Jakarta – The military may be held accountable for alleged atrocities committed during a three-decade separatist war in Aceh province, Indonesia's justice minister said Wednesday, denying that troops would escape rights tribunals.

The peace pact signed last week paves the way for the creation of a human rights court and a truth and reconciliation commission, but the government has given mixed signals about whether past crimes by the military or separatist rebels would be investigated.

On Tuesday, Information Minister Sofyan Djalil said the two bodies would only hear cases carried out after the accord's Aug. 15 signing date.

But hours later, Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaluddin told reporters the proposed Commission for Truth and Reconciliation, like the one that examined apartheid-era brutality in South Africa, would probe past crimes.

"It will consider violations carried out not just by the Indonesian military, but also by GAM," he said, referring to Free Aceh Movement rebels.

The 29-year war in the oil- and gas-rich province on Sumatra Island's northern tip claimed 15,000 lives, many of them civilians caught up in army sweeps of isolated villages.

The military, and to a lesser extent the rebels, have been accused by human rights groups of killings, tortures, rapes and disappearances.

Analysts say the government is playing a delicate balancing act aimed at appeasing conservative members of the military who fear the peace accord gives too much autonomy to Aceh. Some soldiers and police allegedly benefited from the war through illegal tolls, extortion and drug trafficking and are unhappy about the deal.

Sidney Jones, Southeast Asia project director for the International Crisis Group, noted that the last peace accord collapsed in part because the military did not withdraw its troops as demanded by the rebels. "Clearly there's a difference of interpretation" within the government, she said. "Everybody is treading on eggshells in order to keep the army on board."

Despite the conflicting signals, exiled rebel leaders who signed the pact say they are confident those who carried out major atrocities would be held accountable. "I think both parties agreed that there should be some accountability for human rights abuses," said rebel spokesman Bakhtiar Abdullah.