CMI: Special autonomy the only alternative
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Top-level delegations of the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) kicked off a second round of peace talks on Monday, with a strong message that special autonomy for Aceh would be the only consideration on the agenda.
"I think it's extremely important that everyone understands that we are not starting negotiations, and they are not open, as such, so that all possible alternatives could be considered. We only have one (alternative)," former Finnish president Maarti Ahtisaari, the chairman of facilitator group Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) said as quoted by Reuters.
"The whole exercise is aimed at looking at whether the possibility of ... special autonomy can actually provide the basis for ending the armed conflict."
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said that his government would discuss "special autonomy and topics around that" for Aceh, where over 12,000 have been killed in three decades of fighting.
The autonomy deal Jakarta has offered includes concessions towards self-rule and Islamic law in the devout Muslim province and a larger slice of the revenue earned by the province's natural resources.
GAM spokesman Bachtiar Abdullah, however, said special autonomy, or any other political solution, should not be listed as the top agenda for the talks. He stressed a cessation of hostilities in the province was more urgent for the time being.
"If special autonomy is part of 'the peace package', then it should not be top of the list. The Indonesian government can offer it (the special autonomy) now, but we can discuss it months later only after both parties are able to prove their commitment to a cease-fire," Abdullah told The Jakarta Post.
In the January meeting, GAM highlighted three points as its desired first steps for the conflict resolution in Aceh, including a cease-fire, the withdrawal of the 40,000-strong Indonesian force from Aceh and the lifting of the state of emergency in the province.
But Ahtisaari said a cease-fire should be part of a more comprehensive peace deal rather than an end in itself.
"We need the security arrangement, disarmament of people, but that has to come as part of an overall package that consists of many other details," he said.
Brought together by the Dec. 26 tsunami that devastated Aceh and parts of North Sumatra, where more than 235,000 people died or went missing, the two sides first met in Helsinki in late January.
It was the first face-to-face meeting between Indonesia and the GAM since 2003 and proved constructive enough to spark further talks aimed at a lasting peace for the gas-rich province on the northern tip of Sumatra island.
While the Helsinki talks were underway, violence broke out in separate locations in Aceh, leaving one soldier dead and seven others wounded on Sunday.
An Indonesian Military (TNI) spokesman, Col. D.J. Nachrowi, said on Monday the troops were killed and injured in a gun battle in Harapan village, West Aceh.
Another clash between GAM and TNI soldiers also occurred on Saturday along Aceh's west coast as the U.N.-affiliated International Organization for Migration was hauling goods and supplies destined for survivors, a spokeswoman said.
According to Simona Opitz, the organization's spokeswoman, one soldier was slightly injured in the fighting. She said no IOM members were targeted by the rebels.