At long last, there is an end in sight to the two decades of deadly conflict in Indonesia's separatist province of Aceh. The Indonesian government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri and the Free Aceh Movement, the guerrilla group established in 1976, are expected to sign a peace agreement in Geneva next Monday.
The international community is ready to help. In the runup to the Geneva talks, a donors' meeting was held in Tokyo earlier this week, with Japan serving as a cochair, to help support the peace process in the staunchly Muslim region at the northern tip of Sumatra.
There are still a number of hurdles to be cleared before a peace pact can be signed. With the warring sides ready to sit down at the peace table, however, the remaining problems do not seem insurmountable. The two parties should not miss this historic opportunity to put an end to a conflict in which thousands of people have been killed.