The son of Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi said on Wednesday that his country was willing to help end a long-running separatist conflict in Indonesia's Aceh province, a move welcomed by both sides.
Sayef Al Islam Qadhafi, who holds no official position but is seen as a representative of his father, made the offer during a visit to Indonesia in which he hopes to hold talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
"We are ready to help the government to reduce the problems and to support the people there," Qadhafi told reporters, during a three-day humanitarian trip to Indonesia.
He said Libya wanted to "narrow the point of view between the two parties and to erase the cause of the conflict and restore peace and security."
The move was welcomed by senior government officials in Jakarta, who said Tripoli could play a key role in improving the economic infrastructure in the impoverished but resource-rich region in Indonesia's far west.
"On the economic side and through development in Aceh - this is where Libya can hopefully help us," foreign minister Hasan Wirayuda said after meeting with Qadhafi. He did not reveal whether any financial assistance had been offered.
Libya began rebuilding its diplomatic ties last year after it renounced weapons of mass destruction and shed its reputation as a sponsor of international terrorism.
Since then it has taken an increasingly active role on the world stage with Muammar Qadhafi last month mediating in talks with rebel groups from conflict-hit Sudanese region of Darfur.
Former Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri visited Tripoli in September 2003 for talks with the Libyan leader which focused on international terrorism and his support for Jakarta in its operations in Aceh.
Indonesia's military says more than 2,300 guerrillas have been killed since it launched a major drive in May 2003 to crush the rebels, who have been fighting for a separate homeland in Aceh since 1976.
Rights groups and leaders of the Free Aceh Movement - several of whom, including military chief Muzakkir Manaf, were originally trained in Libya - have accused troops of abuses and say many of the dead were ordinary citizens.
One of the rebels' exiled leaders, Bachtiar Abdullah, told AFP from Sweden that the movement was open to Libya's help, provided there was no push to return to earlier failed peace arrangements.
Jakarta reached a agreement with the Free Aceh Movement early in February 2003, but the peace was short-lived. Three months later it dispatched 40,000 troops and police to crush the rebels.