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.