find a way for peace in his sermons, letters, and radio broadcasts. In October 1959, he met with Kawilarang to discuss possible peace with the central government. He also met Warouw in Remboken. In addition, he wrote a letter to President Sukarno containing proposals for achieving peace. In October 1959, Tumbelaka contacted Col. Surachman who was then the commander of TT-V/Brawijaya to discuss the situation in North Sulawesi. Tumbelaka himself had served as a senior officer at TT-V/Brawijaya and also participated in the war for independence in East Java with Somba and Warouw. During his meeting with Tumbelaka, Surachman expressed his concern over the growing influence of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in East Java and that the war against Permesta had drained the TNI, which was advantageous for the PKI. After several meetings with other Brawijaya staff, they agreed to send Tumbelaka to Manado to try to establish contact with Somba. Although Warouw had a higher position in Permesta, it was Somba who led the most experienced troops who had defected from the TNI. Negotiations On 5 January 1960, Tumbelaka left for Manado. After meeting officials from TT-XIII/Merdeka, he was met by Samuel Hein "Tjame" Ticoalu. Tumbelaka asked Tjame to enter the Permesta area and bring a message to Somba which partly read "to find a good solution to the ongoing problem". Tjame managed to meet with Somba and give the message from Tumbelaka. At that time Kawilarang was also there with Somba. They both sent a message to Warouw about what Tumbelaka had to say. At that time, Warouw himself was trying to meet Sumual to discuss his meeting with Wenas. The first meeting between Tumbelaka and Somba took place in the village of Matungkas near Airmadidi on 15 March 1960. This meeting was followed by meetings attended by other Permesta leaders besides Somba, such as Mantiri and Lendy Tumbelaka (Tumbelaka's cousin). These meetings lasted until the end of 1960. Important discussion topics conveyed from the Permesta camp included regional autonomy, what would happen to the troops after an agreement is made, and what would be done about the situation of communism in Indonesia. The negotiations took time, because everything had to be agreed upon by both parties. It was equally important that every negotiation decision made was conveyed to the commanders on the field. From the central government side, several actions were taken to demonstrate their seriousness