Acehnese demand freedom as govt sets deadline

Acehnese demand freedom as govt sets deadline

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

More than 700 Achenese demanded independence from Indonesia
during a demonstration in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh on
Thursday, just two days before the anniversary of Indonesia's
independence.

Meanwhile in Jakarta, Coordinating Minister for Political and
Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono set a deadline of 2004
to end the ongoing conflict with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM)
that has claimed thousands of lives since 1976.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri is scheduled to head a
special cabinet meeting on Aug. 19, 2002 to formulate a plan to
end the conflict.

The demonstrators, coordinated by the Democratic Front for
Acehnese People's Struggle (FPDRA), also demanded Megawati and
Vice President Hamzah Haz step down to make way for a government
which cares about the poor.

Holding anti-Indonesia banners and defaced pictures of the
president and vice president, the demonstrators, mainly from
isolated areas in the province, marched past the governor's
office, the provincial legislative council building and the Grand
Mosque.

The rally, closely monitored by police and the military, was
the largest since 1999 when thousands of Acehnese marched to
demand a self-determination referendum for the province.

Students taking part in the demonstration also demanded local
police release prodemocracy activist Reihan Diani who was
arrested for insulting the president while leading a rally in the
city recently.

The demonstrators also condemned Megawati, the former ruling
Golkar party and the International Monetary Fund for failing to
pull Indonesia from the prolonged economic crisis.

"In the past, Sukarno (the founding president and Megawati's
father) deceived the Acehnese people with his tears, now his
daughter cries as she tells us lies," FPDRA Secretary General
Thamren Ananda said during a free speech forum.

Reliable sources say Indonesian security forces had forced
many Acehnese to raise the national flag in observance of
Indonesia's 57th Independence Day.

The situation in Aceh is tense, fueled by a number of
incidents, including the burning of a passenger bus in Paya
Rangkiloh, North Aceh, 220 kilometers south of Banda Aceh.

According to eyewitnesses, passengers were forced to vacate
the bus before it was torched by gunmen believed to be members of
GAM. The bus was on its way from Bireuen to Medan, capital of
North Sumatra. Land transport from the province to Medan was cut
off following the incident.

Susilo, fresh from a three-day visit to Aceh, insisted the
conflict must be settled by the end of his term in office in
2004.

"We have set a time frame for dialog with GAM with the hope
that we are able to solve the Aceh conflict before 2004," he
said.

He said the violence must be stopped to avoid more civilian
deaths.

Separately, Indonesian Military Commander Gen. Endriartono
Sutarto reiterated that four more combat battalions would be
dispatched to Aceh immediately in support of the existing 21,000
soldiers stationed there.

Sutarto, who had just arrived in Jakarta after a two-day visit
to Aceh, said the government would not continue talks unless GAM
stopped the violence and accepted special autonomy for the
province.

The government's plan to impose martial law in Aceh has been
met with opposition from Acehnese leaders and political analysts
who say it would bring more suffering to the Acehnese people.

They also criticized the recent revival of the military
command and the planned deployment of more combat troops, saying
it would not end the conflict and the condition would be similar
to martial law.

Admiral Thomas Fargo, chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, said
Washington would support a peaceful solution to the Aceh
conflict.

"The solution should have a political context to it and much
more than just involvement of security forces," he said after a
meeting with Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda.

Fargo also met with Susilo and Minister of Defense Matori
Andul Djalil.