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.