The first time most people on this side of the world had ever heard of Aceh was late last year on Dec. 26, when an enormous tsunami swept over the land and killed over 130,000 people. It’s part of Sumatra, an island of 4.1 million in Indonesia, and home to three decades of a rebel war for independence that has killed several thousand more.

But the tsunami has yielded good news, as tragedy begets the best in people. Due to the overwhelming need to distribute aid to the victims of the tsunami, a deal by both the government and the rebels has come forward in the interest of peace and prosperity in Aceh.

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) – Thousands of people huddling around TV sets in a mosque courtyard clapped and cheered Monday while watching leaders halfway around the globe sign an accord to end three decades of war in tsunami-ravaged Aceh province.

But the crowd was subdued during most of the ceremony. Although many held hopes that lasting peace is at hand, others warned that fear and distrust run deep after the killings of 15,000 people during one of Southeast Asia’s longest conflicts.

Rebel leaders immediately voiced concern about the thousands of government soldiers who will remain in the region while separatist fighters are forced to rapidly disarm under the eye of monitors from other Southeast Asian nations and the European Union.

The peace deal, which was propelled by the desire on both sides to smooth the flow of aid to victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami, was signed in Finland by Indonesian Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaluddin and by Malik Mahmud, an exiled rebel leader who was briefly jailed in Sweden last year after Indonesia accused him of terrorism.

Both sides agreed to end hostilities immediately.

ééWe just signed a commitment for peaceful settlement,” Awaluddin said. ééWe aim to end violence and to begin a new life.”

Instead of independence, the region will be granted limited self-government and amnesty to all those who fought in the Free Aceh independence movement, which will allow them to run and have representation in parliament in the future. Aceh will also be allowed to pass its own laws and collect its own taxes. Government soldiers will also be cut from 35,000 to 14,700 and police from 15,000 to 9,100. In return, the rebels have renounced their claims to independence and have promised to disarm.

The rebels are concerned that their immediate disarming, however, as both sides distrust each other and they fear that being disarmed will allow the army to crush them. However, the whole world is watching, and an international observation team is monitoring the progress made. I can imagine the fear still exists, though, because the last time a peace deal was begin negotiated in 2003 the Indonesian government expelled the monitors.

This is a really good deal for the rebels, as long as both sides carry out their end of the bargain. The province will be able to receive much-needed aid and will also receive much of the self-determination that it desires. Both sides are also hardly innocent of committing grave human rights abuses against each other and local populations, so the absence of endless persecution of blame through amnesty is a very good sign of coming to terms with the past.

It may seem strange that a tragedy as enormous as a tsunami had to occur before this historic agreement could be made, but it is appropriate that, in times of great trouble, people come together to do the right thing in good faith.