A multinational monitoring team began its work Monday in the Indonesian province of Aceh following the signing of a peace accord between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

"We have already deployed an Initial Monitoring Presence (IMP) of about 80 people to prepare for the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) , which will start on Sept. 15," IMP head Pieter Feith told a press conference in the Aceh capital of Banda Aceh Monday evening.

Tasked with supervising the implementation of the Helsinki agreement, the team comprises representatives from the European Union (EU), Norway, Switzerland and five members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN), namely, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

"I urge both parties to cooperate with regard to the provisions of the agreement so that a climate of trust and confidence can be established and the AMM can start work under the best conditions possible," said Feith.

The AMM is a civilian mission of approximately 200 unarmed personnel who will be dispersed in its Banda Aceh headquarters and 11 districts in the province, as well as a logistical office in the North Sumatra capital of Medan.

Its main tasks also include the monitoring of the demobilization of GAM fighters and the decommission of their disarmaments; the relocation of non-organic Indonesian military forces and police officers; and the reintegration of active GAM members into civil society.

The AMM, which is formed at the request of the Indonesian government, will not take on a facilitation or negotiation role, according to an AMM statement obtained by Xinhua.

Feith said the Helsinki agreement gives firmer political basis to the AMM.

The current peace process will be more effective than before because "this time the settlement is not handed to NGO, but to the EU and ASEAN," said Feith, who is currently the deputy director for political and military affairs in the EU's council general secretariat.

The Helsinki agreement was brokered by the Crisis Management Initiative, which is led by former Finish President Martti Ahtisaari.

Under the agreement, the government agrees to create within at least 18 months the political and legal conditions for the establishment of political parties in Aceh.

It must grant amnesty to all persons who have participated in GAM activities and unconditionally release all political prisoners connected with GAM conflicts within 15 days.

In economic areas, Aceh is granted with the rights to raise funds with external loans, set and raise taxes to fund official internal activities, and to retain 70 percent from hydrocarbon deposits and other natural resources within the province and its territorial sea.

The peace accord is expected to give an end to three decades of violence in the rebellious province, where at least 150,000 people died in last year's earthquake and tsunami.

Source: Xinhua