On Helsinki's Aceh talks<\/p>\n
Dr. Damien Kingsbury (The Jakarta Post, April, 26) refers to
\nthe issues of monitoring and political participation in my
\narticle on the third round of Aceh talks (From Aceh to Helsinki,
\nApril, 20). Both are important issues, though, needless to say,
\nthey're not final yet until the agreement is signed. It's true,
\nthe discussion was about local political parties, not a local
\nparty, for Aceh.<\/p>\n
On monitoring, he questioned that external monitors to any
\nagreed process will not be \"foreign troops\". My quotation -- I'm
\nsorry for the missing source; it's a mistake on my part -- came
\nfrom my interview with the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI)
\nchief Martti Ahtisaari, who mediated the parties. Asked about the
\nnature of the monitoring, he said: \"It will be civilian teams.
\nThere is no mentioning of military\".<\/p>\n
Earlier, at the press conference, he said \"(Foreign) troops
\nare not on the cards, it will be civilians. And this still has to
\nbe worked out\". (There is no transcript of this, but it can be
\nlistened to at www.formin.fi).<\/p>\n
Neither did Ahtisaari, when, at the press conference, talking
\nabout a withdrawal of armed units, mention about military
\nmonitoring teams. He said: \"Withdrawal of troops, as part of
\nfinal agreement, is discussed in broad outline, has to be
\nmonitored, (and) monitors have to be on place before withdrawal;
\nwe have to agree on withdrawal\".<\/p>\n
So, as it now stands, it's too early to be sure about external
\nmilitary involvement for the monitoring, although, as Kingsbury
\nsuggests, this may at some stage be necessary.<\/p>\n
ABOEPRIJADI SANTOSO
\nAmsterdam<\/p>",
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