Government mulls military crackdown on Aceh rebels<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro and
\nFabiola Desy Unidjaja
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri dealt the peace process in the
\nrebellious province of Aceh another blow on Wednesday as she
\nordered tough measures against the separatist movement.<\/p>\n
Speaking in a teleconference with Iskandar Muda Military
\nCommander Maj. Gen. Djali Yusuf on Wednesday, Megawati said she
\nhad instructed all security troops across the country to maintain
\nnational unity at all costs.<\/p>\n
\"That instruction also goes for Aceh, so there should be tough
\nmeasures against any act of violence that disturbs public order,\"
\nthe President asserted.<\/p>\n
Her statement was the culmination to weeks of debate over
\nwhether the government should conduct an intensive military
\ncrackdown on rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), as the
\nplanned all-inclusive dialog in the natural resources-rich
\nprovince seems doomed to fail.<\/p>\n
Megawati, after inaugurating 13 strategic projects, two of
\nthem in Aceh, asked Djali about the recent security situation in
\nthe province, which once scared away investors.<\/p>\n
In his response, Djali said he could barely maintain security
\nin the eastern part of Aceh, where nine athletes became the
\nlatest to fall prey to abduction last week.<\/p>\n
\"We were involved in a gunfight last night and managed to gun
\ndown five members of GAM hard-liners under Ishak Daud's
\nleadership,\" Djali told Megawati.<\/p>\n
He added that the group was well known for its brutality, and
\nthe Indonesian Military (TNI) had focused its search on group
\nmembers across the province.<\/p>\n
\"We are stepping up our operations to improve security in
\neastern Aceh, until the territory is as orderly and peaceful as
\nother parts of the province,\" Djali remarked.<\/p>\n
Separately, the office of the Coordinating Minister for
\nPolitical and Security Affairs announced here that the government
\nwould decide within three weeks whether or not a military
\noperation would be launched in Aceh.<\/p>\n
Spokesman for the office Soenaryo said the decision would be
\nbased on an evaluation of developments in Aceh.<\/p>\n
\"The heightened security situation in Aceh has recently forced
\nus to consider whether we can continue with civil authority
\nthere,\" he said after a top governmental meeting on political and
\nsecurity affairs.<\/p>\n
He said the government had three options to restore security
\nand peace to the province: maintain the current civilian
\nauthority, impose a civil state of emergency, or declare a
\nmilitary state of emergency.<\/p>\n
\"No matter what we decide in three weeks, we hope it will be
\nthe last resort to address problems in Aceh,\" Soenaryo said.<\/p>\n
The meeting was presided over by Coordinating Minister for
\nPolitical and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and was
\nattended by Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda, Minister
\nof Home Affairs Hari Sabarno, Attorney General M.A. Rahman,
\nNational Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief A.M. Hendropriyono,
\nMinister of Defense Matori Abdul Djalil, TNI Commander Gen.
\nEndriartono Sutarto and National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar.<\/p>\n
Megawati earlier issued Decree No. 2\/2002 on civil order in
\nAceh, which will expire at the end of this month.<\/p>\n
According to Sunaryo, the meeting was aimed at evaluating the
\nsecurity situation in Aceh, which he described as being already
\nout of control due to GAM's acts of terror against civilians in
\nkilling local politicians, burning schools and robbing property
\nbelonging to the U.S.-owned company PT ExxonMobil.<\/p>\n
A military source, however, told The Jakarta Post that the
\ncurrent situation in Aceh had not met the requirements for a full
\nmilitary operation and was similar to what happened in the
\ncountry's former province of East Timor following the
\nindependence vote in 1999.<\/p>\n
\"So, should in the near future we adopt a military approach
\nthere, it must be in the form of military assistance to help the
\nprovince restore peace and order,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/government-mulls-military-crackdown-on-aceh-rebels-1447899208",
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