THE Justice & Human Rights Minister, Hamid Awaluddin, and GAM leader Malik Mahmud were shown on television going through the copies of the peace agreement. The two then signed the documents. The historic event, which took place in Finland’s capital of Helsinki two weeks ago, was watched by hundreds of thousands of Acehnese.

From the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, various sounds of emotion were heard. Pe