During his four days visit, the former Finnish president and Nobel laureate Martti Ahtisaari met with the Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla to discuss the situation in the Aceh province – just days after Kalla announced he would run for president.
Ahtisaari is scheduled to see developments in the peace progress in the Aceh province after a peace deal was reached by the Indonesian government and the separatist group Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Helsinki.
In 2005 Ahtisaari successfully led peace negotiations between GAM and the Indonesian government through his NGO Crisis Management Initiative. The negotiations ended on Aug. 15 with a treaty on the disarmament of GAM rebels, dropping of the demands for an independent Aceh, and a withdrawal of Indonesian armed forces from the province.
Kalla said in his speech that Indonesia would never forget Ahtisaari’s role in putting to rest the conflict with GAM that had dragged on for 30 years. Thousands of Aceh residents and members of the Indonesian military were killed in the struggle.
