Aceh-Negotiations-Farid<\/p>\n
JP\/20\/FARID<\/p>\n
A crucial element in the Aceh peace talks<\/p>\n
Aboeprijadi Santoso
\nContributor\/Helsinki<\/p>\n
The peace deal to be signed next week by the Indonesian
\ngovernment and the Acehnese rebel Free Aceh Movement GAM found
\nits origins in painstaking lobbying initiated by then
\nCoordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla and his
\naides in mid-2003.<\/p>\n
A key figure was the person who is now Director General of
\nMedical Care in the Ministry of Health, Farid Husain, a member of
\nthe Indonesian delegation, whose tireless efforts bore fruit as
\nhis path came across Finnish philanthropist Juha Christensen, who
\nwas connected to former president Martti Ahtisaari.<\/p>\n
A few weeks before the tsunami, GAM leaders in Sweden agreed
\nto meet. A month later, the peace talks started.<\/p>\n
\"Who ... Juha? Juha Christensen? He's my friend, he is the one
\nwho arranged this (dialog)\" replied Farid enthusiastically when I
\nmet him last April at the Indonesian ambassador's house in
\nHelsinki.<\/p>\n
Farid is an energetic man, and a joyful and easygoing person,
\nwho loves joking; but he can also be very serious.<\/p>\n
Recently, at the Helsinki Hilton Hotel, he told Radio
\nNetherlands the story of his mission, as assigned by his patron,
\nfellow Buginese, Vice President Jusuf Kalla.<\/p>\n
It was mid-2003: The war was already underway in Aceh
\nfollowing the collapse of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement
\n(CoHA). Yet, Jusuf Kalla believed there was a need to talk.<\/p>\n
\"We were exploring the possibilities of engaging in dialog,\"
\nsaid Farid, \"It doesn't matter how long (it would take). What is
\nimportant is there should be a willingness to talk. In any
\nconflict resolution, we have to believe that as long as there is
\na willingness, there should be good intentions and purpose.\"<\/p>\n
Farid loves the metaphor of family life. As with family
\nproblems, he believes, a dialog is necessary; so are brokers,
\nsometimes.<\/p>\n
Farid's would-be brokers were Acehnese in Aceh and elsewhere
\nin Indonesia and abroad. He patiently built relationships with
\nclose relatives of GAM leaders Malik Mahmud, Zaini Abdullah and
\nothers.<\/p>\n
His first link was Mahyudin, a civil society activist. Soon,
\nhis mission took him to Malaysia, Singapore and European
\ncapitals.<\/p>\n
Getting close to GAM<\/p>\n
The job was far from easy. Being a government official, Farid
\nwas fully aware of the difficulties of meeting with GAM members.
\nThey needed consent from all groups to avoid suspicion. \"No, no
\ndeal. I didn't make any deal. I just came as a human being,
\ntrying to be close, familial and maintaining an emotional bond
\nwith them. I didn't talk about business. As a medical doctor, I
\nasked them about their health and things like that.\"<\/p>\n
\"My mission,\" Farid claimed, \"was just humanitarian and I
\nbelieved God blesses me. Hence, my main asset was to be sincere.
\nI did so, too, in Poso and Ambon.\"<\/p>\n
Thus, Farid's first network was GAM families and ringleaders.
\n\"They did not know about me before. Now they knew, here is Farid
\nHusain, who assisted Pak Jusuf resolving the conflicts in Poso
\nand Ambon. And I have the advantage of coming from the outer
\nislands. I mean -- you know -- I'm not from Java.\"<\/p>\n
After several meetings, \"the fifth visit or so\", Farid felt
\nthey knew that he had serious intentions. I continued building
\ntrust and confidence, yet with no results.\" His attempts to
\ncontact GAM leaders were to no avail.<\/p>\n
2003 was a bad year. The war in Aceh went on, as did the
\ncrackdown. Half a year later, Farid's lobbying efforts were at an
\nimpasse.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a good friend in Sulawesi, Arifuddin Djuana, told
\nFarid that his guest from Finland wanted to meet him. Juha
\nChristensen, a shy but friendly linguist-turned-businessman from
\nLahti, had lived in South Sulawesi and did research on the Rampi
\nlanguage in the 1980s. Juha was interested in Aceh and had had
\nmeetings with GAM leaders in Stockholm.<\/p>\n
Farid was clearly enthusiastic. \"I knew Juha already. At the
\nUniversity of Hasanudin (Makassar), he was a researcher and I was
\na lecturer. He came to my office in Jakarta to inquire about
\nselling speedboats. He congratulated me on peace in Poso and
\nAmbon.<\/p>\n
\"Then, he talked about Aceh and said 'I know people from GAM'.<\/p>\n
I asked him, Can you give me some contacts? 'OK, 100
\npercent!'\" he replied.<\/p>\n
For Juha, too, it was not easy to gain the trust of GAM
\nleaders. As journalist Katri Merikallio revealed in the February
\nedition of Suomen Kuvalehti, Juha only passed the \"test\" as he
\nwas able to meet former GAM negotiators in prison in Bandung.<\/p>\n
Later, he arranged a secret meeting between Kalla and GAM
\nadviser Damien Kingsbury in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"But, Juha didn't know the rules of the game,\" said Farid,
\nreferring to his presumption that GAM members needed consent from
\ntheir leadership before meeting Indonesian officials.<\/p>\n
Subsequently, Juha and Farid, both separately and together,
\ndid some heavy-duty traveling to and from Indonesia, Europe and
\nScandinavia.<\/p>\n
\"About four or five times I tried to meet (GAM leaders); I
\neven wandered around Norsborg (a Stockholm suburb where they
\nresided), but in vain. I wondered, why? But I did meet and
\nexchange information with their representative in Amsterdam, M.
\nFadlun, and his comrade from Denmark. That was early 2004.\"<\/p>\n
GAM leadership remained hesitant because of martial law. When
\nthe two lobbyists went to Stockholm, they were only willing to
\ntalk to Juha. Farid had to wait for four hours in the hotel
\nlobby.<\/p>\n
\"They didn't come to me and I didn't go to them. They had not
\napparently acquired the consent of (top leader) Hasan di Tiro,\"
\nsaid Farid.<\/p>\n
Approaching Martti Ahtisaari<\/p>\n
They decided to take a new course. Juha's idea was to approach
\nMartti Ahtisaari, the chairman of an internationally respected
\nnon-governmental organization, the Crisis Management Initiative.
\nOn the same day, Juha's friend, the chief editor of the
\nnewsweekly Suomen Kuvalehti contacted the former Finland
\npresident.<\/p>\n
\"We bought ticket to Helsinki,\" said Farid, \"We only had two-
\nand-a-half hours. I was still wearing my blue jeans; Pak
\nAhtisaari didn't mind. We talked about Aceh; I explained the
\nspecial autonomy and the failure of CoHA. He listened carefully
\nand asked many questions. He was wonderful, truly a diplomat!\"<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in late 2004, the new administration of President
\nSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice-President Jusuf Kalla came to
\npower. For GAM, the picture became clearer.<\/p>\n
Things have looked brighter since. Kalla decided to proceed
\nand instructed Farid to stay close to GAM. \"No, not a request,
\nit's an order! He ordered me to be a friend of GAM, a brother,\"
\nsaid Farid. \"Juha arranged everything and I established contact
\nbetween Ahtisaari and Pak Jusuf.\"<\/p>\n
As Ahtisaari agreed to ask questions, he met secretly with GAM
\nleaders, who finally agreed to talk to the Indonesian government.
\nSometime in Dec. 2004, a meeting was planned. Just as an
\ninvitation was sent to Stockholm, the tsunami radically changed
\nAceh. \"Of course, that's also an important factor,\" said Farid.<\/p>\n
\"As time went on, (GAM leaders) trusted us. The forum proved
\nthat we were serious. We listened to them. We also have a solid
\nteam,\" Farid explained. Indeed, the five Indonesian team members,
\nnow nicknamed \"All Wapres' (VP's) Men\", never changed and had a
\nclear division of labor.<\/p>\n
The final test for Farid Husain was to act as a troubleshooter
\nto save what could be a historic deal. As the talks were almost
\ndeadlocked on July 15, he disappeared from the ambassador's house
\nwhere the delegates rested or chatted with journalists.<\/p>\n
It turned out he had gone to the city to meet a GAM
\nrepresentative.<\/p>\n
The next day, the parties had an accord.
\n
\n(The writer is a journalist with Radio Netherlands.)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/aceh-negotiations-farid-1447899208",
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