TNI chief hopeful of peace talks, but problems remain<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse
\nSingapore<\/p>\n
Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said on
\nSaturday he was hopeful that ongoing peace talks could lead to a
\npermanent solution to a separatist rebellion in Aceh province.<\/p>\n
But he said problems remained because several factions of the
\nseparatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have said they do not
\nrecognize the leadership of the group engaged in the
\nnegotiations.<\/p>\n
\"The GAM in Aceh is not only one faction, there are a lot of
\nfactions of the GAM in Aceh,\" Endriartono said at an
\ninternational security conference in Singapore.<\/p>\n
\"Some of them are saying that they are not under the command
\nof their people who live now in Stockholm,\" he said, referring to
\nthe GAM leaders living in exile in Sweden. He said these factions
\nsaid that \"we will not follow them because we are not under their
\ncontrol, so that's one of the problems that we have\".<\/p>\n
Endriartono said, however, he was \"hopeful that the dialog
\nwill give a good result for a permanent solution in Aceh\".<\/p>\n
His comments came just days after Indonesian government and
\nGAM negotiators ended the latest round of talks on Tuesday in
\nHelsinki, Finland.<\/p>\n
\"I have not gotten any information yet about the talks, but I
\nhope the talks will give a good result for a permanent solution
\nin Aceh,\" Endriartono said.<\/p>\n
Aceh, a western Indonesian province, has been a battleground
\nfor government and armed rebels since 1976, when GAM launched its
\ncampaign for independence, angered by what it said was Jakarta's
\nexploitation of the province's oil and gas resources.<\/p>\n
Peace talks to end almost the three-decade conflict were
\nlaunched in Helsinki earlier this year after both sides agreed to
\nreturn to the table in the wake of the Dec. 26 tsunami disaster,
\nin which Aceh was the hardest hit.<\/p>\n
The weekend's International Institute of Strategic Studies'
\nAsia Security Conference has gathered defense ministers, senior
\nmilitary officials, diplomats and scholars from more than 22
\ncountries in the Asia-Pacific region and some Western allies.<\/p>",
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