Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The formerly rebellious Free Aceh Movement(GAM) is dissatisfied with several articles in the newly enacted law on Aceh governance, but its leaders say the group will wait to see how the law is put into practice, and work through normal channels to amend it.

Former self-styled GAM foreign minister Zaini Abdullah said several articles in the law violated the truce signed last year to end three decades of separatist fighting in Aceh.

But he emphasized that the peace deal has enabled the Acehnese people to live in peace at last, free from the fear of being shot or abducted.

"We see here and there in the law several things that still don't reflect the peace accord but we are very happy to see that compared to a year ago, the Acehnese people are now living a normal life," he said on the sidelines of a one-day conference Monday in Jakarta to mark a year of peace in the province.

Zaini gave assurances that former rebels would not disrupt that peace, and would discuss the contentious articles with the government to find the best solution.

Former GAM negotiator Tengku Kamaruzzaman said several articles of the law curtailed privileges that were granted to the Aceh administration in the truce, including the ability to lure direct foreign investment and to manage the province's natural resources.

"We are now discussing with the government possibilities of amending the law... The most important aspect is how the law is put into regulations that can benefit the Acehnese people. Several previous laws on Aceh were useless because of the absence of regulations to implement them," he told The Jakarta Post.

Communications and Information Minister Sofyan Djalil, who was born in Aceh, was quoted by Reuters as saying amendments to the landmark law were possible "two years down the road" after it was implemented.

The international peace mission monitoring implementation of the deal has said the new law is broadly in line with the peace accord.

The government argues that the law has made Aceh the envy of other provinces due to its new powers.

The law passed by the House of Representatives early last month was called for in the peace pact signed last Aug. 15 in Helsinki, Finland, by the government and GAM leaders. It paves the way for local direct elections scheduled for mid-December.

Under the peace accord, GAM dropped its demand for Acehnese independence in return for greater autonomy and the right to form local political parties, which are banned elsewhere in the country.

Meanwhile, former GAM armed forces chief Muzakkir Manaf said some 30,000 of his former military men were waiting for compensation from the government to enable them to start rebuilding their lives, as stipulated in the peace pact. "Only 25 to 30 percent of the peace deal has been realized. My men need jobs and plots of land to start over. We realize that it will depend on their skills but we still have not received anything," he said.

Muzakkir said not all of the former GAM guerrillas had received the three-hectare plot of land and financial aid promised by the government. "Of course, we are disappointed but probably this is an ongoing process," he said.