Army top brass to hold meeting Aceh

Army top brass to hold meeting Aceh

Tiarma Siboro and Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Aceh

Amid the fragile truce in Aceh, 75 senior military officials
will gather in the conflict-torn province for a three-day meeting
starting on Wednesday.

Presiding over the leadership meeting will be Army Chief of
Staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu, a military officer known for his
zero tolerance of separatist movements.

All 12 regional military commanders will turn up for the
meeting, which used to take place in Jakarta.

In his statement, Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Ratyono said the
meeting, to be held in the North Aceh capital of Lhokseumawe,
would discuss various issues, including "efforts to maintain the
unitary and sovereignty of the state".

The move immediately drew a strong response from the Free Aceh
Movement (GAM), which called the gathering "a show of force" on
the part of the military.

GAM spokesman Tengku Iskandar Al Pasee said on Tuesday that he
suspected the meeting would lead the Indonesian Military (TNI) to
take a repressive approach to maintain peace and order, which had
returned to Aceh since the signing of the Cessation of
Hostilities Agreement brokered by the Henry Dunant Centre (HDC)
in Geneva last December.

Ratyono denied the allegations, saying that the decision to
bring the meeting to Aceh was in line with the Army's policy to
pay more attention to its troops on state duty there and to
provide them with moral support.

He added that the choice of Aceh as the meeting venue was
aimed at giving the Military's top commanders an understanding of
the current situation in the province, so as to raise their
awareness and optimism in dealing with issues there.

"Being a part of Indonesia, Aceh is a choice which is not
against any law. It will help us directly monitor the real
situation there after the government and GAM agreed to sign the
peace deal," Ratyono said in a statement, a copy of which was
made available to The Jakarta Post.

TNI began a massive deployment of troops to Aceh in 2001 in
line with the issuance of a presidential decree to restore
security and peace to the province. There are more than 21,000
reinforcement troops posted in the province to back up the
thousands of police officers. The military figure equals that of
an entire regional military command.

Under the peace agreement, troops will have to be relocated to
defense positions by July 9, while GAM has to lay down its arms.

GAM had been fighting for independence in the oil and gas rich
province since 1976. As a result of daily clashes between TNI and
GAM, thousands of people, mostly civilians, were killed. More
than 1,700 people were reportedly killed last year alone.

International observers assigned by HDC to monitor the
implementation of the peace agreement have accused both parties
of human rights violations. The deep animosity that exists
between the two sides is feared to make it difficult for the
peace agreement to last long.

The gathering will also commence against the backdrop of a
wave of violence in the Central Aceh town of Takengon, which was
regarded as a conflict-free area during the 26 years of fighting.

Four people were killed and 11 cars and buses were set on fire
in the Burlintang district of Takengon on March 15 during an
attack that was blamed on a militia group allegedly linked to the
military.

Early this month a mob ransacked the offices of the Joint
Security Committee (JSC) tripartite monitoring team, injuring two
monitors. The attack was sparked by allegations that the JSC was
unable to halt alleged extortion and violence committed by GAM.

Fresh incidents involving GAM and government security troops
also took place separately in the Bireun regency and the Nisam
area of North Aceh regency on Tuesday, but no casualties were
reported.