GAM establish embassy on Vanuatu : Report

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government has asked Vanuatu to clarify a report that the Free Aceh Movement has been allowed to establish a representative office on the small south-west Pacific islands nation.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in Jakarta on Tuesday that the government would file a strong protest if the report was true.

GAM's government-in-exile claimed to have opened an embassy in Vanuatu over the weekend, which would make the nation, located in the New Hebrides archipelago, the first to recognize the rebels.

A statement issued by Malik Mahmud, the prime minister-in- exile of the "State of Aceh", said: "This event took place (on Sunday) in Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu, during a ceremony of the opening of the Joint Chanceries of the Embassies of Aceh, Papua and Maluku by His Excellency Mr. Serge R. Vohor, the Deputy Prime Minister of Vanuatu."

"For the Acehnese people, this historic event represents the first recognition by a nation-state, of the legitimate right of the Acehnese to determine their own political future."

A copy of Mahmud's statement was made available to Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) in Jakarta.

In March this year, Vanuatu allowed the Free Papua Movement (OPM) to establish an office in Port Vila.

Vanuatu said at the time that allowing the OPM to establish an office did not mean that it recognized formal diplomatic relations with the rebel movement, insisting the office had no official diplomatic status.

Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said that if the report was true, the attitude of the Vanuatu government could damage the reputation and international support for the Indonesian government.

It would not be consistent with what Vanuatu has allowed in the past, Natalegawa told dpa in a telephone interview from Auckland, New Zealand.

"This so-called opening would not have any legal standing whatsoever, because there is not a single country in the world that recognizes Aceh," he added.

The OPM, GAM and the Republic of South Maluku (RMS) have been struggling for independence from Indonesia for decades.

Aceh and Papua are rich in resources but the development of the provinces, particularly in Papua, has lagged well behind other parts of Indonesia. Once thriving Maluku has been devastated by years of religious clashes against outside elements, mainly from Java.