Words
in the News
Wednesday 11 December 2002 Vocabulary from the news. Listen to and read the report then find
explanations of difficult words below.
Peace monitors arrive in Aceh
Summary: International peace monitors have arrived in the Indonesian province of Aceh following the signing of an historic peace deal aimed at ending a 26-year insurgency.
A few days ago it wouldn't have seemed possible - Indonesian security forces side by side with Acehnese civilians, praying for peace. Thousands gathered for the special thanksgiving ceremony, including the head of Indonesia's armed forces, General Endriartono Sutarto. The rebels are no longer our enemies, he told the emotional crowd, now they are our brothers.
The agreement signed on Monday in Geneva is already being implemented. Indonesia's much-feared paramilitary police force has stopped patrolling, all rebel soldiers have been ordered back to barracks. The Indonesian army says it will lift its month-long siege of a suspected rebel stronghold and the first contingent of foreign monitors has arrived. Their job will be crucial. For all the current goodwill on display in Aceh, Indonesian and rebel soldiers are still deeply suspicious of one another. Making the ceasefire stick is likely to be fraught with difficulties.
