GAM, TNI gear up for war in Aceh as deadline draws near

GAM, TNI gear up for war in Aceh as deadline draws near

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As the two-week deadline draws closer, both the Indonesian
Military (TNI) and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) are now gearing up
for a possible bloody confrontation in conflict-torn Aceh.

TNI Chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto told 2,164 military
personnel -- consisting of 1,300 Marines, 600 Army's Strategic
Reserves Command (Kostrad) personnel, 164 Air Force soldiers, 70
Navy soldiers, and 30 personnel of the joint military-police riot
squad (PPRC) -- to head for the country's westernmost province as
early as Thursday (today).

Earlier, TNI leadership also readied two battalions of about
1,200 Air Force soldiers, including its intelligence unit Bravo,
as well as 1,300 marines, and 6,000 Mobile Brigade (Brimob).

They would join some 26,000 troops and 14,000 police personnel
already stationed in the province, where GAM has been fighting
for independence for resource-rich Aceh since 1976. At least
10,000 people have been killed, mostly civilians, since then.

The huge number of reinforcement troops would reportedly face
between 8,000 and 10,000 GAM members who are believed to have
some 8,000 weapons, including SS-1, AK-47 and AK-54 rifles.

Some of these GAM members are living in remote parts of the
jungle, but some, especially those recruited during or after
2000, stay in Aceh's towns, together with the local people.

Under the leadership of Muzakkir Manaf, elected as GAM's
supreme commander in 2002 to replace Abdullah Syafie who died in
a military raid -- the secessionist movement had consolidated and
recruited more members, mostly from East Aceh.

A reliable source close to GAM told The Jakarta Post on
Wednesday that during the consolidation process, several GAM
members had been singled out as military infiltrators and were
now "wanted by GAM."

"They include Tengku Maulida and Fauzi Hasbi from North Aceh
and Arjuna from Pidie region," the source said.

He said Muzakkir, a top graduate from Libyan special forces
training in 1980s, served as Hassan Tiro's political military
officer in Sweden before taking up the leadership post in Aceh.

Muzakir, according to the source, gave autonomy to each GAM
commander at the regency level to maximize its strength,
including to purchase weapons from drug mafia groups in Thailand.
It also purchased military weaponry from Malaysia and "several
low-ranking military officers" in Aceh.

Realizing that the peace deal signed in December last year
would bear no fruit, GAM had also collected what they call
Nanggroe taxes from local people to support their guerrilla
activities. Later they limited the tax collections to
businesspeople.

"But what Muzakkir and other GAM leaders are concerned about
is that these new members will not be as militant as their
seniors. I also predict that in not more than one month we will
find difficulty in seeking logistics should the military launch
urban warfare tactics and force us to live in the jungles," the
source said.

TNI earlier revealed that it would employ counter-guerrilla
tactics in dealing with Aceh rebels, by first of all separating
the people from GAM and cutting off the flow of logistics for GAM
soldiers. It is estimated that the operation would be completed
in not more than six months.

TNI had also identified several regencies as GAM strongholds
including Aceh Besar, Pidie, Bireun, North Aceh, East Aceh, while
several places like Gayo, Tamiang, Singkil, Alas, and Central
Aceh have been declared "clean areas".

TNI had also prepared 13 scorpion tanks, 23 Navy amphibious
tanks, 12 Navy tanks, along with two F-16 jet fighters, 4 Hawk-
200, six Hercules carriers, one Superpuma and five Twinpack
helicopters and six OV-10 Bronco military aircraft.

In Madiun, East Java, the Air Force has already undergone the
night-flight training using the F-16, F-5 and Hawk MK-53 fighters
to preparation for the military operation in Aceh.

GAM has no option but to face government troops. Tengku,
however, said that any military operation "will only increase the
number of rights violations in the province".

"We are not going to surrender even if Jakarta insists on
sending military troops here. We are ready to face them," Sofyan
Dawood told the Post by telephone from GAM headquarters in Aceh.