Acehnese pray for peace ahead of dialog<\/p>\n
Nani Farida and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post,
\nBanda Aceh\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Nearly 2,000 Acehnese gathered and prayed on Sunday for peace,
\nahead of the next set of talks between the government and the
\nAceh Separatist Movement (GAM).<\/p>\n
More than 1,000 people from all walks of life flocked to the
\nBaiturrahman Grand Mosque in the provincial capital of Banda
\nAceh, while 700 others packed an open field in Lhokseumawe, North
\nAceh, to take part in the same prayer.<\/p>\n
Iskandar Muda Military Commander Maj. Gen. Djali Yusuf was
\namong the top provincial figures joining the mass prayer.<\/p>\n
The local administration organized the prayers, which were
\naimed at asking for the success of the planned dialog between the
\ngovernment and GAM in Geneva sometime next week.<\/p>\n
\"We are all hoping for peace in Aceh and that the conflict
\nhere ends as soon as possible,\" Djali said, adding that he called
\non all Acehnese to pray for peace.<\/p>\n
No specific date has been set for the upcoming round of
\nnegotiations, which are a follow-up to the last set of talks in
\nMay. Both the government and GAM were scheduled to restart the
\ndialog in July.<\/p>\n
After being in limbo for months, both sides gave a strong
\nsignal to engage in another dialog by early next month and they
\nare set to agree on a cessation of hostility.<\/p>\n
One of the contentious issues left for negotiation is the
\npossibility of including foreigners, who will form an independent
\nmonitoring team to ensure a halt to the violence in the province.<\/p>\n
Separately, various groups in the province rallied on Sunday
\nto demand that foreigners be included on the independent
\nmonitoring team. They said noted foreigners would guarantee the
\nteam's independence.<\/p>\n
They also asked both soldiers from GAM and the military to go
\nback to their barracks to ensure peace.<\/p>\n
Jakarta, although agreeing to establish a monitoring team, has
\nrefused to go into detail on whether it would support the
\ninclusion of foreigners as members of the team.<\/p>\n
Jakarta top negotiator Wiryono Sastrohandoyo said on Sunday
\nthat he was waiting for an order to leave for Geneva for the
\npeace talks.<\/p>\n
\"The government has said that the dialog is going to occur
\nearly next month at the latest and almost 90 percent of the items
\nto be negotiated have been discussed,\" Wiryono told The Jakarta
\nPost.<\/p>\n
He underlined that the negotiation process would live up to
\nJakarta's expectations, with the upcoming dialog to be aimed at
\nreaching an agreement to end the hostility.<\/p>\n
But Wiryono refused to go into detail, saying that it would
\njeopardize the negotiation process.<\/p>\n
After the Special Autonomy Law for Aceh was agreed on in May
\nof this year, the government has aimed to secure a deal to end
\nall violence in the province.<\/p>\n
Wiryono once said that after all hostility had ceased, both
\nsides were expected to move to an all-inclusive dialog for all
\nAcehnese, which would be followed by an agreement on a direct
\ngubernatorial election by 2004.<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs
\nSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed optimism that the peace
\nagreement would be signed in the coming days, saying that both
\nsides had agreed on most points on the draft.<\/p>\n
Jakarta has been engaged in peace talks with GAM since early
\n2000 to end the secessionist movement that started in 1976.
\nThousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed in armed
\nclashes between security troops and GAM.<\/p>\n
The government has set a deadline for GAM to return to the
\nnegotiation table by the end of the Muslim fasting month of
\nDecember, or else a harsher crackdown would be launched against
\nthe separatist rebels.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/acehnese-pray-for-peace-ahead-of-dialog-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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