Acehnese fear new military operation<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Tension rose in Aceh on Tuesday following the
\ncentral government's decision to launch a limited military
\noperation in the province as local councillors asserted that such
\nan operation \"will be counter-productive and will never resolve
\nthe Aceh problem.\"<\/p>\n
\"Based on previous experience, such an operation will result
\nin more casualties, and civilians are likely to be the main
\nvictims,\" said Mustafa A. Glanggang, chairman of the Aceh
\nlegislative council's commission A for security affairs.<\/p>\n
\"It will only increase the people's hatred of the military and
\nJakarta,\" he said. \"But if the central government is determined
\nto go ahead, they will have to be very selective and cautious.\"<\/p>\n
Most Acehnese are already apathetic and fatalistic, a local
\nleader, who preferred to remain anonymous, said.<\/p>\n
\"In that they don't want to die in vain. That pushes the young
\nones here to become militant,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Reports also said that civilian officials have started to pack
\nup and leave the restive regencies of North Aceh and Pidie
\nheading to the provincial capital Banda Aceh or Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"Every time there is a policy that tends to lead to chaos,
\npeople will leave Aceh...,\" a journalist said.<\/p>\n
The Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) slammed the
\ngovernment over its decision to launch the military operation,
\nsaying that it had learned nothing from past experiences,
\nespecially from the so-called Military Operation Zone (DOM).<\/p>\n
\"The government is still arrogant and doesn't consider what
\nhappens to the people in Aceh,\" said Faisal Saifuddin of SIRA's
\nrepresentative office in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Mass military deployment was to be seen in the province over
\nthe past few days following the closure of at least five giant
\nindustrial sites in North Aceh, including the ExxonMobil Oil
\nIndonesia and PT Arun LNG plants.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the provincial police said that they would comply
\nwith any decision made by the central government on Aceh,
\nspokesman for the Cinta Meunasah II operation Adj. Sr. Comr.
\nHarunantyo said.<\/p>\n
Earlier in Jakarta, Minister of Defense Mahfud M.D. announced
\nthat the government would launch \"limited security operations\"
\nagainst separatist rebels in Aceh.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters after meeting President Abdurrahman
\nWahid at Merdeka Palace, Mahfud was quick to add that the
\noperations \"will only be limited\" and that they would not be
\ntantamount to the DOM, a harsh military regime imposed on Aceh up
\nuntil August 1998 which led to widespread human rights abuses.<\/p>\n
\"I can guarantee that there will be no more DOM for Aceh. GAM
\nis too small to be handled by imposing a DOM,\" Mahfud said.<\/p>\n
His statement came one day after the cabinet officially
\nslapped the \"separatist\" tag on the Free Aceh Movement (GAM)
\nwhich has been fighting for a free Islamic state there since the
\nmid-1970s.<\/p>\n
\"The government has already ruled that GAM is a separatist
\n(movement) and in legal terms it is subversive,\" Mahfud said,
\nadding that concrete measures to deal with the separatists in
\nAceh were being formulated.<\/p>\n
Separately, Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and
\nSecurity Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that GAM had been
\nclassified as separatist based on the fact that the movement had
\nthree prominent elements characteristic of subversive
\norganizations.<\/p>\n
\"First, they already have an organized structure complete with
\nan armed wing. They also adhere to the concept of independence
\nand have conducted armed actions,\" he told the media on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said that the
\nmilitary would immediately launch a limited operation to quell
\nGAM's activities in the riot-torn province.<\/p>\n
\"We will send in several battalions to counter the military
\noperation launched by the separatists immediately after we
\nreceive instructions from the Coordinating Minister for
\nPolitical, Social and Security Affairs,\" he said without
\nelaborating.<\/p>\n
In Cilangkap, East Jakarta, TNI spokesman Rear Marshall Graito
\nUsodo said that the TNI would not reveal the exact date on which
\nthe limited military operation in Aceh would commence.<\/p>\n
\"In actual fact, the TNI have long considered GAM as
\nseparatists. But as the government were still employing
\npersuasive measures such as dialog and the political approach ...
\nso we (the military) went along with that,\" Graito said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, violence continued to rock the province.<\/p>\n
In North Aceh, five women were shot and two of them eventually
\ndied during an incident in Mulieng Manyang village in Kuta Makmur
\ndistrict around 9 a.m. Tuesday.<\/p>\n
In Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, guerrillas tossed a grenade at a
\ngas station on Tuesday and set off a bomb on a bridge on the
\nroute connecting Banda Aceh to Medan. (edt\/02\/50\/byg\/rms)<\/p>",
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