BANDA ACEH, Indonesia – Having successfully struck a peace deal with Indonesia's central government and with seven years of peaceful development behind them, Aceh Province officials believe that they can help Southeast Asian neighbours who are struggling with similar issues, The Jakarta Globe reported Thursday (December 19th).

Aceh Governor Zaini Abdullah and the province's newly appointed cultural leader, Malik Mahmud Al Haythar, made their case on Wednesday to visiting delegates from Thailand's Deep South province of Pattani and a Moro delegation from the Philippines. Both men had been high-level members of the separatist but now-dissolved Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

The southern Thai and Philippine regions are trying to quell long-running, Islamist group-led insurgencies.

"We managed to agree on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) and achieve peace with the central government of Indonesia because we believe in democracy and peace," Zaini said after meeting with 20 Pattani and 18 Filipino delegates, who comprise civil society activists, academics and officials.

The Japan International Co-operation Agency facilitated their four-day visit to Banda Aceh.

After more than 30 years of fighting for independence, and with more than 25,000 deaths, in 2005 GAM signed a peace agreement with Jakarta in Helsinki, Finland that ended the insurgency.

As part of the deal, Aceh province was allowed to enforce Islamic sharia law. Recent vigilante enforcement of sharia led to occasional incidents of harassment and violence.

Zaini was a member of the Malik-led GAM negotiating team. He attributed successful implementation of the agreement to a strong commitment shown by both sides in bringing peace to the province.

"The most important aspect is building trust through peace negotiations," he said.