Dialog still priority for Aceh solution: Minister Mahfud

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Defense Mahfud M.D. asserted on Friday the government was prioritizing the use of negotiations in an effort to solve the separatist issues in Aceh province.

"Of course a military operation will be one alternative among others. And it (a military operation) will only be conducted if the dialogs are fruitless," Mahfud said to the press after installing the ministry's executive officials here.

Earlier on Thursday, the Indonesian military (TNI)'s chief for general affairs, Lt. Gen. Djamari Chaniago urged the government to determine the position of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) with regard to Indonesia's legal framework.

Action against GAM was also supported by the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) chief Lt. Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu, saying that GAM was "the enemy of the state and should be quelled".

Mahfud, however, said that the (selective) military operation which might be conducted by the government was just to fight GAM, armed civilians and other separatist movements, "but not to kill the innocent people of Aceh".

Amid the contradictory positions of the minister and TNI senior figures, Mahfud said the government was scheduled to address Aceh issues in the coming Cabinet meeting on Monday.

Back in Aceh, tension still gripped Idi area in East Aceh regency on Friday following an overnight shooting which killed six people.

Business and school activities were halted as transportation in the area also temporarily ground to a halt.

"We locked ourselves in our houses and are afraid because we are being pitted between GAM and security forces," a local resident said.

The Indonesian troops regained power over Idi town on March 2 after a fierce 14-hour standoff with GAM rebels.

In East Aceh on Thursday, six people were killed in Teupin Jareng village in Idi district, some two kilometers away from Idi town. A six-year-old girl remains in a critical condition.

Forum of Student and Youth Antiviolence Movements (Fomapak) activist Sulaiman said the incident began at around 5:30 p.m. on Thursday when dozens of police and military personnel raided the camp at a small mosque compound, crammed with more than 1,000 refugees.

In Pidie, the body of a man named Irawan Alibasya, 35, was found decapitated in Putue village, Pidie district of Pidie regency, on Friday morning and later taken to Sigli Hospital.

Meanwhile, ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia (EMOI) has temporarily suspended production operations at the Arun, South Lhoksukon and Pase gas fields in Aceh "due to events beyond our control resulting from the current unrest in the area." (edt/02/50/51)