Agence France Presse
Tuesday, March 23, 2004

A court in Indonesia's Aceh province on Tuesday jailed a former separatist rebel ceasefire negotiator for two years for subversion.

Judge Erry Mustanto said Alfi Shahril Fil bin Syafruddin, 26, was guilty of plotting to secede from Indonesia, the state Antara news agency reported.

Fil, a former member of the Joint Security Committee which oversaw a brief truce between the rebels and the government, said he would not appeal the sentence. It was one year lighter than prosecutors wanted.

The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has been fighting for independence since 1976. A ceasefire, monitored by both sides and by foreign military officers, went into force in December 2002 but broke down five months later.

In May 2003 the government declared martial law and launched an all-out assault to wipe out the rebels. Courts in Aceh have jailed several former GAM negotiators since then.