Helsinki – The Indonesian government and Muslim Aceh rebels signed a historic peace accord aimed at ending decades of bloodshed in a region devastated by last year's tsunami.

All hostilities were to end with the signing of the agreement, under which the separatists dropped their long-held demands for independence and agreed to disarm and demobilise their soldiers.

Indonesia in turn promised an amnesty, to allow the creation of political parties in the province and to withdraw non-local security forces by the end of the year.

The deal was signed in the Finnish capital Helsinki where the painstaking negotiations took place to end three decades of conflict that has left almost 15,000 people dead, most of them civilians.

Military and civilian officials from the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are to monitor implementation of the deal.

"This is the beginning of a new era," chief mediator Martthi Ahtisaari said at the ceremony.

Indonesian Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaluddin signed the agreement with Malik Mahmud, the self-styled prime minister of the exiled GAM leadership in Sweden.

"We've come to this day after years of military violence against the people of Aceh. This is the beginning of the process of justice for the Aceh people," Mahmud said Monday.

Both sides had been cautiously optimistic the agreement would open the way for lasting peace, a hope lent renewed urgency after the December 26 tsunami which hit Aceh especially hard, killing at least 131,000 people.

Key points of the accord are:

• All hostilities cease with the signing of the agreement.
• The Indonesian government withdraws non-local military and police forces from Aceh by the end of 2005.
• In parallel, GAM decommissions all arms and demobilises its 3,000 troops.
• The Indonesian government facilitates the establishment of Aceh-based political parties within a year.
• Aech to be governed under a new law, to be introduced by March 31, 2006.
• The region will be entitled to 70 percent of revenue from its natural resources.
• An amnesty will be granted to GAM members and political prisoners within two weeks of the signing.
• A human rights court and a truth and reconciliation commission will be established in Aceh.
• An Aceh Monitoring Mission will be established by the European Union and five ASEAN countries.

While foreign affairs, defence as well as monetary and fiscal matters will still be run from Jakarta, Aceh will be allowed to raise taxes for its internal needs and set its own official interest rates.

"It's a leap of faith," Ahtisaari, a former Finnish prime minister, told AFP just before the signing ceremony. "The agreement is under 10 pages long and we could have signed 100 pages but what counts is not words but deeds."

The uprising to create an independent Islamic state was launched in 1976 in Aceh, a staunchly Muslim province on the westernmost tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island, as rebels accused the government of exploiting Aceh's resources.

The government declared Aceh a military operation zone in 1988, and Indonesian troops have since been accused by human rights groups of widespread violations and abuse.

Operations were stepped up in May 2003 after the collapse of a brief truce prompted the government to impose martial law, with Jakarta relying on both its own troops and local proxy militias.

In a sign of the lingering tensions, GAM Sunday accused Indonesia of not keeping some of its pledges, notably to release five negotiatiors in time for the signing.

Ahtisaari said it was always going to be difficult to establish trust. "You can't build confidence and trust after so many years. My only hope is that the parties can start tolerating each other," he said.