TNI welcome GAM chief Tiro's return to Aceh<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesian Military chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto would welcome
\nthe possible return of Hassan Tiro, the self-exiled leader of the
\nFree Aceh Movement (GAM), to the province.<\/p>\n
"Yes. He (Hassan) has the right to come here in accordance
\nwith the memorandum of understanding (on Aceh peace). He will
\nface no legal consequences if he visits Indonesia," Endriartono
\nsaid at the State Palace.<\/p>\n
Endriartono said he had been informed about the possible
\narrival of Hassan, the senior GAM leader, who has been living in
\nSweden and been granted citizenship there.<\/p>\n
The TNI chief hopes Hassan will visit Indonesia "as a good
\nman" who supports the peace process in the tsunami-devastated
\nprovince.<\/p>\n
GAM leaders in Aceh could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n
The Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM), which oversees the
\nimplementation of the peace deal in the province, has called on
\nAcehnese leaders in exile to come back to Aceh due to improved
\nsecurity following the signing of the accord.<\/p>\n
Mohammed Nur Djuli and Bakhtiar Abdullah were the first GAM
\nleaders in exile to return to Aceh.<\/p>\n
The peace-building process has continued to pick up pace as
\nboth sides have implemented three of the four disarmament and
\ntroop withdrawal stages.<\/p>\n
GAM is currently handing over more weapons to the AMM, a
\nprocess that will be completed on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Endriartono said the TNI was committed to meeting the targets
\nset out in the peace agreement, which was signed in August.<\/p>\n
He said that the TNI would withdraw more than 5,500 troops from Aceh
\nsoon after GAM completed the third round of weapons
\ndecommissioning. The police, meanwhile, will withdraw 1,350
\nofficers from the province.<\/p>\n
"We accepted some of the weapons but rejected others. As of
\nnow, however, I can see their bona fides and, hopefully, it will
\ncontinue," Endriartono said.<\/p>\n
GAM surrendered 570 firearms in the first two stages of
\ndisarmament. They are required to hand in 840 weapons in four
\nstages up until the end of the year.<\/p>\n
Under the peace agreement, Indonesia must pull out some 6,000
\nof its 27,000 troops from Aceh. About 14,700 soldiers and 9,100
\npolice officers are to remain in the province after the end of
\nthe withdrawals on Dec. 31.<\/p>\n
In another development, head of the Aceh Rehabilitation and
\nReconstruction Agency (BRR) Kuntoro Mangkusubroto said the
\nPresident had issued a decree governing the involvement of former
\nGAM members in construction and rehabilitation work.<\/p>\n
"This is a very important decree, particularly as regards
\nsupporting the rehabilitation and reconstruction process in
\nAceh," Kuntoro said in Jakarta, referring to Presidential Decree
\nNo. 15\/2005 on the implementation of the memorandum of
\nunderstanding between the government and GAM.<\/p>\n
The government has promised to provide former GAM members
\naccess to the construction work -- a move that is expected to
\naccelerate the reintegration of the former rebels into society.<\/p>\n
Kuntoro also said Susilo was scheduled to visit Aceh to mark
\nthe first anniversary of the tsunami.<\/p>\n
There will be a number of events held to commemorate the
\ndisaster, Minister of National Development Planning Sri Mulyani
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Both the government and GAM agreed to return to the
\nnegotiating table after the Dec. 26 tsunami, which swept Aceh's
\ncoastline leaving more than 167,000 people dead or missing.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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