Akbar wants govt to explain RI-GAM truce signing abroad

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)