Stockholm – Rebel leaders from Aceh accused the Indonesian government of failing to disarm militias in the province, a day before both sides are to sign a landmark peace deal in Helsinki.

In a statement released from his Swedish exile, Bakhtiar Abdullah, spokesman for the GAM rebel movement, said 10,000 proxy militias belonging to the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) were active in Aceh and had threatened to kill rebels after they disarmed following the peace deal.

Abdullah said TNI was planning to "destabilize and derail" the peace process and the Indonesian government could not be relied on to disarm the militias since it denied their existence. Neither could the local police, he added. "They are unlikely to act against their own partners in repression," he said.

The accusations came just before Indonesia and GAM were due to sign a historic peace deal in Helsinki on Monday which has raised hopes for a final end to decades of bloodshed in the tsunami-shattered province.