GAM's strength reduced: Endriartono

GAM's strength reduced: Endriartono

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto claimed
on Friday that government troops deployed in war-ravaged Aceh had
significantly sapped the strength of the separatist Free Aceh
Movement (GAM) in the four-month-old operation.

The four-star general, however, admitted that soldiers were
still finding it difficult to arrest or kill senior leaders of
Aceh rebels, who have been fighting for independence for the
resource-rich province since 1976.

"I can't deny that GAM still exists and we have encountered
difficulty in arresting or killing leaders of the movement
because they have established a tough protection system,"
Endriartono told a conference organized to brief the media on
latest developments in the ongoing operation in Aceh.

The government launched on May 19 a joint operation aimed at
eliminating GAM from the country's westernmost province.

Endriartono said, after four months of a relentless military
offensive, GAM members had been pushed to remote forested areas,
preventing them from causing security disturbances to civilians,
including the collection of "Nanggroe taxes" from local people.

The military has claimed that it has killed almost 1,000 GAM
rebels and arrested 1,000 others in the four-month-old operation.
Those arrested are currently undergoing police questioning, most,
if not all, not accompanied by lawyers, contrary to what is
stipulated in the country's Criminal Code.

TNI predicted earlier that GAM had around 5,000 active members
and over 2,000 weapons. Endriartono refused to speculate on the
current number of GAM rebels.

"Maybe their numbers have been reduced because they have
returned to their normal lives as villagers, or even increased
because more civilians have sympathized with then and joined the
movement ... I don't know," Endriartono said.

The military has confiscated only 363 weapons so far from the
rebels.

The military has also lost 35 soldiers and six police
personnel, with hundreds of others injured.

The military chief conceded that the operation had produced
casualties among innocent civilians. Endriartono said so far at
least 304 civilians had been killed and 140 others injured.

He also said the integrated operation would focus on
humanitarian operations in the next two months and support
efforts to strengthen local administrations there.

"While we continue hunting down GAM leaders, we (TNI) will
focus on supporting other operations in Aceh so that the
government can optimize efforts to revive local administrations
in the province," Endriartono said.

"We believe that a military operation is not the only solution
to the Aceh question," he said.

Besides crushing the separatist movement, the integrated
operation is also aimed at enforcing the law, strengthening the
civil administration and providing humanitarian assistance.

Asked whether the military would propose that the government
extend martial law in Aceh, Endriartono said, "The President has
the prerogative over whether or not martial law should be
extended in Aceh; I'm not in a capacity to propose anything."

Nevertheless, he said that TNI would likely maintain the
presence of some of its 35,000 soldiers in Aceh at least until
after the 2004 general elections, to ensure that all Acehnese
would be able to exercise their voting rights.

Indonesia is scheduled to hold the legislative election in
April 2004 and a two-phase direct presidential election in July
and September 2004.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri issued a decree in mid-May
imposing martial law for six months in Aceh to allow government
troops to eliminate the GAM secessionist movement from the
province.

More than 10,000 people, mostly innocent civilians, have died
since 1976, when GAM officially began its fight for independence
from Jakarta.