[International monitors have arrived in Indonesia's troubled province of Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, to help enforce a landmark peace agreement. Eventually, there'll be a full complement of 150 peace monitors – one-third from overseas, one-third from the Indonesian military and one-third from the Free Aceh Movement, or GAM. A joint security committee, comprising Indonesian and GAM officials and representatives of the Geneva-based Henri Dunant Centre, which played a mediation role, will keep the peace while talks proceed on the future of Aceh.]

Presenter/Interviewer: Sen Lam

Speakers: Wiroyono Sastrohandojo, Indonesia's chief government negotiator in the Aceh peace process

Sastrohandojo: The cessation of hostilities involved the cantonment or the placement or the storing of weapons at some stage. It's not just not using the gun, but it's collecting the guns and the purpose of the whole process is actually to take the guns out of politics so that the people of Aceh can administer themselves you know later on. And it is time to move the situation from the bullet situation, which is not prevailing or hopefully now stopping, to a balanced situation whereby the people of Aceh would be able to vote for their own leaders and so on.

Lam: And as you mentioned, under the agreement GAM will surrender its weapons to be cantoned under international supervision, can you elaborate a little bit for us how this will work?

Sastrohandojo: Well I think you have to think in terms of the first two months and the five following months, meaning that the first two months what we are trying to do as the first one month is for the joint security committee to be operational, and after things are kind of established there's a disengagement process in which the TNI, that is the Indonesian army and the police, would relocate to a defensive position and not anymore in an offensive position. This is also done by the same way for the Free Aceh Movement troops are the same. After that then we will establish peace zones, meaning the area where we have conflict situations we change it or we turn it into a peace zones. At the end of two months then we can start storing the weapons.

Lam: Some analysts have pointed out that there is a presence of some 22,000 Indonesian troops and 15,000 special paramilitary forces in Aceh as opposed to 2,000 GAM fighters on the ground. And GAM sees its weapons as in a way an insurance policy of sorts. What is the Indonesian side bringing to the party, how do you reassure GAM that you're serious about this peace deal?

Sastrohandojo: Well you read the documents, you will see that there is a quid pro quo agreed by both sides. So we need to be given some time, the two months plus five months period finally agreed upon by both sides. And now of course the challenge is how to implement it. But if you see the situation in Aceh now, the people of Aceh are very enthusiastic, very happy, they are doing all kinds of thanks giving praise all over Aceh. And we hope that this will encourage both sides, both the government as well as the Free Aceh Movement to stick to the implementation, to strictly implement the agreement. That's the challenge and we must understand that the people welcome it. It's not going to be easy. Actually what has been done is probably only one-third of the problem.

Lam: And what undertaking is there on the Indonesian side? Has the military been instructed on the ground to observe the ceasefire and will there be a gradual pullout from Aceh?

sastrohandojo: Immediately after we sign, even before we sign it we have been in communication with our commander of the armed forces who is in Aceh right now. He is controlling his troops and he is instructing his troops and we are going to have a good compliance by the Indonesian side and we hope that the other side will also be doing the same thing.

Lam: You mentioned earlier that all this is to really pave the way for free and fair elections. A senior GAM official has said to let the Acehnese decide for themselves and GAM will follow. From your reading of the situation do you think the Acehnese people are content with the current autonomy plan?

Sastrohandojo: Well I think there is a provision, you know after the cessation of hostilities we will hope when the situation is already secured and peaceful that we will have what we call the all inclusive dialogue, meaning that all political elements within Aceh can sit together and review matters. So at that time the people will decide whether they like it or they will review the whole thing and decide if they want to change certain things or amend certain things and the government is open for that kind of suggestion.

Lam: How meaningful is this truce given that GAM has not given up its ambition of a free and independent state of Aceh, something which Jakarta has so far not agreed to?

Sastrohandojo: Well of course our realise it as I said this is not an easy thing but they have signed the agreement and I think the important thing is that both sides not implement the agreement and that we follow the roadmap that we have agreed also. We have the agreement of May 10 in which the GAM has accepted the laws currently in place, as a starting point, and the next step is what we have done yesterday, signing the cessation of hostilities agreement. After that we will go to the all inclusive dialogue and finally in 2004 we will hope that we will have an election in Aceh. So this is reformasi consistent, we want to settle the problems not by guns, by shooting, but by electoral ballots you see. So I think we need understanding and support from our neighbours including Australia, the return of Indonesia to a stable prosperous nation in the interests of not only Indonesians of Acehanese, but also the region and of the world.