GAM agrees to discuss autonomy, says minister

GAM agrees to discuss autonomy, says minister

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian government has claimed that the Free Aceh Movement
(GAM) has agreed to discuss the special autonomy law for the
province, implemented by the government since January 2002, as
the basis for future peace dialogs.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said on Monday
that there were positive improvements after the two-day talks in
Geneva over the weekend and the two sides had agreed to hold
another dialog in the near future.

"We see a positive improvement as GAM is willing to discuss
the special autonomy for Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam as the basis of
future talks," Hassan remarked.

However, he refused to say whether GAM had softened its stance
toward Indonesia, especially after the death of its commander
Tengku Abdullah Syafi'ie.

"The most important thing is that it appeared at the
discussions, when before it seemed to be reluctant to engage in
another peace dialog with us ... There will be further meetings
in the near future," he underlined.

The foreign ministry noted earlier several points as the
result of the dialog, including that the two sides, "confirmed
their respect for the people of Aceh to govern themselves
peacefully and regret the continuing loss of human life in Aceh".

The two sides also agreed to further deliberations on issues
of common concern, but provided no further explanation.

Zaini Abdullah, a GAM negotiator, agreed the talks had been
positive.

"We had very tough discussions about reducing violence and
security implementation," Zaini said, as quoted by Agence France-
Presse in Switzerland.

"I think the meeting was good -- we are closer.

"We have to inform our people and we will be meeting again in
30 days to 45 days."

In Aceh, GAM members welcomed on Monday the outcome of the
dialog and pledged to abide by the agreement.

"This is the best outcome for the Acehnese and GAM. We are
committed to abiding by the agreement and we hope Indonesia will
also take a similar stance and put it into practice in the
field," GAM spokesman Sofyan Ibrahim Tiba told The Jakarta Post
in Banda Aceh on Monday.

Although the Geneva meeting was informal in nature, both sides
had a moral responsibility to implement the outcome, he said.

"We feel happy because in the meeting three 'wise men' from
the U.S. and Thailand were present," said Sofyan, referring to
U.S. mediator Anthony Zinni, former Thai Foreign Minister Surin
Pitsuwan and Budimir Loncar of Yugoslav.

Sofyan admitted that GAM had agreed to accept the special
autonomy status for Aceh as a pointer toward a more comprehensive
solution to the Aceh question.

According to Sofyan, the Geneva meeting agreed to a local
general election in Aceh in May 2004, an end to all forms of
violence in 2002 and transparent political dialog involving all
elements in Aceh in 2002 and 2003.

He also said both sides agreed to meet again in Geneva in 30
days' to 45 days' time to discuss a mechanism on how to resolve
security issues in the province.

While both sides negotiated at an undisclosed place in Geneva,
armed violence continued unabated in Aceh, causing the death of
at least 10 people over the two days.

Local military spokesman Zaenal Mutaqin said on Monday that
troops had killed two GAM members in East Aceh on Sunday and
confiscated one Chinese-made pistol and 22 bullets.

GAM spokesman in North Aceh Tengku Jamaika, meanwhile, said
that hundreds of soldiers had carried out military operations in
villages in the Kandang area near Lhokseumawe and in Nisam
district.

He alleged that the soldiers arrested five civilians in
Kandang on Saturday; two of them were found dead on Sunday.

The soldiers, however, denied the allegation, saying that
military operations on Saturday and Sunday were routine patrols
to protect local people from GAM intimidation.