Govt, GAM unlikely to meet
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government has rejected a new date and venue for peace talks with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) despite its pledge to resolve the Aceh question through dialog.
Lt. Gen. Sudi Silalahi, an assistant to Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said on Monday that the rebels had proposed a meeting after May 12 in Geneva, Switzerland but the government would likely reject it.
"The government received a letter from the Henry Dunant Centre last Thursday informing them that GAM had agreed to hold a meeting after May 12 in Geneva. But I think the government will find it difficult to fulfill because we are firm about holding the meeting here in Indonesia within the two-week deadline," Sudi told The Jakarta Post after a meeting on political and security affairs on Monday.
"Our rejection does not mean that we are trying to abandon peaceful solutions to the Aceh issue. All doors for dialog are still open, but we don't think that a dialog with GAM leaders in Sweden is necessary because they are far removed from Acehnese problems," Sudi added.
He also said that President Megawati Soekarnoputri would issue a presidential decree in connection with the government's plan to launch a military operation in the conflict-torn province.
"These decrees provide a legal framework and the budget needed to make the operation successful will be discussed afterwards," Sudi said.
The government had given GAM two weeks to accept the special autonomy arrangement for Aceh and disarm themselves. The deadline will fall on May 12.
GAM, which has been fighting for independence for the resource-rich Aceh since 1976, rejected the ultimatum, saying that it would return to the negotiating table on its own terms.
The government pulled out of a meeting last April after GAM moved back the date of a long-awaited Joint Council meeting aimed at discussing violations of the Cessation of Hostility Agreement (COHA) signed on Dec. 9, 2002.
Sudi said dialog with Acehnese rebels was still open, but underlined that "we will hold it with influential GAM leaders in Aceh and GAM has to accept autonomy as a final solution".
Monday's meeting, chaired by Susilo, drafted recommendations to be presented to President Megawati Soekarnoputri in a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
On Monday morning, the Indonesian Military (TNI) amassed more troops to be deployed in Aceh, including over 2,000 Air Force troops.
According to TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, who led the inspection of the troops at the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base in East Jakarta, the troops would be deployed should the government decide to use military force in dealing with GAM.
Present at Monday's inspection were Air Force Chief Marshall Chappy Hakim and several high ranking Air Force officers.
The troops would be deployed to guard main air bases in the province, including those in Banda Aceh, Lhokseumawe, Sabang, Medan and Lhoksukon, near by the U.S.-owned oil and gas company PT ExxonMobil.
Aside from its Special Forces and intelligence unit Bravo, the Air Force also prepared two F-16 jet fighters, 4 Hawk-200, six Hercules carriers, one Superpuma and five Twinpack helicopters and six OV-10 Bronco military aircraft.
The F-16 fighters, which were earlier stationed in Madiun, East Java, along with the OV-10 Bronco, would immediately be moved to the Air Force base in Medan, while the Hawk-200 jet fighters would be stationed in Pekanbaru, Riau.
Endriartono asserted that the TNI would launch a counter- guerrilla war to crush GAM and asserted that "we will use jet fighters only if necessary."
The Air Force has already stationed some 25 radar units in the province and anticipates that it would provide data to each military task force deployed in the province.
"In this way, I hope we can avoid unnecessary civilian casualties," Chappy Hakim said.
Earlier, 1,300 Navy troops and 6,000 police personnel had also been readied.