GAM gets tough as govt discusses Aceh options
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) threatened on Sunday to "teach colonial forces a lesson" if Jakarta resumed its military operation in Aceh, while the government meets to decide the next step in handling the restive province.
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the government would discuss on Monday a number of options for handling the Aceh crisis.
"We hope the President can choose one of these options and decide what steps to take in the coming Cabinet meeting on Monday (today)," he told reporters on Sunday after greeting President Megawati Soekarnoputri who has just returned from a 10-day trip to Romania, Russia and Poland.
He said the Cabinet meeting aimed to discuss the continuation of the peace process and the agreement, and evaluate the latest situation in the province following Megawati's return.
Jakarta has intensified its warnings against the rebels, threatening to crush them through a renewed military operation. Troops in Aceh have been reinforced with more likely to be sent if the prospect for peace dims further.
GAM, however, warned of more bloodshed should Jakarta decide to resume its military operation in the province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.
"If Indonesia wants to continue its occupation on the Acehnese through a military operation then we will teach the occupying forces a valuable lesson," said GAM's military wing spokesman Sofyan Dawod in a statement.
Hopes are fading for a peace accord between Jakarta and GAM. Both blame each other for not sticking to the deal but refuse to meet to talk over their differences.
A joint council meeting aimed to salvage the peace accord was scrapped at the last minute last week.
Indonesia canceled the meeting, angry over GAM's apparent lack of seriousness when it demanded the meeting be held outside the country and then refused again because the date fell on the weekend.
GAM refused to take the blame, saying it was Indonesia that pulled out of the planned meeting.
Signed in December last year, the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement remains the strongest hope for lasting peace to return to Aceh.
The agreement lays out concrete steps for both sides to defuse tension, and violence has significantly been reduced since the signing.
GAM is supposed to relocate its weapons while the Indonesian Military (TNI) is moved to defensive positions. However, these moves were not entirely followed through.
Indonesian officials said GAM was still withholding their weapons while the latter charged that TNI-backed militias were provoking violence.
International peace monitors across the province were evacuated to the province's capital of Banda Aceh, following threats made against them by suspected pro-Jakarta militias.
GAM has been fighting for an independent Aceh since 1976 in a war that has killed some 10,000 people, mainly civilians.
Sporadic violence meanwhile continues. Two employees of state Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) were abducted on Saturday during their trip home from work in Krueng Batee village in the regency of Kuta Fajar.
So far neither side has indicated it will withdraw from the peace process, keeping the hope alive that talks will resume.
GAM spokesman Sofyan said that GAM remained committed to the peace accord and Vice President Hamzah Haz said on Saturday that the peace process had to continue.