Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – In another positive sign for the peace process in Aceh, a top leader of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) arrived in his homeland on Monday after 25 years in exile overseas after a peace deal succeeded in ending nearly three decades of conflict in the province.

Bakhtiar Abdullah, the leading spokesman for the GAM leadership in Sweden, landed in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh on a commercial plane accompanied by GAM activist Munawar Zain.

Bakhtiar, who was also a key negotiator in the peace deal signed on Aug. 15 in Finland by the GAM and the Indonesian government, said he would stay in Aceh for the next two months to monitor the situation on the ground.

"I am here to see how far we have gone. I want to help friends in the field who have been implementing the memorandum of understanding," he told a press conference upon his arrival, referring to the peace agreement.

Asked to comment on the peace process, Bakhtiar said "it has run smoothly, including the weapons decommissioning... It's beyond our expectations".

GAM has surrendered hundreds of weapons to international peace monitors as part of the peace accord, while the government has pulled thousands of troops out of Aceh.

Bakhtiar said that he was at a loss for words after arriving in Aceh. "I don't know how to describe my feelings upon returning to my homeland Aceh. I am moved," said Bakhtiar who is still a Swedish citizen.

He is the first official of the exiled GAM leadership in Sweden to return home. It remains unclear whether or when the group's other top leaders – Hasan Tiro, Malik Mahmud, and Zaini Abdullah would follow suit. Bakhtiar's return is seen as another sign that the peace process is on track.

"The peace process is generally going pretty well, and both sides seem to be sticking by the agreement," Damien Kingsbury, an Australian academic who serves as an adviser to GAM, told AP on Monday.

"It may even have passed the point of no return." Speaking from Melbourne, he dismissed doubts about Bakhtiar's safety in Aceh.

"It's a necessary step because if he didn't go it would be destabilizing and would show a lack of confidence in the peace process," said Kingsbury, who is banned from visiting Aceh.

Bakhtiar has been touted as a strong GAM candidate to contest a gubernatorial election in Aceh next year. Asked if he would run in the election, he laughed and said: "Later. Later".

The possible nomination of Bakhtiar was denied by his colleagues. "He (Bakhtiar) is still a Swedish citizen, so it's impossible for him to become a governor. Moreover, GAM has yet to decide whether to contest the election or not," a local GAM leader said.

The peace agreement allows GAM to reinvent itself as a local political party to participate in local elections in Aceh.

The accord, which is being supervised by a mission consisting of 250 monitors from the European Union and Southeast Asian countries, also calls for the gradual reintegration of the separatists – previously banned under Indonesia's draconian internal security laws – into political life.

Their candidates will be allowed to take part in gubernatorial, municipal and regental elections scheduled for next year, and in the next general elections in 2009.

Although the disengagement process has proceeded relatively smoothly, the level of mistrust remains high.