GAM ready to end hostility, violence

GAM ready to end hostility, violence

Nani Farida
The Jakarta Post
Banda Aceh

Field commanders of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) are ready to
hold conditional peace talks with the local military and police
in an attempt to end hostilities and violence, says a GAM
official.

"We strongly support peace talks between the field commanders
on both sides to end the hostilities and stop the prolonged
violence," GAM negotiator Sofyan Ibrahim Tiba said here on
Sunday.

Sofyan was responding to a statement by Coordinating Minister
for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that
both sides should hold talks to follow up the agreement reached
at the meeting in Geneva on May 9 and May 10.

According to information obtained by The Jakarta Post, at
least 36 civilians were killed during mounting tension over the
last two weeks in separate locations in the restive province.
Most victims were found dead, with gunshot wounds to their head,
an indication that they had been abducted before being shot dead.

During the last meeting held in Geneva in May, GAM agreed to
accept the special autonomy the central government has given to
Aceh, as a meaningful starting point for further negotiations
under the all-Aceh inclusive dialogs to seek a peaceful solution
to the prolonged conflict.

Sofyan added that GAM would not attend peace talks (consequent
upon both sides agreeing to a cease-fire) unless the security of
GAM negotiators at the peace talks were assured.

"It is impossible for GAM to hold peace talks if the violence
continues and our negotiators' security is not guaranteed," he
said, referring to his arrest and that of two other GAM
negotiators in July 2001.

Sofyan said the planned inclusive all-Aceh dialog would be
held next month in the province, but GAM had yet to receive any
invitation or the agenda to be discussed at the meeting.

Spokesman for GAM in Aceh Besar Teuku Muksalmina accused the
local military and police of being behind the increasing
abduction of civilians without trial.

"The local military and police have been behind them because
many Acehnese civilians have been abducted and later killed,
because they were suspected of spying for GAM," he said.

He said security personnel should not arrest innocent people
if they failed to capture rebels.

"The civilians know nothing about the conflict. Security
personnel should come to the hideouts in our strongholds in the
province if the authorities want to quell our movement," he said.

Meanwhile, spokesman for the Iskandar Muda Military Command
overseeing Aceh Col. Firdaus denied GAM's accusations, saying the
massive killing had been carried out by invisible forces or by
GAM in its attempt to discredit the military and the government.

"The killing has been exposed widely to draw attention from
the international world as well as to discredit the government,"
he said.

Firdaus insisted the security authorities had never ordered
arbitrary arrests or killings and if there were security
personnel involved in such cases plus adequate material evidence
to prove it, they had to be punished.