KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 (IslamOnline.net) - Aceh separatists have agreed to talks in Tokyo on Saturday, May 17, saying they believe a solution to the resurgence of violence in the disputed territory could be found and urged the Indonesian regime to sit back at the negotiation table, IslamOnline.net learned in Kuala Lumpur.

The Free Aceh Movement (GAM), professing that it want peace in the territory, has agreed to hold these talks with Jakarta in Tokyo giving fresh hopes of saving the faltering Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA), an Acehnese citizen who is also member of the GAM told IslamOnline.net.

The man, a businessman in Kuala Lumpur who recently visited the war-torn territory, said the GAM leadership in Indonesia and in Sweden had given their agreement for such talks.

He added that the GAM will be represented by the political and the military wing, two sections of the separatist movement that sometimes do not see things with the same eyes.

The GAM expressed confidence talks would be fruitful and a solution to the outbreak of violence and a halt to war threats would be decided in Tokyo since Indonesia would be under pressure by a donor nation.

GAM spokesman Sofyan Ibrahim Tiba said Thursday, May 15, the Tokyo Preparatory Conference on Peace and Reconstruction in Aceh was still on although the GAM members were not yet given their visas to visit Japan, Radio Elshinta said.

The talks would also revive the failed Joint Security Council meeting which was scheduled for last April 25 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Council is a peace monitoring body in Aceh, the Jakarta Post reported on Friday, May 16.

On Thursday morning, GAM official Sofyan Dawood also confirmed that the group would attend the talks as a way to avert the loss of thousands of lives in the resource-rich province.

The peace deal signed last December 9 in Geneva, is on the brink of collapse with the government making preparation to enforce military operation in Aceh to flush out GAM after it failed to respond to the May 12 deadline for talks.

The Indonesian government has failed to deal with the Aceh issue for the past 25 years, its military have been accused of abuse and murder in the territory.

The government also failed to punish those responsible for the numerous murders and rape in Aceh, causing widespread anger in the province where human rights watchdogs were also handled manu-military and given no quarters to press for rights trial.

Thousands of soldiers arrived in Aceh over the last few days to reinforce the 25,000 troops already there as more than 50 international peace monitors under the Joint Security Council left the country to avoid the possible conflict.

The Indonesian military has warned it would launch a U.S.-styled attack on Aceh separatists, using the military attack on Iraq as a model with helicopters and jet fighters giving cover to ground troops that would advance on GAM posts in case the war is agreed upon by parliamentarians.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri held a consultative meeting with the People's Representative Assembly (DPR) Thursday to get parliament's endorsement for the move, Antara reported.

She said the approval of the DPR and the Legislative Council (MPR) was probably necessary before the military could launch the offensive.

On the other hand, Justice and Human Rights Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said the government had prepared two presidential decrees for Megawati to consider, in case a state of emergency would be declared in the territory.

The first decree was a directive for the military to carry out security operations in Aceh while the other was to give way for government representatives to hold further dialogues with GAM, depending on the latest situation.

The government had Thursday given another chance for GAM to come to the negotiating table by Saturday, in an attempt to salvage the peace deal and urged the GAM to accept a regional autonomy package and lay down arms.

The European Union, Japan, the United States and the World Bank, as the co-chairmen of the Tokyo Conference, had hoped that the Indonesian government and GAM would settle their differences as soon as possible.

Megawati's policy in Aceh would likely play a role in deciding her future political career.

A successful military operation to end the conflict would undoubtedly help smooth the way for her reelection in 2004, the Post said on Friday.

If Megawati decides to impose martial law in Aceh it would be a reversal from an earlier promise she made that there would be no more bloodshed in the resource-rich province.

Under martial law, the military would have full authority to take all necessary steps to quell the separatist movement and restore security and order.

According to the emergency law, martial law can be used to isolate the province from the rest of the country, stemming the flow of goods and information into Aceh.

The country last imposed martial law in 1999 in the former province of East Timor, following the United Nations-sponsored ballot that led to the territory's independence.

The government also launched a military operation in Aceh from 1989 to 1998.