Jakarta – People in war-torn Aceh province are cautiously optimistic that three decades of fighting will come to an end when the Indonesian government signs a peace agreement with separatist rebels early next week.
Almost all have lost family members – either to the long-running conflict or to last year's tsunami – and want to see an end to their suffering.
"This is what we've been waiting for," said 50-year-old Kak Cut, adding that her relatives, seen as rebel-sympathizers, have for years faced threats, imprisonment and kidnappings at the hands of Indonesia's army and police, which human-rights groups have accused of atrocities dating back decades. "We want to rebuild our lives."
She has some doubts Indonesian security forces will withdraw from the province of 4.1 million as promised. And others worry that separatists will refuse to hand in their arms or engage in revenge attacks.
But all agree this is the best chance the Acehnese have had in years to end the fighting that has claimed 15,000 lives since 1976, most of them civilians.
Previous deals have collapsed, the most recent in 2003 when the army and the rebels accused each other of violations. The military kicked out foreign observers, declared martial law, arrested rebel negotiators and mounted an offensive in which thousands died.
It took the Dec. 26 tsunami, which killed 130,000 people and destroyed much of the province's infrastructure, to bring the Indonesian government and Free Aceh Movement rebels back to the negotiating table.
During five rounds of talks in Helsinki, Finland, both sides made major concessions.
Vice President Jusaf Kalla said the exiled rebel leadership saw the devastation caused by the killer waves on television and decided it was time to stop fighting.
"And we realized, too, that rehabilitation and reconstruction in Aceh would be impossible if there was no peace," he said, noting that thousands of international aid workers poured into the province after the disaster to help.
Billions of dollars in aid – including a $400 million road along the coast of Sumatra island – risked being held up.
The rebels, who in 29 years of fighting have never given up their demand for independence, did an about-face in Helsinki, agreeing to remain part of Indonesia and to give up their weapons.
In return, the government offered them land and jobs, and, most importantly, some sort of political representation. Details of the agreement were being kept secret until Monday's signing, but Tempo magazine said the government's offer bordered on special autonomy for Aceh with expanded authority.
In addition to its own flag and hymn, the resource-rich province will be allowed to hold elections in 2006 for a regional head. All parties, including former representatives of the Free Aceh Movement, or GAM, will be allowed to nominate themselves.
Though many applauded the government for coming up with a deal that the rebels could accept, others are worried they've gone too far.
"The government should guarantee that this is not the beginning of the end, which is that Aceh is independent," said Salim Said, military analyst.
Others noted that the success of the agreement depends on how well it is enforced on the ground, particularly whether rebel and Indonesian military leaders can control their troops.
"The key issue is how to deal with the spoilers of peace," said Rizal Sukma, a political analyst and member of the nongovernment Aceh Recovery Forum. "It only takes one platoon captain or one GAM commander to violate it, and then the whole peace process will go down the drain."
Kak Cut lost many relatives and her home in the tsunami. She hopes the deal will hold, but is ready even if it doesn't. "People are less scared now," she said. "We've already lost everything in the tsunami, there's nothing more to lose."