Indonesia army to up Aceh troops

Indonesian troops are still hunting down Aceh rebels

Indonesia's army plans to increase its presence in tsunami-hit Aceh province, despite the apparent progress of peace talks with separatist rebels.

An army spokesman said the extra troops would be used to "restore security".

But Bakhtiar Abdullah, a spokesman for the rebel Free Aceh Movement (Gam), told the BBC that troop reinforcements could harm the progress of the talks.

"It gives the impression that the government is not serious about a negotiated settlement," he said.

Mr Abdullah said the talks, underway in Finland, had made good progress so far.

"The discussions are constructive and we're making headway," he said. "We have come to a mutual understanding on economic issues."

Government representatives are meeting Gam leaders in Finland

But he said there were many details which still needed to be ironed out, and that "nothing has been agreed until everything is agreed".

The three extra battalions, numbering 3,000 men in total, will join an estimated 40,000 soldiers already in Aceh, and help restore "security stability" in the troubled province, a military spokesman told reporters on Thursday.

Extra troops were also being deployed in other Indonesian trouble spots, he added.

Three battalions will be sent to the remote province of Papua, where separatists have been waging a low-level campaign, and another battalion will be deployed to central Sulawesi, which has recently seen violence between Muslims and Christians.

Military agenda

The continued efforts of Indonesian troops to track down rebel fighters in Aceh have already threatened to harm the ongoing peace talks in Finland.

Before the third round of discussions began on Tuesday, a Gam spokesman insisted that the Indonesian military must stop hunting insurgents if the talks had a chance of succeeding.

There are known to be tensions between the military and the government on how to handle the situation in Aceh, and Thursday's announcement of an increase in troop numbers does not appear in accordance with the government's efforts at negotiation.

Gam spokesman Bakhtiar Abdullah said the army was not interested in discussions with the rebels.

"The military chiefs are not in favour of any negotiated political settlement. They still think it is possible to resolve the problem in Aceh with military means," he said.

The talks between Gam and the government were arranged in the aftermath of last December's huge tsunami, which devastated large parts of Aceh and killed at least 120,000 of its population.

Following the disaster, both sides said they were keen to reach a deal, agreeing to meet in January for the first time since the peace process collapsed in May 2003.

The discussions centre around a proposed special autonomy package for the province, as well as security provision, international monitoring and an amnesty for Acehnese people involved in the insurgency.