Aceh's fragile peace under threat
From Atika Shubert, CNN Correspondent
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Indonesian soldiers patrol near the village of Takengon in north Aceh.
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JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- The Indonesian province of Aceh is littered with mass graves, resulting from more than two decades of Jakarta's brutal counter-insurgency campaign against separatist rebels of the Free Aceh movement.
Tens of thousands have been killed.
Last December hopes for peace were high as the Indonesian government and Free Aceh signed an agreement to lay down arms.
Five months later, violence is again threatening Aceh. Each side accuses the other of violations. Neither is willing to disarm.
In recent weeks, there have been a series of mob attacks on peace monitors. Their office in Central Aceh was set on fire and ransacked.
Indonesia says the attacks were spontaneous acts of public anger. But to others, it smacks of military manipulation.
"I think what we're seeing is the military doing that kind of covert organizing as its form of undermining the agreement," says Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group.
The operations are eerily reminiscent of East Timor's army-backed militias. Their campaign of violence and intimidation were aimed at dissuading popular support for independence in East Timor. Hundreds were killed, thousands driven from their homes.
In Aceh, observers fear that military hard liners may use similar tactics to sink the peace agreement -- while the world is distracted by the war in Iraq.
"I think there are some within the Indonesian government that believe that precisely because there is a war on Iraq, it's the time to try and move forward on the hard line position," says Jones.
Ominous warning signs for Aceh's fragile peace.
Peace observers say both sides have violated the truce. But the Indonesian government insists that separatist rebels are to blame and must be held accountable. If not, Indonesia's military is threatening to discard the peace process and resolve the issue by force.
