Govt also to blame for Aceh strife, Syafii says

Govt also to blame for Aceh strife, Syafii says

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Chairman of the country's second largest Muslim organization
Muhammadyah Sjafii Ma'arif said the Aceh administration and its
councillors were partly to blame for the worsening situation in
the country's westernmost province.

Sjafii also urged the Aceh government and councillors, most of
whom are loyal to Jakarta due to the election processes, to
engage in some soul searching on whether or not they have given
their best to help Acehnese improve their standard of living.

"I don't see that they have the desire to help Acehnese even
though many in that province are suffering from economic
problems," Syafii was quoted by Antara as saying in Bengkulu on
Friday.

"This situation has only forced Acehnese people to turn their
eyes to GAM," Sjafii said referring to the Free Aceh Movement
(GAM), a secessionist movement that has been fighting for Aceh's
independence since the 1970s.

He asked the central government to conduct a field inspection
to determine whether or not the Aceh administration officials
have succeeded in responding to the needs of the Acehnese people
and "to replace them if they failed."

Sjafii, also a member of an independent team of experts on
Aceh problems, said Acehnese people have long suffered because
the central government continued to give empty promises to them.

A ten-year military operation imposed in the province from
1989 to 1999 killed thousands of innocent people, leaving
thousands widowed and orphaned, he said.

"During the military operations, Jakarta had a lot of power
but failed to curb the spirit of independence among Acehnese. We
must change the old approach to the new one -- dialog," Sjafii
said.

In Jakarta, the Indonesian Military (TNI) Chief Gen.
Endriartono Sutarto said that the military was fully supporting
the government policy to pursue dialog to solve the Aceh
conflict, and stressed that the TNI had no right to make its own
policies.

"My soldiers have been trained to wage war, not to organize
dialogs. However, that does not mean that TNI will reject the
dialog, which has been favored by the government," he said.

The government decided on Aug. 19 to give a three-month
deadline for GAM to accept its special autonomy offer, a
prerequisite for future dialogs, or face the full brunt of the
military's might.

Responding to the now-revised policy for Aceh, GAM said that
they would defend themselves if Indonesia persisted with the
military approach.

Several non-governmental organizations and students held a
rally demanding a referendum for the province's independence, a
day after the new policy was announced in Jakarta.

Endriartono stressed that should GAM and the Acehnese people
reject the special autonomy and continue demanding for a
referendum, "all elements of this country must be involved in the
process by holding a national referendum."

"Aceh province does not belong only to the Acehnese. It
belongs to all Indonesian people, so let all of the people decide
whether or not they agree to let Aceh go," he said.

"The referendum in the country's former East Timor province in
1999 was a big mistake because we only let the East Timorese
vote," said Endriartono, adding that "we should not repeat the
same mistake in other provinces."