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Nine Months after the Tsunami: Hopes for Peace in Aceh

SWP Comment 2005/C 36, 15.08.2005, 4 Pages Research Areas

The breakthrough in the <st1:City><st1:place>Helsinki</st1:place></st1:City> negotiations between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, GAM) came on <st1:date Month="8" Day="15" Year="2005">August 15, 2005</st1:date>. Months of talks had brought about an end a civil war that had dragged on for more than thirty years in the resource-rich province at the northern tip of the Indonesian <st1:place><st1:PlaceType>island</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName>Sumatra</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>. The aftermath of the <st1:place>Indian Ocean</st1:place> tsunami of <st1:date Month="12" Day="26" Year="2004">26 December 2004</st1:date> was a crucial factor in bringing the parties back to the negotiating table and producing a constructive outcome.