Acehnese to hold mass prayer ahead of peace accord

Acehnese to hold mass prayer ahead of peace accord

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): Classes will be suspended across
strife-torn Aceh on Friday while students and teachers gather
together for mass prayers ahead of the signing of a memorandum of
understanding between the government and the Free Aceh Movement
(GAM) in Geneva.

The head of the province's Ministry of National Education
office, A. Malik Raden, and Aceh's education office chief,
Syahbuddin AR, on Tuesday instructed the teachers to organize
prays for the students following a similar call from Governor
Syamsuddin Mahmud.

"The prayers will be held on May 12, from 8 a.m to 10 a.m.
in each school," Syahbuddin said, adding that the prayers
specifically appeal for safety and order in Aceh.

"We hope all people, including teachers and administration
staff, will join in and pray together as we are tired of
violence. We really wish the peace accord will stop the conflict
here," he said.

The memorandum, called the humanitarian pause, will be inked
by Indonesia's permanent representative to the United Nations
Hassan Wirayuda and Zaini Abdillah on behalf of GAM on Friday.

Minister of Defense and Security Juwono Sudarsono asserted
that the Geneva meeting would be the best step to end the
protracted bloodshed in restive Aceh.

"The meeting must not be interpreted as Indonesia
recognizing GAM. It must be seen as steps toward a reconciliation
which ensures GAM remains with Indonesia," Juwono said after
speaking at the Strategic Forum at the Army Staff and Command
School in Bandung.

Geneva was chosen by President Abdurrahman Wahid and foreign
minister Alwi Shihab for certain tactical reasons, Juwono said
without elaborating.

"We have acknowledged since a long time ago that there are
armed groups who are against the government of Indonesia in Aceh.
But that doesn't mean a free Aceh state is legitimate," Juwono
said.

Violence continued to rock Aceh ahead of the Geneva accord. In
Aceh Besar, 35 houses were torched by unidentified gunmen late on
Monday. No fatalities were reported.

The house of Tengku Syamaun Risyad, the chief organizer of
Aceh People's Congress (KRA), in Lhokseumawe was also burned down
by an armed gang on Monday night.

From Monday to Tuesday, police also reported that four people
were shot dead in North Aceh and the provincial capital of Banda
Aceh.

Separately, visiting National Commission on Human Rights
(Komnas HAM) chairman Djoko Soegianto announced he would set up a
new team to investigate human rights abuses in the province. A
similar inquiry is being conducted into alleged rights violations
in East Timor and Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta.

The joint military-civilian tribunal heard on Tuesday the
testimony of 13 defendants, all soldiers, who said they executed
Tengku Bantaqiah and his disciples "under their superior's
order".

One of the defendants, Lt. Tri Joko Adiwiyono, said he tried
to question the order to shoot the students in a field near Babul
Mukaromah boarding school, but was slapped by his commander, Lt.
Col. Sudjono, who has been missing since December.

"He might have shot me had I defied the order," Joko
testified.

Earlier on Monday, 12 defendants, including 11 soldiers and a
civilian named Thaleb Aman Suar, gave the same account in front
of a panel of judges presided over by Ruslan Dahlan.
(25/50/edt/sur)