Bloody attack undermines dialog on Aceh issue

Ibnu Mat Noor, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

The planned dialog between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian government have been put in limbo, following the bloody assault last Thursday that injured two police officers.

GAM spokesman Tengku Sofyan Daud told The Jakarta Post that GAM had not yet received confirmation from the government whether the peace talks previously scheduled for last month in Geneva, Switzerland, would be held this month or not.

"It's no problem for us if the Indonesian government unilaterally decides to cancel it. The most important thing is that we are ready to respond to what it will decide on Aceh's fate. We have our own plan," he said.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Sunardi and his adjutant are still undergoing treatment at Gleneagles Hospital in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra, after receiving serious gunshot wounds to the head and back.

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar has called on the government to withdraw from the planned peace talks following the attack on a motorcade carrying Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh in North Aceh on Thursday.

No date has been set for the September talks after the government postponed the planned one last month.

Rebel negotiator Teuku Kumarujaman said the government had already postponed the talks once this month, and had not contacted the rebels to discuss a new date.

Despite this, Kumarujaman said he was "still optimistic that the meeting would go ahead."

At least 12,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since the clash between GAM and the government's security forces began in 1976, including about 850 this year.

Rebels are demanding independence. They have rejected a government offer of greater autonomy and a greater revenue share from the province's oil and natural gas reserves.

The government has set a deadline of early December for GAM to decide whether it will go to the negotiating table and accept the special autonomy the government has offered.

Meanwhile, hundreds of security personnel from the local military and police are still searching for the gunmen responsible for last Thursday's attack, said Insp. Gen. Yusuf Manggabarani, chief of the Aceh Provincial Police.

"We will keep searching for them but will not violate existing directives or standing orders," he told the media after leading an operation to crack down on marijuana trafficking in Pulau Aceh, Aceh Besar district.

Manggabarani said no police or military reinforcements would be sent to the region to assist in the search for the perpetrators of the attack.

"We will only increase the effectiveness of existing security forces in the region," he said.