ASEAN to curb gunrunning to Aceh

ASEAN to curb gunrunning to Aceh

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) member
countries are shortly expected to demonstrate their support for
Indonesia's national integrity amid the independence struggle
being waged by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

In a draft joint communique from the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting
(AMM) obtained by The Jakarta Post on Sunday, the 10 member
countries of ASEAN stressed their recognition of Aceh as an
integral part of Indonesia.

According to article 22 of the draft, the ASEAN countries
pledge their support to the effort to deny the separatist
movement access to the means of perpetrating violence, especially
through preventing arms smuggling into Aceh province.

In the draft, ASEAN also reiterates its recognition of the
sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity of
Indonesia, including Aceh, which is currently under martial law.

It adds that the ASEAN countries recognize the efforts of the
Indonesian government to restore peace and order in Aceh.

Indonesia has been struggling to restrict GAM's access to the
outside world, including preventing it from obtaining arms and
its members from seeking political asylum, during the current
massive military offensive in the province.

The national police had earlier sought Thailand's cooperation
in ensuring the elimination of gunrunning from that country and
the arrest of GAM leader Zakariah Zaman, who is said to have
sought refuge in Thailand.

During his visit to Jakarta last month, Thai foreign minister
Surakiart Sathirathai pledged his government's support in curbing
the illicit trafficking of arms from a certain parts of Thailand
to Aceh.

Jakarta has also sought the help of the Swedish government to
restrict the room for maneuver of GAM leaders in exile,
especially Hasan Tiro, Malik Mahmood and Zaini Abdullah, all of
whom are currently residing in Stockholm and have taken out
Swedish citizenship.

So far, the ASEAN member countries have shown their full
support for Indonesia and intensified cooperation with the
Indonesian police for the purpose of detecting the presence of
GAM leaders who might have fled the province to neighboring
countries.

A senior Indonesian diplomat said that the statement shows
that the ASEAN member countries fully understand that security in
Indonesia, as the largest country in the regional grouping, is a
significant factor in regional security as a whole.