Govt, GAM told to stop bickering over peace deal

Nani Farida and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh/Jakarta

The government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have both been urged to stop accusing each other over the implementation of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, and to give peace a chance in the troubled province of Aceh.

The government's chief negotiator, Wiryono Sastrohandoyo, called on GAM on Saturday to comply with the peace agreement signed last December to avoid plunging the province into an eternal bloody conflict with the Indonesian Military (TNI).

Jakarta has repeatedly threatened to quit the peace agreement inked in Geneva, Switzerland, in December 2002 after GAM continued to campaign for independence for the resource-rich province -- a blatant breach of the deal.

The government has also accused the secessionists of recruiting more members, bolstering its force from around 1,500 members in 2002 to over 2,000 in 2003.

"There should be public pressure for GAM not to violate the agreement; there is no point in maintaining the deal without the commitment of both sides," Wiryono told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

A Golkar legislator from Aceh, T.M. Nurlif, also called on the government and GAM Saturday not to abandon the peace agreement, which was drawn up to end the 26-year conflict that has claimed over 10,000 civilians.

"Don't give up the peace measures; we still have time to implement the agreement. Both sides have to stop the exchange of (barbed) words," he told the Post.

The government has repeatedly accused GAM of breaching the peace deal, brokered by the Swiss-based non-governmental organization Henry Dunant Centre (HDC), by continuing to campaign for independence. The deal was reached based on the understanding that GAM, which has been fighting for independence since the 1970s, had accepted a Special Autonomy Status for the country's westernmost province.

GAM has also failed to meet the deadline to disarm, as stipulated in the agreement. The secessionist movement was to start putting away their weapons gradually in designated places on Feb. 9.

The Joint Security Committee (JSC), which is in charge of monitoring the implementation of the peace agreement and consists of representatives from the HDC, TNI and GAM, has failed to force GAM to store their weapons.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Saturday that he had officially requested the Joint Council, the highest authoritative body supervising the deal, to call a meeting to save the peace deal.

"We have sent an official letter to the HDC to convene a Joint Council meeting here in Indonesia within this week," he said.

He said the HDC had approved the request, and that the meeting would discuss measures on how to return both sides to the peace deal.

Legislator Nurlif said that the meeting should focus on saving the peace deal, and that the government should not make any decisions before the meeting.

"The meeting could provide a much better picture on the HDC's and the JSC's ability to enforce the deal. Only after that, should the government take action," he said.

Meanwhile, Wiryono underlined, "We are compelled to do whatever it will take to secure the implementation of the agreement."

Throwing weight behind the Jakarta's threat, Aceh police had set April 9 as the deadline for the HDC to force GAM to start storing its weapons.

Warning that the police would not hesitate to take stronger action against GAM for carrying weapons illegally, Aceh Police Chief Insp. Gen. Bahrumsah Kasman said that they were ready to take over the HDC's duty to collect the weapons.

"We will see by April 9 whether the HDC is able to collect 40 percent of GAM's weapons. Should they fail to do so, we will take over the task," Bahrumsah remarked.

He further stressed that he would not hesitate to order his men to hunt down GAM members and other criminals carrying weapons in the province, for the sake of security.