A long-awaited round of peace talks between the Indonesian government and separatist rebels from Aceh province will get underway on November 2-5 in Switzerland, Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh said here.
"The schedule of the negotiations is that they will be held on the second, third and fourth of November," Puteh told a mass rally for peace in the grounds of Banda Aceh's main Baiturrahman Mosque on Thursday.
Indonesian and officials from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) as well as those from the Henry Dunant Center, which has been facilitating the talks since 2000, had previously not given a date for talks.
Puteh said part of the Indonesian delegation has already flown to Geneva but he, Aceh House Speaker Muhammad Yus and Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, would leave on Saturday.
Puteh expressed optimism that the government and the GAM would reach a peace agreement at the talks.
Some 2,000 people gathered at the rally to hear speeches from various government and non-government leaders.
The organisers of the rally, a movement calling itself the "Peace-loving Community", handed the governor a statement demanding that both sides work hard to reach a peace agreement.
"We also urge both sides to cease the violence and respect the rights of civilians in Aceh," it said. "We also encourage both sides to halt their enmity." The statement also demanded that both sides respect whatever agreement they reach in Geneva.
Officials have said the implementation of any agreement will be monitored by a team representing the government, GAM and the Henry Dunant Center.
Previous ceasefire deals have always broken down with each side accusing the other of bad faith.
At their last talks in May, the two sides agreed to hold a "democratic all-inclusive dialogue" based on autonomy for Aceh as an Indonesian province and to set up measures to implement a ceasefire.
But bloodshed has continued since then in the energy-rich province on Sumatra island.
Rights activists have said more than 1,200 civilians have been killed and hundreds more are missing because of violence between government forces and separatist rebels this year.
"In the first ten months of this year, at least 1,228 civilians were killed in the violence while 330 others have remained missing," said Rufriadi, chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) Aceh chapter.
He said the records, gathered by the institute's volunteers across Aceh, also showed 1,854 civilians were tortured and 973 others were arrested without charge during the same period.
Rights activists have said more than 10,000 people died since 1976 when separatist rebels from the GAM began fighting for an independent state.