GAM, NGOs welcome Tokyo meeting to rebuild Aceh

GAM, NGOs welcome Tokyo meeting to rebuild Aceh

Ibnu Mat Noor, Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

Separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), non-governmental
organizations and a monitoring team all hailed the planned
international conference in Tokyo to raise funds to finance Aceh
reconstruction programs.

One GAM military commander, Amri Abdul Wahab, told The Jakarta
Post by phone here on Monday that GAM would appreciate help from
the international community for Aceh as long the aid did not have
conditions attached to it.

"We never reject assistance from the international community
as long as it does not bind us," Amri said.

He was commenting on reports that Japan, the United States,
the European Union, together with the World Bank, will convene on
Tuesday an international conference of donors to raise funds for
the reconstruction of Aceh following the planned signing of a
peace deal between the Indonesian government and GAM, slated for
Dec. 9.

A total of 23 countries and international organizations will
be represented at the meeting. GAM, however, is not invited to
the meeting.

Amri said he hoped the assistance from the international
community would not only consist of financial or material aid to
rebuild public facilities in the health and education sectors,
but also efforts to help the Acehnese cope with their lives.

"More important than those things is how to help the Acehnese
regain their rights that have been robbed by Jakarta for so many
years," Amri added.

The day before the international conference on Aceh starts in
Tokyo on Tuesday, the situation in the volatile province was
calm, despite the planned celebration of Aceh independence by GAM
on Dec. 4.

The Indonesian government and military (TNI), however, has
warned GAM and the Acehnese people not to celebrate an
independence day other than the Indonesian independence day of
August 17.

Despite the ban, GAM spokesman for East Aceh Teungku Fauzillah
said that the separatist group would continue with its plan and
organize a ceremony to commemorate the 26th anniversary of self-
proclaimed independence on Dec. 4.

He claimed that preparations for the anniversary in East Aceh
had been made in the past weeks, involving thousand of GAM
soldiers.

According to Fauzillah, these armed forces would be deployed
to create eight circles of security. "Each circle will be
enforced with dozens of soldiers to enable them to detect TNI
members," he told the Post.

A member of the monitoring team on Aceh security, Abdul Gani
Nurdin, confirmed on Monday that the situation in the province
had been improving lately, especially after the deployment of
monitoring team members in five regencies across Aceh.

Gani, who works for the Henry Dunant Center, that facilities
peace talks between the government and GAM, added that the
security situation in Aceh cities was much better than in the
villages.

Gunfights between the Indonesian Military (TNI) and GAM often
take place in the villages, he said.

Gani added that the recovery programs for Aceh should be
implemented urgently, to reconstruct education and health care
facilities as well as rebuild thousands of houses destroyed in
the past decades.

Meantime, a coalition of 27 civil organizations in Aceh
expressed their support for the initiative of the international
community to help the Acehnese people emerge from their prolonged
conflict.

They said in a statement that the recovery program for Aceh
must be implemented democratically with regards to the agreement
between Jakarta and GAM.

The international assistance should also consider the rights
of the Acehnese for self-determination, said one of the
activists, Muhammad Nazar.

"Without the right for self-determination, human rights,
social justice, and economic recovery will not be able to be
fully implemented," said the statement, copies of which were sent
to the Indonesian government, GAM, and international
organizations.