Banda Aceh, Aceh (ANTARA News) - The Aceh government will soon announce that August 15 will be observed annually as peace day in Indonesia`s western-most province.

"The Aceh governor will issue a regulation setting forth Aceh`s peace day," Aceh administration spokesman Nurdin F Jos said here on Wednesday.

He noted that the peace day had its root in the peace agreement between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Helsinki, Finland, on August 15, 2005, which was signed to end a decades-long bloody conflict.

"Soon after observing the eighth anniversary of the Helsinki peace deal this Thursday, the Aceh provincial secretariat`s legal affairs bureau will draft a gubernatorial regulation on Aceh`s peace day," Jos revealed.

The eighth anniversary of the peace deal will be commemorated at Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh, capital of Aceh province, he continued.

"Starting at 4pm local time, after Ashar prayers, the event will include joint prayers that will be led by Ibnu Sa`dan, the head of the Aceh provincial office of the Religious Affairs Ministry," Jos stated.

The Aceh governor, local government officials, social figures, and the public are expected to attend the joint prayers, he said.

"The home affairs minister has also been invited, but we have yet to receive a confirmation on whether he will come himself or he will send his representative," Jos added. (S012/INE/B003)

Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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