U.S. mediator visits Aceh<\/p>\n
Ibnu Mat Noor and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post,
\nBanda Aceh\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Three international \"wise men\" assisting in the peace talks
\nbetween the government and the separatist Free Aceh Movement
\n(GAM) began a three-day visit to the Aceh provincial capital of
\nBanda Aceh on Monday.<\/p>\n
During the visit, the three mediators in the Indonesia-GAM
\ndialog being held under the auspices of the Swiss-based Henry
\nDunant Center (HDC) -- Gen. (ret) Anthony Zinni, Andrew Marshall
\nand David Gorman -- will hold a series of meetings with
\nprovincial leaders.<\/p>\n
The local spokesman for the HDC, Fahmi Yunus, said the aim of
\nthe visit was to get a look at the real situation in the province
\nand to pave the way for further talks.<\/p>\n
Zinni, who is also the United States' special peace envoy to
\nthe Middle East, along with Marshall and Gorman, held a series of
\nclosed-door meetings with Indonesian officials in the provincial
\ncapital on Monday.<\/p>\n
However, it is unclear in what capacity the three men are
\nvisiting Aceh, with the Indonesian government and the U.S.
\nEmbassy providing conflicting statements regarding their trip.<\/p>\n
A senior official at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta told The
\nJakarta Post on Monday that Zinni did not represent Washington
\nand his visit \"had no connection at all to the U.S. government\".<\/p>\n
The official, who asked not to be named, also said that Zinni
\ncame to Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam under the auspices of the HDC,
\nand the center should be the one explaining the reasons behind
\nthe visit.<\/p>\n
An HDC official told the Post on Monday that Zinni was a
\nspecial adviser to the center and was visiting Aceh to gather
\ninformation on the restive province.<\/p>\n
\"He is not there to represent the U.S. government, but as
\nspecial adviser for our office,\" the official, who spoke on the
\ncondition of anonymity, said by phone from Geneva.<\/p>\n
An official in the office of the Indonesian coordinating
\nminister for political and security affairs, however, said Zinni
\nwas representing Washington and had met with Coordinating
\nMinister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang
\nYudhoyono on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Zinni, Gorman and Marshall held meetings on Monday at the
\nKuala Tripa Hotel in Banda Aceh with a number of local leaders,
\nincluding Muhammad Daim, Yusni Sabi, Imam Syuja and Gani Nurdin,
\nas well as members of the Aceh security monitoring teams from the
\nregencies of Pidie, Bireuen, North Aceh and East Aceh.<\/p>\n
\"They are slated to hold meetings with the province's Iskandar
\nMuda Military Command chief (Maj. Gen. Djali Yusuf), the
\nprovincial police chief (Insp. Gen. Yusuf Manggabarani) and the
\ngovernor (Abdullah Puteh) tomorrow (Tuesday),\" Fahmi said.<\/p>\n
The three are also scheduled to hold meetings with GAM
\nnegotiators and visit Pidie regency on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The visit comes as Jakarta seems to be considering a policy
\nchange in the province, turning away from dialog in favor of a
\nmilitary solution to the separatist movement in Aceh.<\/p>\n
After a limited Cabinet meeting on Monday, Coordinating
\nMinister Susilo said the government was striving to continue the
\ndialog with GAM and to find a proper forum for further talks.<\/p>\n
\"However, we underline that the acceptance of special regional
\nautonomy and the cessation of hostility are the basic
\nrequirements to continue the dialog,\" Susilo said.<\/p>\n
He added that President Megawati Soekarnoputri had postponed
\nany decisions on Aceh for two weeks because of other urgent
\nissues the government was dealing with.<\/p>\n
This postponement is unlikely to be welcome news in Aceh,
\nwhere many residents are worried that the government may decide
\nto step up military action in the province.<\/p>\n
The Aceh chapter of the Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) announced
\nthat 845 people were murdered, another 826 were abducted and
\n1,164 others were tortured between January and July of this year,
\na period of stepped up security operations in the province.<\/p>\n
\"Increasing the security operations will increase the number
\nof victims in the province,\" local LBH chief Rufriadi said.<\/p>\n
The HDC official, however, told the Post that the Indonesian
\ngovernment had always shown good intentions for dialog and had
\nsupported the center's efforts.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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