Foreign help sought to pressure GAM
Foreign help sought to pressure GAM
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met on Monday with six foreign
ambassadors and asked if they could help pressure the Free Aceh
Movement (GAM) leaders living overseas not to interfere with the
ongoing humanitarian relief efforts in Aceh.
In the snap meeting, the President said that the Indonesian
government wanted to find a peaceful solution to the ongoing Aceh
war.
"We emphasized that the separatist issue is our domestic
affair, but especially the GAM leaders in Sweden, we asked for
the Swedish government to do something against their citizens
that lead the rebellion movement here in Indonesia," said State
Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra, paraphrasing the President after
the meeting.
The six ambassadors were from the United States, B. Lynn
Pascoe; Japan, Yutaka Iimura; Singapore Edward Lee; Sweden,
Lennart Linner; the United Kingdom, Charles Humfrey and Libya's
Charge d'Affaires Ali Mabrouk al-Sheriqy.
The ambassadors refused to comment to the local reporters
after the meeting.
Susilo's appeal came after the Indonesian military earlier
accused GAM separatist rebels of trying to disrupt the
humanitarian relief work in Aceh, despite a tentative cease-fire
called by each side. The latest in a series of recent flare-ups
occurred on Sunday near the main United Nations compound in Banda
Aceh.
The gunfire created concerns over the safety of hundreds of
foreign and local humanitarian workers in the province, who are
assisting hundreds of thousands of tsunami survivors.
Susilo responded by stating that the government would ensure
the safety of all humanitarian workers in Aceh, and the
government would push GAM not to interfere with the ongoing
humanitarian operation in the province.
GAM rebels have been fighting for independence since 1976.
The government launched a massive military operation against the
rebels in May 2003 after the failure of peace talks in Tokyo,
putting the oil- and gas-rich province under martial law.
The government has also been trying for several years to get
the Swedish government to take legal action against GAM's top
leaders, several of whom now hold Swedish citizenship.
Three of the key GAM leaders, Hasan Tiro, Malik Mahmood and
Abdullah Zaini live in Stockholm and have been questioned several
times by the local attorney general's office after Indonesia sent
several files believed to implicate the three in crimes. The
cases were apparently not deemed strong enough and no further
legal action has been taken.
Malik Mahmood is believed to be a Singaporean citizen, while
the other two are Swedish.
Yusril said that the U.S., UK and Japanese ambassadors were
asked to attend the meeting as they had previously been involved
in peace negotiations, while Libya had offered to assist
Indonesia in ending the separatist problem in the province.
Meanwhile in Aceh, GAM Commander-in-Chief Muzakkir Manaf said
that his troops would stick to their commitment to a cease-fire
and hoped everyone would work together -- military troops,
civilians, volunteers and journalists - in Aceh to focus on
humanitarian relief.
"We have been in a defensive position since we unilaterally
proposed a cease-fire. However, we may review our stance if the
Indonesian Military (TNI) continues to blame us for every
security disturbance that has taken place, despite the disaster,"
Muzakkir said in the statement made available to The Jakarta
Post.
Muzakkir's statement came amid conflicting accounts on who was
responsible for Sunday's shooting.
Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister of People's Welfare Alwi
Shihab, who is heading the country's relief efforts, was quoted
by AP as saying that the burst of gunfire came from a "troubled"
Indonesian soldier, not a rebel gunman.
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met on Monday with six foreign
ambassadors and asked if they could help pressure the Free Aceh
Movement (GAM) leaders living overseas not to interfere with the
ongoing humanitarian relief efforts in Aceh.
In the snap meeting, the President said that the Indonesian
government wanted to find a peaceful solution to the ongoing Aceh
war.
"We emphasized that the separatist issue is our domestic
affair, but especially the GAM leaders in Sweden, we asked for
the Swedish government to do something against their citizens
that lead the rebellion movement here in Indonesia," said State
Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra, paraphrasing the President after
the meeting.
The six ambassadors were from the United States, B. Lynn
Pascoe; Japan, Yutaka Iimura; Singapore Edward Lee; Sweden,
Lennart Linner; the United Kingdom, Charles Humfrey and Libya's
Charge d'Affaires Ali Mabrouk al-Sheriqy.
The ambassadors refused to comment to the local reporters
after the meeting.
Susilo's appeal came after the Indonesian military earlier
accused GAM separatist rebels of trying to disrupt the
humanitarian relief work in Aceh, despite a tentative cease-fire
called by each side. The latest in a series of recent flare-ups
occurred on Sunday near the main United Nations compound in Banda
Aceh.
The gunfire created concerns over the safety of hundreds of
foreign and local humanitarian workers in the province, who are
assisting hundreds of thousands of tsunami survivors.
Susilo responded by stating that the government would ensure
the safety of all humanitarian workers in Aceh, and the
government would push GAM not to interfere with the ongoing
humanitarian operation in the province.
GAM rebels have been fighting for independence since 1976.
The government launched a massive military operation against the
rebels in May 2003 after the failure of peace talks in Tokyo,
putting the oil- and gas-rich province under martial law.
The government has also been trying for several years to get
the Swedish government to take legal action against GAM's top
leaders, several of whom now hold Swedish citizenship.
Three of the key GAM leaders, Hasan Tiro, Malik Mahmood and
Abdullah Zaini live in Stockholm and have been questioned several
times by the local attorney general's office after Indonesia sent
several files believed to implicate the three in crimes. The
cases were apparently not deemed strong enough and no further
legal action has been taken.
Malik Mahmood is believed to be a Singaporean citizen, while
the other two are Swedish.
Yusril said that the U.S., UK and Japanese ambassadors were
asked to attend the meeting as they had previously been involved
in peace negotiations, while Libya had offered to assist
Indonesia in ending the separatist problem in the province.
Meanwhile in Aceh, GAM Commander-in-Chief Muzakkir Manaf said
that his troops would stick to their commitment to a cease-fire
and hoped everyone would work together -- military troops,
civilians, volunteers and journalists - in Aceh to focus on
humanitarian relief.
"We have been in a defensive position since we unilaterally
proposed a cease-fire. However, we may review our stance if the
Indonesian Military (TNI) continues to blame us for every
security disturbance that has taken place, despite the disaster,"
Muzakkir said in the statement made available to The Jakarta
Post.
Muzakkir's statement came amid conflicting accounts on who was
responsible for Sunday's shooting.
Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister of People's Welfare Alwi
Shihab, who is heading the country's relief efforts, was quoted
by AP as saying that the burst of gunfire came from a "troubled"
Indonesian soldier, not a rebel gunman.