Conflict 'intensifying' in Aceh despite peace talks<\/p>\n
Agencies, Banda Aceh\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Attacks by separatist rebels in the tsunami-hit province of Aceh
\nhave intensified in recent weeks despite a renewed peace dialog,
\nmilitary officials said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Aceh military spokesman Ari Mulya Asnawi said troops had
\nkilled 20 rebels in the month of April as the separatists stepped
\nup their attacks in the province.<\/p>\n
\"They are committing more extortions, kidnappings and
\nsenseless killing. They are more brutal,\" he was quoted by AFP as
\nsaying.<\/p>\n
In the latest incident on Wednesday, troops killed two
\nseparatist rebels in a gunfight in the district of South Aceh and
\nconfiscated several firearms, two homemade bombs and more than
\n100 bullets, he said.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the
\nDec. 26 tsunami, which killed more than 128,000 people and left
\nanother 37,000 missing in Aceh, had led to a reduction in
\nviolence in the province.<\/p>\n
\"The good news, of course, is that on the conflict side,
\nthings are under control,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Aceh has since 1976 been the scene of a violent struggle
\nbetween separatist rebels and Jakarta.<\/p>\n
More than 12,000 people have been killed in resource-rich Aceh
\nsince rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) launched their
\ncampaign for independence.<\/p>\n
The conflict intensified in May 2003 when a truce collapsed
\nand Aceh was put under temporary martial law, but the December
\ntsunami prompted Jakarta and the rebels to reopen a dialogue.
\nRepresentatives of the two camps met for a third round of
\ninformal talks in Finland this month and agreed to meet again in
\nMay.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the government said foreign peacekeepers won't be
\npart of any international monitoring of Aceh after a possible
\npeace deal with the rebels.<\/p>\n
The European Union said on Tuesday the mediator for ongoing
\npeace talks, former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, had
\nraised the possibility of deploying peacekeeping troops in Aceh
\nto manage any deal to end three decades of fighting.<\/p>\n
After three rounds of talks in Finland that began in January,
\nthe government and the GAM said in a statement earlier this month
\nthey would welcome involvement from regional organizations such
\nas the European Union (EU) in monitoring a peace agreement.<\/p>\n
However, information minister Sofyan Djalil, a key member of
\nthe government's negotiating team, said on Wednesday a foreign
\npeacekeeping troop deployment in Aceh was not an option.<\/p>\n
\"The general understanding is that if a peace deal is reached,
\nan external monitoring team will become possible but not a
\nforeign peacekeeping force,\" he told Reuters.<\/p>\n
\"If there is a deal, it needs to be monitored. The monitors
\ncan be civilians or from the military. But remember, the deal has
\nnot been reached yet,\" said Djalil, who is Acehnese.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/conflict-intensifying-in-aceh-despite-peace-talks-1447893297",
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