Government suspends RI-GAM joint committee

Government suspends RI-GAM joint committee

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian government has decided to suspend
the joint committee on security modalities it had set up with the
Free Aceh Movement (GAM) until such time as GAM presents its
commander Abdullah Syafi'i at the negotiating table and gives
security assurances for ExxonMobil's gas installations in Aceh.

Indonesia's top negotiator Hassan Wirayuda said on Thursday
that the decision was taken following two days of peace talks
with GAM in Geneva over the weekend.

"We urged GAM to include Abdullah Syafi'i as a display of
their good faith in upholding the present security arrangements.
So far, they have been unable to meet the demand, citing
political reasons," Hassan told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

"We also demanded that GAM publicly announce that they would
guarantee the security of ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia, but they
could not see their way to meeting this request either. So we
decided to put the joint committee on security modalities on ice
for a while," Hassan said.

The decision will deal GAM a further blow as it comes at the
same time that Indonesian security forces are moving to restore
law and order, thereby pushing GAM onto the ropes, added Hassan,
the foreign ministry's director general of political affairs, who
led the Indonesian delegation.

Hassan also said that the gap between the commander of GAM's
military wing and the GAM leaders who live in exile had become
the major stumbling block to the efforts to implement the
security arrangements in Aceh.

"However, there are some positive signs from GAM because
although in Aceh they are feeling the pressure, they are still
willing to attend the peace talks and extend the dialog so as to
involve other elements in Aceh," Hassan said.

Another positive outcome of the meeting, Hassan added, was
GAM's readiness to contribute to the deliberations on the Special
Autonomy for Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Bill, which are now
underway.

Violence, however, continued on the ground as Mobile Brigade
(Brimob) police troops shot on Wednesday a GAM military trainer,
Teungku Yusrizal, to death in a raid on the village of Masjid
Usi, in Pidie regency.

Spokesman for the Security Restoration Operation Comr.
Sudharsono said on Thursday that Yusrizal, a graduate from Libya,
had been fugitive for long.

Also on Wednesday, a group of armed people shot dead a
40-year-old woman villager in her residence in Lhokseumawe, North
Aceh. (50/51/dja)