Cease-fire, dialog preferred to settle Aceh crisis<\/p>\n
Ibnu Mat Noor, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh<\/p>\n
Most of 13 Acehnese leaders who met with Vice President Hamzah
\nHaz in Banda Aceh on Thursday said they preferred a cease-fire
\nand dialog to settle the prolonged dispute between the Free Aceh
\nMovement (GAM) and the government of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The various leaders, including the chairman of the Ulemas
\nCouncil of Aceh Tengku Musli Ibrahim, demanded that both the
\ngovernment and GAM stop violence and begin a cease-fire combined
\nwith talks to deal with the lingering conflict.<\/p>\n
\"The people of Aceh have been longing for the sincerity of the
\ngovernment of Indonesia and GAM to stop the violence,\" Ibrahim
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Hamzah said that a peace deal was the best alternative, saying
\nthat a cease-fire between the government and its own people was
\nactually a misnomer.<\/p>\n
\"Is a cease-fire with our own people necessary?\" Hamzah
\nrhetorically asked.<\/p>\n
A senior commander of GAM, Amri Abdul Wahab told The Jakarta
\nPost by phone that GAM could agree to a cease-fire if it was
\nrequested by the Acehnese people. \"But the Indonesian government
\nmust also lay down their arms.\"<\/p>\n
Soon after his arrival in Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, on
\nWednesday Hamzah offered peace to GAM, saying that the government
\nwould possibly give amnesty to the rebels.<\/p>\n
His statements were not embraced, however by GAM officials.<\/p>\n
Amri Abdul Wahab said on Wednesday that GAM would remain
\nconsistent with its struggle to be independent from \"colonialist\"
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Meetings between GAM and the government had taken place in
\nGeneva, Switzerland and in Banda Aceh. However, those meetings
\nwere not successful in stopping the violence.<\/p>\n
In August this year, President Megawati Soekarnoputri signed
\nthe special Autonomy Law for Aceh, ruling that the province will
\nreceive 75 percent of its oil and gas revenues. According to the
\nlaw, the new name for the province of Aceh is Nanggroe Aceh
\nDarussalam.<\/p>\n
While the situation in Banda Aceh was quiet on Thursday, South
\nAceh Police seized five long rifles with 13,930 bullets of
\nvarious types from a truck passing Tapaktuan, some 445 kilometers
\nfrom Banda Aceh.<\/p>\n
Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Agus Dwiyanto told Antara in
\nBanda Aceh that the truck driver and his assistant were in police
\ncustody.<\/p>\n
\"The guns and the bullets were slipped among the goods in the
\ntrucks,\" Agus said, adding that the guns and the bullets had no
\nlegal documents.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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