Government spurns talks with Aceh separatist group

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Justice/State Secretary Muladi ruled out on Thursday the possibility of holding a dialog with the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), saying it was not a legal organization.

Speaking to journalists after meeting with President B.J. Habibie at Merdeka Palace, the minister said the government would meet only with legal groups and Aceh community figures to help ease the escalating tension in the province.

"We will not (hold such a dialog) ...up to now we have no (plans) to hold talks with the Aceh rebels group," Muladi said.

When asked why the government agreed to talk with East Timorese rebels and not with Aceh rebels, the minister said the situation in East Timor was completely different from that in Aceh because the histories of the two provinces were not comparable.

"It is totally different. Historically they are also different."

A number of human rights activists have urged the government to talk directly with Aceh rebels as it did with East Timorese independence fighters. However, the government insisted that Aceh has been a part of Indonesia since the country's independence in 1945, while the United Nations has never recognized Indonesia's sovereignty over East Timor.

Aceh Police chief Col. Bahrumsyah had proposed direct talks with Aceh rebel leader-in-exile Hasan Tiro to enable the government to get first-hand information about his plans to set up an independent Aceh state.

Muladi said the government would proceed with its plan to set up an independent team to seek a peaceful solution to the problems in Aceh.

"The team is being established and it is expected to be successful in its mission to calm down the tension," he said.

Muladi's statements came as the National Commission on Human Rights proposed that its team, which has been working on the Aceh case and has visited the province five times, be entrusted with the task instead.

Commission members Bambang Soeharto and Clementino dos Reis Amaral made the suggestion in a media briefing on Thursday. Bambang expressed the hope that the commission's team would be accepted by the Acehnese and succeed in its mission.

Muladi hinted that he objected to the proposal.

"The presidential decree on the establishment of the team will soon be issued, and the team will go to work immediately," he said.

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) recently urged the military to pull out the riot troops (PPRM) from Aceh to help ease the tension and stop villagers fleeing from clashes between the separatists and the military.

Separately, Minister of Home Affairs Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid dismissed the mounting calls for withdrawal, saying the force's presence was needed to ease the tension.

"It is impossible, unless we want Aceh separated (from Indonesia), then we can withdraw the whole security apparatus from there," the minister said after attending a plenary session of the House of Representatives on Thursday.

Syarwan may well be among the most well-informed Cabinet ministers about Aceh, because, as a colonel, he was commander of the Lhokseumawe district command in North Aceh from 1991 to 1992, at the height of the nine-year military operation in Aceh started in 1989.

"No country in the world wants disintegration," he said.

Aceh Governor Syamsuddin said it was possible for the Indonesian Military (TNI) to withdraw the PPRM personnel.

He said he believed TNI would seriously consider the withdrawal if the situation in the province returned to normal.

Meanwhile, 100 Muslim students demonstrated in Surakarta, Central Java, demanding the government and the military handle the Aceh case immediately to prevent more civilians becoming victims in the province.

Nurhayadi, a demonstrator, said the government and the military should be blamed for the tension and for their failure to keep their promises to the Acehnese. (har/prb/rms)