Aceh rebels warn TNI may wreck peace deal
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) warned the peace deal it was negotiating with the government could be undermined by the Indonesian Military (TNI), which the separatist group said had an interest in ensuring the armed conflict in the natural resources-rich province did not end.
"Aceh is a source of income, a place to loot. The tsunami was a godsend for them because the foreign aid is a new source of loot. A peace agreement would deny them that loot.
"If any armed group is going to stop the agreement from working in the field or at the table, it will be the Indonesian Military," the rebels said in a statement to the Associated Press.
The statement was issued just days after a fourth round of talks between GAM and the government concluded in Helsinki, Finland. Both parties said negotiations were progressing, with the government claiming some 90 percent of the issues put on the table had been resolved.
The military spokesman in Aceh, Lt. Col. Eri Soediko, refuted GAM's accusation, saying the charge was unsubstantiated.
"This is a fabrication. We are here to guard the whole of Aceh province from the rebels so the people can go about their daily activities without any problems," he said.
Separately, Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono said GAM had to accept the Indonesian offer of special autonomy within Indonesian if the rebel group wanted a lasting peace in Aceh.
"The Indonesian offer is not negotiable," said Juwono.
Juwono said the Helsinki talks were informal in nature so that any decisions made at the talks would not have diplomatic ramifications unless President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono stepped into the process.
"The President will decide whether or not the informal talks can eventually advance to formal talks and thus have serious diplomatic ramifications," he said.
The talks are not formal as they do not involve the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Home Affairs or the Ministry of Defense, which are the three pillars of Indonesian sovereignty, Juwono said on Monday.
"The talks were arranged by Vice President Jusuf Kalla. President Susilo approved the initiative as Kalla has experience in handling local conflicts," Juwono told House of Representatives Commission I for defense and foreign affairs.
Responding to concern over the involvement of foreign parties in the talks, Juwono said such involvement was in line with international law.
"The first article in the United Nations' statute recognizes the authority of countries over their domestic issues, but the seventh article allows foreign participation when it concerns international security. But there is nothing to worry about," he said, referring to the involvement of the Finnish Crisis Management Initiative, led by Martti Ahtisaari, in the talks.
House Speaker Agung Laksono reiterated earlier in the day that a time limit should be placed on the informal talks in Helsinki, because the public needed certainty on when the decades-long conflict in Aceh would end.
Agung said the House would soon summon government officials to explain the outcomes of the talks.