Akbar wants govt to explain RI-GAM truce signing abroad

JAKARTA (JP): Wariness slowly crept in on Monday as concerns grew that the government committed a diplomatic blunder in signing an accord that could confer international recognition to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung called on the government to explain to the House soon why the accord was signed abroad.

"The House can understand the agreement, but it was not necessary to sign it abroad, and not by an Indonesian ambassador, a high official representing the Indonesian government," Akbar told journalists.

Attending the opening session of the House after a 45-day recess, he stressed that the solution to the Aceh problem should be viewed as a domestic affair without involving foreign parties.

Akbar also urged the government to consult with the House when conducting a follow up on the accord.

The Indonesian government and GAM signed a Joint Understanding on Humanitarian Pause at a private location in Switzerland on Friday. It aspires to restrain violence in the province and could pave the way for a peaceful solution to the Aceh issue.

Indonesia was represented by Indonesia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Hassan Wirajuda, and GAM was represented by Health Minister Zaini Abdullah.

International relations expert Dewi Fortuna Anwar reiterated on Monday the concerns of her colleagues at the Indonesia Institute of Sciences (LIPI), that the accord may be a "diplomatic blunder".

"In this case I oppose the government. I, personally, call this policy a diplomatic blunder," she told journalists after a briefing to announce plans to launch The Habibie Center here.

She said the newly established organization also had complained to Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab.

"(But) The minister said that our wariness was based on nothing," she remarked.

Dewi said she was extremely disappointed that the accord was signed at a secret location abroad and that it was also signed by Indonesia's highest ranking representative at the UN mission there.

"The place is too far from Indonesia, but too close to the headquarters of the United Nations' High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva," she remarked.

"Deliberately or not, the Aceh case could be submitted as an international matter, and we don't want this matter to get internationalized," Dewi said.

Dewi, who was former president B.J. Habibie's assistant for international affairs, also pointed out that being represented by a man in Ambassador Hassan's position could be interpreted as Indonesia's acknowledgment that the opposite party is a sovereign external entity.

"Indonesia has to be very prudent in taking the next step, because if there are more human rights violations, such as bombings and mass killings, we couldn't argue that this is our internal affair," she added.

Dewi also suggested Jakarta ask a neighboring country acceptable to both parties act as mediator. "Don't go to the United Nations first, because it has the power to impose international sanctions."

The government has repeatedly stressed that the accord is not a precursor to GAM's recognition and that it was signed in Switzerland because self-exiled GAM leader Hasan Tiro, who has been living in Sweden since 1979, refused to come to Indonesia.

Meanwhile in Medan, North Sumatra, People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais warned that the accord could be politicized by certain foreign powers.

"If the humanitarian accord is then elevated to a political level...my concern is that the Indonesian government and GAM could be on equal footing," he said as quoted by Antara.

He warned that if this happens then Indonesia would have been lured into a high stakes international political game.

But two Acehnese senior political figures brushed off concerns and described the accord as a positive step forward.

"It's (the signing) a good preliminary step for peace in Aceh," said Ismail Hasan Metareum, former chairman of the United Development Party (PPP)

He did not believe that it would lead to a recognition of GAM since it was only a humanitarian pause.

Former Aceh governor Ibrahim Hasan concurred and suggested the government cooperate with Aceh ulemas, Islamic students and university students to publicize the results of the agreement. (jun/01/50/edt)