GAM told to accept special Autonomy Law

Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has to accept the special autonomy law for Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) if it wishes to pursue a peace dialog with the government, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda has said.

"GAM should know by now that the government takes the special autonomy law and the integrity of Indonesia as the modality of negotiations," Hassan said after a Cabinet meeting in Jakarta on Monday.

"Continuing to demand independence will only bring the dialog to a standstill," he added.

He also said that the government would evaluate in the next one or two weeks whether the (previous) dialogue had produced an effective result.

"Afterwards, it will be up to us to decide ... we could say, this is enough and pursue another option," Hassan said, while stressing that the other option would not necessarily mean a military approach, and the government will proceed with its comprehensive solution.

Asked whether there would be another dialog with GAM as Hassan previously stated -- 30 days to 45 days after the last one held in Geneva, Switzerland -- the Minister said it all depended on the results of the evaluation.

"We shall see whether GAM will accept the special autonomy package as a final solution. If not, it would only be a waste of time," he said.

Vice President Hamzah Haz said on Sunday that there was no reason for GAM to exist, now that the government had paid special heed to the Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province.

Last week, Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also expressed the government's reluctance to proceed with negotiations, saying that it might not continue to seek a solution with the secessionist movement through dialogue should it continue to reject the special autonomy package.

The government reinstated the military command in Aceh on Tuesday last week, amid criticism from human rights activists and rejection from the Acehnese, fearing wider abuse in the province.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri is expected to issue a presidential instruction extending and modifying Presidential Instruction No.7/2001 on the use of military measures to quash the separatist movement in the province.