Govt gets tough on Aceh rebels

JAKARTA (JP): The government warned here on Monday that Jakarta would eventually have to launch military operations in Aceh if peace talks with separatist rebels in the violence- plagued province failed.

Speaking to reporters at Bina Graha presidential office, Defense Minister Mahfud M.D. said that peace talks between government and representatives of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Europe were now deadlocked.

"If, by Jan. 15, we are still unable to reach an agreement, the government will not continue the humanitarian pause," Mahfud said.

When pressed whether Jakarta would launch military operations against the rebels if they failed to meet the Jan. 15 deadline, Mahfud said: "Military operations will be our last resort".

GAM has been fighting for a free Islamic state in Aceh since 1976.

The tougher attitude by the government on the Aceh issue follows Mahfud's comments last week that "there is a limit to dialog".

"If, by Jan. 15, negotiations have failed, the next step maybe would be to issue warnings for 15 days and then to offer amnesty for another 15 days before eventually taking military measures," Mahfud said.

A three-month humanitarian pause signed in May was extended for another three months in September, but it has had little effect on the ground.

Jakarta and GAM have agreed to resume talks in Europe some time this month to seek a political settlement, but they have yet to agree a date.

In the Aceh capital of Banda Aceh, GAM spokesman at the peace talks in Geneva, Amni bin Ahmad Marzuki, said GAM had yet to set the date for further talks in Geneva. "We are waiting for a response from Switzerland."

Talks were previously slated to resume on Dec. 5. However, another GAM official, Sofyan Ibrahim, asked for a delay until between Dec. 10 and Dec. 15.

Mahfud said peace talks between Jakarta and GAM were "a waste of time ... the government has been negotiating for six months without any substantial results".

"I've heard that GAM will settle for nothing less than independence. If they will not budge from that demand, we also will not budge from our offer of special autonomy status," Mahfud said.

Mahfud earlier said that President Abdurrahman Wahid would go ahead with his plan to visit Aceh on Dec. 19, despite escalating violence in the province.

"Gus Dur (Abdurrahman) will still go there ... the incident is too small to deter us from visiting Aceh," Mahfud said, referring to a grenade blast at the Aceh governor's official residence in Banda Aceh on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, Abdurrahman lamented the killings of three humanitarian workers and a torture victim they were escorting in North Aceh last Wednesday, saying the incident had aggravated the situation in Aceh.

"The incident has become an international issue and is very harmful for us," he said.

He also warned police Mobile Brigade personnel in Aceh against violent acts, citing an incident a few days ago when police fired shots into the air throughout the night.

Later on Monday, noted lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis lashed out at the prospect of initiating military operations in Aceh saying that the approach would only trigger further separatist sentiment in the province.

He said prosecution of those responsible for past human rights violations in Aceh was the only path to a peaceful solution to the Aceh problem.

Separately, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto told The Jakarta Post on Monday that the Indonesian Military Headquarters has decided to dispatch a "large contingent" of troops to Aceh on Tuesday for "humanitarian missions".

He declined to specify the number of troops to be deployed to the province on Tuesday.

"It is just humanitarian and social work. We want to show the Acehnese that we care about them," Endriartono said. (02/50/byg)