're due to complete the withdrawal in so far as they will withdraw by the end of December.

Lam: And earlier this week, we had a senior military official being quoted as saying that the Indonesian military is ready to resume action should the peace agreement fail. That doesn't inspire very much confidence, does it?

Kingsbury: No, there's an awful lot of sabre rattling going on behalf of the Indonesian military at the moment and indeed there has been throughout the peace process. They're belligerent, they have tried to disrupt the process and it's in their interests to see it fail. But we certainly are trying to do everything we possibly can to ensure that that doesn't happen and the European Union, which is sending the Aceh monitoring mission will be keeping a Very close eye on both the military and the Free Aceh Movement to make sure that both parties respect, not just the letter, but the spirit of the agreement.

Lam: Indeed, is that the role that you expect the peace monitors from ASEAN and the European Union to play, to keep an eye on things, even though their not armed?

Kingsbury: Well absolutely, that is their role. They are there to monitor the process, to make sure its implemented appropriately. There's also a contingent of that group which will also be responsible for the removal of Indonesian military from Aceh and for the decommissioning of GAM weapons.

Lam: So what sort of security presence will be there be in Aceh Province itself after Monday?

Kingsbury: Well problematically, the only security presence really will be that which is allocated by the Indonesian police. Unfortunately, the Indonesian police have been part of the problem in Aceh. So giving them the role Of security is much the same as it was in East Timor in 1999 and obviously That doesn't bode very well. But we are hoping that the government's pressure on its own forces will be sufficient to ensure that they are complying with as I say, both the letter and the spirit of the agreement.

Lam: I was going to say there appears to be quite a good amount of goodwill in Helsinki on both sides, but will that necessarily translate through to the commanders, both the police and the military on the ground in Aceh? Do you think Jakarta might have the facility to do that?

Kingsbury: Well that's the big question at this stage. We know that in the past that the Indonesian military has acted well outside its civilian authority and this really is the contest to see whether or not it's possible to bring the Indonesian military under civilian control.

That's certainly a part of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's agenda as president, to bring the military under civilian control, as well as to bring peace to Aceh and these two processes obviously run in tandem, they're both interlinked. One is a test for the other. So if he's successful with the military, Aceh will work. If he's successful with Aceh, it means that the government can exercise control over the military.

Lam: And finally Doctor Kingsbury, from where you sit, what do you think are likely to be the flashpoints which might disrupt the peace process?

Kingsbury: Well the first one will be a destabilisation of the handover Of GAM weapons and indeed the general security environment in Aceh by either the Indonesian military or its proxy militias, that's certainly the first one. And we do expect that there will be some destabilisation. The question is how well it can be handled and of course if you plan for it, and if you expect that you can at least try to accommodate it to some extent. There may be some problem with the legislator in Jakarta, not approving the requisite legislation to allow this agreement to go through fully. But the indications now are very positive in that regard and the leaders of all of the parties represented in the parliament have now said that they will support the legislation. So we appear to be safe on that front.

I guess the final point would be if the government tries to interpret aspects of the agreement, other than that which is the way it's intended. If they try to do that, if they try to play games with it, obviously GAM won't appreciate that and that could bring it undone. But I think at this stage the Indonesian Government's been fairly sincere and really the main problem is whether or not the TNI and its proxy militias can be controlled.