AHTISAARI: ACEH ELECTIONS NEED FOREIGN OBSERVERS

Banda Aceh, Feb 24 (ANTARA) - Martti Ahtisaari, the facilitator of the Aceh peace agreement, said foreign observers should witness the implementation of Indonesia's legislative elections in Aceh next April.
"I agree and feel that foreign observers need to witness the elections to ensure their smooth implementation," he said here Tuesday.
The former Finnish president and currently chairman of the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) said the monitoring was very important to ensure that no more conflict would occur, particularly during the elections, and to give the Acehnese people a peace guarantee.
Before arriving here Martti had met with Vice President Jusuf Kalla and during the meeting, he said, the Indonesian government expressed its commitment to ensuring the smooth implementation of the elections and making them free of any intimidation or pressures.
Therefore, he said, he hoped the legislative elections in the country on April 9 would run well and no conflict would happen, particularly in Aceh.
The Nobel Peace Laurette said he always monitored situation in Aceh. He said he felt a responsibility for preserving the peace process in Aceh.
Besides the presence of foreign monitors during the polls, it was also important to establish a Reconciliation and Truth Commission and a human rights court in Aceh soon as mandated by the 2005 Helsinki peace deal.
Regarding armed criminal incidents that still continued in the region he said they needed to be dealt with seriously.
On the whole Ahtisaari said that the peace process in Aceh continued to show progress, marked by economic activity in the region.