Aceh accord bodies plan meeting to lay ground rules

JAKARTA (JP): Two joint committees established under the Aceh accord signed by the Indonesian government and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) will hold their first meeting in Banda Aceh on Wednesday to set up the ground rules for implementing the Joint Understanding on Humanitarian Pause.

"We expect there will be concrete basic rules to implement the humanitarian pause before Friday (June 2)," Hassan Wirajuda Indonesia's chief negotiator with GAM said here on Tuesday.

The Joint Understanding on a Humanitarian Pause was signed in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 12.

To carry out the accord, two joint committees and a monitoring team will be set up in Aceh.

The first committee, the Joint Committee on Humanitarian Action, focuses on the effective delivery of humanitarian relief, while the second, the Joint Committee on Security Modalities, focuses on reducing violence.

The security committee will set up the ground rules for humanitarian activities, guarantee the halt of military action and ensure the police's function of maintaining law and order.

Each committee will comprise a maximum of 10 members while the Monitoring Team will consist of five members.

Hassan said the composition of the joint committees was agreed upon. However, he would not reveal their names.

"The Joint Committee on Humanitarian action will consist of our people in Aceh since it will be established there," he added.

The Indonesian representatives to fill the Security Modalities Committee are five senior officials from the Indonesian Military. "They are two senior officers of the National Police and three officers from the Indonesian Military (TNI)," Hassan said.

From the GAM side, the security modalities members will be subordinate to Tengku Abdullah Syafei, the GAM armed forces commander, he said.

The Joint Forum, which was set up in Geneva as the highest decision-making body, consists of all the top negotiators of the accord in Geneva.

"The Joint Forum consists of people who sat in the preceding dialogs. It will consist of myself and Pak Hassan Tiro along with his close aides," Hassan said, referring to the self-exiled GAM leader.

In preparation for the accord implementation, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare and Poverty Eradication Basri Hasanuddin separately held a meeting on Tuesday to draft a program on humanitarian assistance for Aceh.

However, no details were released.

Meanwhile from Aceh, it was reported that gunmen shot dead Samudera Military chief Lt. Katimin at about 4:30 p.m. on Monday, North Aceh Police chief Lt. Col. Syafei Aksal told journalists on Tuesday.

"The officer was in a VCD rental shop in Kede Gedong village when two gunmen approached and shot him at point-blank range in the forehead, cheek and chest," Syafei said.

The incident took place only 500 meters from Samudera Military district office on the main road from Banda Aceh to Medan.

Witnesses said sweeping operations immediately took place following the fatal shooting.

In West Aceh, a convoy of Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) soldiers were ambushed at Patek village in Sampoiniet district on Monday evening, local police chief Lt. Col. Satrya Hari Prasetya said on Tuesday.

No fatalities were reported after the police's Kijang van ran over an assembled bomb which was planted on the bridge in the village by an armed gang. The attackers fled the scene. (08/50/dja/edt)