Aceh, Indonesia
Indonesian separatists in Aceh agreed to a peace accord this week, ending a 30-year conflict that has claimed more than 15,000 lives. Under a deal brokered by former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, the rebels will lay down their arms and receive full amnesty, while the Indonesian military will withdraw two-thirds of the troops it has stationed in the region. Both sides said the breakthrough was partly due to last December’s tsunami, which killed 130,000 people in the province. Thousands of U.N. and other aid workers descended on the province and worked with both the rebels and the military to rescue survivors. A formal peace accord is scheduled to be signed in Finland next month.
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