ICRC suspends Aceh mediation<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on
\nWednesday it had put on ice its role in attempting to mediate the
\nrelease of civilians being held hostage by Free Aceh Movement
\nseparatists.<\/p>\n
The move by the ICRC opens the door to the Indonesian Military
\nto use force to try to free the hostages.<\/p>\n
The ICRC said it would resume its mediation role only after
\nthe TNI and GAM reached an agreement on the release of the
\nhostages.<\/p>\n
\"The Indonesian Red Cross and the ICRC have suspended their
\ninvolvement until both sides to the conflict arrive at an
\nagreement,\" ICRC spokeswoman Fortuna Alvariza said.<\/p>\n
She said the ICRC was not actually directly involved in the
\nnegotiations but was acting only as a facilitator.<\/p>\n
\"Our job was to facilitate the exchange of messages, but we
\nhave seen that neither side was willing to find some common
\nground,\" Alvariza said.<\/p>\n
The government and GAM are now blaming each other for the
\nICRC's move.<\/p>\n
Lt. Gen. Sudi Silalahi, the secretary to Coordinating Minister
\nfor Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said
\nthe negotiations had been temporarily halted after GAM guerrillas
\nin the field had failed to follow their commanders' orders in
\nStockholm to free the civilians.<\/p>\n
\"We (the government) had initially negotiated with someone
\ncalled Mansor to discuss the releases. At first, the negotiations
\nwent quite well.<\/p>\n
\"But in the middle of the negotiations, GAM replaced Mansor
\nwith Ishak Daud who later rejected the order of his leaders to
\nfree the hostages,\" said Sudi, who also chairs the government
\nteam trying to arrange the hostage's release.<\/p>\n
He was referring to Teungku Mansor, GAM spokesman in East
\nAceh, and Teungku Ishak Daud, the GAM commander in Peurelak, East
\nAceh.<\/p>\n
However, Ishak recently said the ICRC had offered him an
\nunacceptable proposal to release only three of the hostages --
\nRCTI cameraman Ferry Santoro and the Air Force officers' wives,
\nCut Soraja and Cut Farida.<\/p>\n
The ICRC also proposed that GAM accept a two-day cease-fire in
\nonly one subdistrict, despite GAM's demand that government troops
\nbe withdrawn from Puereulak regency for the duration of the
\ncease-fire.<\/p>\n
\"It was a one-sided arrangement. The ICRC told us that it
\nwould withdraw from its facilitating role if I rejected the
\nconditions,\" Ishak told The Jakarta Post by phone.<\/p>\n
Sudi said the government could not accept GAM's demand for a
\ntwo-day cease-fire in all parts of Aceh, particularly in East
\nAceh, and for the military to withdraw its soldiers from those
\nareas.<\/p>\n
Around 100 civilian hostages are being held by GAM, including
\nFerry and the two Air Force officers' wives.<\/p>\n
Late last month, RCTI reporter Ersa Siregar was shot dead by
\nTNI troops during a gun battle with the separatists who had held
\nhim for more than six months. It remains unclear what the precise
\ncircumstances of his death were, however.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/icrc-suspends-aceh-mediation-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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