W O R L D W I D E W A T C H
1. ACEH (INDONESIA): GAM has been fighting for independence in the western Indonesian province since 1976. Many previous attempts to make peace, including the latest in 2003, failed as hostilities flared between Jakarta which has been determined to hold onto resource-rich Aceh and the rebels. Decades of violence left over 15,000 people dead and thousands more displaced. But after the December 26, 2004, underground earthquake and tsunami devastated the Aceh province killing some 170,000 residents, leaving 500,000 homeless, and causing $4.5 billion worth of damage both sides in the conflict returned to the negotiating table with new resolve to end the long standing dispute. The moves are outlined in a peace treaty signed by representatives of the Indonesian government and GAM in Helsinki August 15.
What are the treaty's provisions?
The Helsinki peace deal strengthens the autonomy granted to Aceh in a 2001 agreement with the government and gives the province several special rights and privileges. The agreement also:
-Establishes an immediate ceasefire.
-Calls for GAM to disarm its roughly 3,000 fighters by the end of the year.
-Offers an amnesty to all GAM members, and a prison release for those being held by the Indonesian government. Some 1,500 GAM members imprisoned for their political activities have been released since late August.
-Restricts government troop movements in Aceh.
-Changes Indonesian law to allow Aceh-based parties to participate in politics.
-Mandates that 70 percent of the country's natural resources will stay in Aceh. The region has vast reserves of oil and natural gas and is rich in timber and minerals. It is also a fertile agricultural region.
-Establishes a human rights court to expose abuses committed during the conflict, and a truth and reconciliation commission in Aceh.
-Allows Aceh to use its own regional flag, crest, and hymn. However, Jakarta will still control the province's finances, defense, and foreign policy.
-Allows for over 200 unarmed monitors from the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries to oversee the peace process.
2. PATTANI ( THAILAND ): Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont yesterday publicly apologised for the previous Government's policies in Southern Thailand, saying its hardline methods to tackle an Islamic insurgency had been wrong and made the situation worse. In an unexpected initiative, Surayud also said he would urge the limited use of Islamic law in the Muslim-majority region to settle some legal disputes - AP, 2.11.2006.
3. KATHMANDU (NEPAL): Communist rebels signed an agreement with Nepal's government yesterday to lock up their fighters to camps and join an interim government in a major step towards ending their decade long insurgency. The agreement came after more than 16 hours of negotiations among PM, the heads of the seven party ruling coalition and Maoist Rebel Leader, Prachanda. We have reached a historic agreement which has drawn a roadmap for a new Nepal said Prachanda - AP, 9.11.2006.
4. KUALA LUMPUR (MALAYSIA): Singapore was a part of Malaysia prior to 1965. On 9th August, 1965, Malaysia and Singapore parted ways citing irreconcilable racial, political, idealogical, cultural, social, religious and other reasons.
Tengku Abdul Rahman, the Pirme Minister of Malaysia, decided to separate Singapore from Malaysia. Informed of his decision on August 6, Lee Kuan Yew, the Prime Minister of Singapore, tried to work out some sort of compromise, without success.
On August 9, with the Singapore delegates not attending, the Malaysian parliament passed a bill favouring separation 126 to 0. That afternoon, in a televised press conference, Lee Kuan Yew declared Singapore a sovereign, democratic, and independent state.
Not a drop of blood was shed in that historic Separation.
They agreed to disagree and are now thriving members of the greater regional bloc, ASEAN, seeking unity in diversity.
5. KATHMANDU: Nepal's parliament was set to convene on Monday to approve an interim constitution that would create a provisional legislature including the Maoists for the first time as part of a landmark peace deal.
"This is the achievement of 10 years of people's war waged by the Nepali people," senior Maoist leader Khim Lal Devkota told Reuters.
"We think the new interim legislature will give a new direction for the creation of a new Nepal," said Devkota, one of the 83 nominees of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) to the proposed 330-member interim legislature - REUTERS.
6. PARIS: International donors have pledged more than $7bn to help repair Lebanon's economy after Fouad Siniora, the prime minister, said his country faced recession after "Israel's onslaught" last summer.
"The total sum collected for Lebanon amounts to a little more than $7.6bn," Jacques Chirac, the French president, told a conference of donors in Paris.
Lebanon is also still struggling to rebuild after its 25-year civil war and is weighed down by $41bn of debt.
Chirac had earlier opened the one-day conference saying Lebanon needed generous support to overcome its economic problems after the "appalling clashes" last year.
"[Lebanon] is a country that is obstinately seeking rebirth and more than ever needs the unanimous support of the international community," Chirac said.
"Even with the entire world on his side, Siniora will lose if he hasn't got the Lebanese on his side."
The World Bank and the European Investment Bank announced more than $2bn in aid and Saudi Arabia said it would give $1.1bn.
The United States, France and the European Union had already offered aid and loans worth some $1.92bn, but French diplomats had been worried other countries might hold back because of the current political turmoil in Lebanon.
The Islamic Development Fund has pledged $250m and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development $700m, while Margaret Beckett, the British foreign secretary, said London would offer about $48m in aid, primarily for refugees.
High-ranking representatives of more than 40 countries and organisations were attending the meeting, including Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state and Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general.
"The cost of failure is too great to contemplate, certainly greater than the cost of implementing success," he said.
Siniora said at the conference that his government would continue to reach out to opposition groups.
"Lebanon has learned the hard way that peaceful dialogue is the only way to resolve political difference," he said. (ALJ, 26.1.2007)
7. SELF DETERMINATION: PLEASE READ ART. 102, ON SELF DETERMINATION FOR AN INDEPTH DISCUSSION OF THIS SUBJECT.
8. POWER SHARING IN NORTHERN IRELAND ( READ ART. 105 IN FACTS THAT SPEAK. )
THIS IS A SRI LANKA WATCH SPECIAL FOR A RESOLUTION OF THE NORTH EAST CONFLICT.
IF THIS IS NOT SUFFICIENT, TAMILEELAM WOULD BE THE ANSWER TO THIS LONG DRAWN CONFLICT. BUT, THERE MUST BE AN END TO THE CIVIL WAR AND PEOPLE MUST LIVE IN PEACE AND HARMONY.
SRI LANKA WATCH