Indonesia to end Aceh emergency today

"After the government's briefing on the evaluation on the implementation of the state of civilian emergency and its analysis on the existing development, the leadership of the parliament and the government agree to end the state of civilian emergency in Aceh," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in a report.

Yudhoyono was quoted by the Kompas newspaper as having told journalists Aceh would revert to normalcy when the current state of civilian emergency ends at midnight Wednesday (1700 GMT Tuesday).

"The parliament's leadership also agreed that the existence and presence of troops of the Indonesian armed forces will be retained to assure a feeling of security for people of Aceh and guarantee the implementation of recovery programs as well as the post-tsunami rehabilitation and reconstruction," he said.

Yudhoyono also said the government was prepared to continue peace talks with the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) but added some principles, including that on broad autonomy and the constitution were not negotiable.

"There are several things that can be negotiated but there are several principal matters that are not negotiable, such as the matter of the constitution, the structure of the state and the principles of special autonomy," he said.

The parliament and the government would also set a deadline for the peace negotiations.

Top security minister Adi Sucipto Widodo said last week the government was planning to lift the emergency state in Aceh but added it also planned to maintain its military operations to rid the tsunami-ravaged province of separatist rebels.

Widodo has said normalcy in Aceh was also needed to guarantee the implementation of the rehabilitation and reconstruction can proceed transparently and in an accountable manner.