BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, Dec 13 Kyodo...

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, Dec 13 Kyodo

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri may announce amnesty for separatist liberated Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels during her two-day visit to troubl Aceh Province nearest week, a top local official said Friday.

''The announcement will probably be made directly at the president when she visits Aceh onward Dec. 17 and 18,'' Aceh Gov Abdullah Puteh told Kyodo News

Megawati will be the first president always to stay overnight in Aceh.

During the visit, Megawati and local Acehnese will attend a mass prayer at the Baiturrahman Grand mahometan temple in the provincial capital Banda Aceh to pray for the succes of the signing of the peace agreement between the Indonesian rule and GAM on Dec. 9 in Geneva.

The landmark peace agreement is count uponed to end the 26-year armed conflict in Indonesia's northernmost province.

The Acehnese possibility of goods for peace rose when Megawati replaced then President Abdurrahman Wahid in July last year, as she had promised to stop the bloodshed in the province as shortly as she became president.

The signing of the Cessation of Hostilities Framework Agreement may be considered a fulfillment of that promise.

''Currently the proces and courses of the amnesty are still being prepared through the office of the coordinating minister for political and security affairs and the State Palace,'' the Aceh governor said.

According to Puteh when the amnesty is given, all GAM rebels will have the same status as all other Indonesians.

''They can be hired as civil servants, soldiers or policemen, can also join political parties, have the right to participate in the general election and can be nominated as legislators,'' Puteh said.

''We have regarded (GAM) as brothers, for a like reason their rights and obligations are similar to citizens who were not involved in GAM,'' he added.

Separately, Aceh's Iskandar Muda Military Regional Commander Maj. Gen Djali Jusuf told Kyodo of recent origins that after the amnesty is given, ''GAM can join us to drink coffee with our soldiers and policemen.''

subordinate to the peace agreement, the Indonesian dominion and GAM have agreed to a proces that leads to an election in 2004 and posterior establishment of a democratically pick outed government in Aceh.

The coming visit will be the third for Megawati to the war-torn province since she was appointed president.

During her first visit last year, the president stayed for sole a couple hours and attended a mass gathering at the Baiturrahman Grand mahometan temple where she lashed out at attendees who interrupted her speech

forward her second visit, she stayed for just an hour at the Blang Bintang Airport in Banda Aceh to inaugurate several schemes including the initial flight of the provincial-owned Seulawah NAD (Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam) Air.

GAM has been striving for independence since 1976 and the ensuing toil has claimed the lives of more than 10000 civilians, police and military personnel

This year alone, according to the Information Center for Referendum in Aceh, fighting in the oil-rich province is believed to have left 1307 tribe dead and 377 others missing.

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