Govt holds closed-door meeting on martial law

Govt holds closed-door meeting on martial law

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta

Coordinating minister for political and security affairs ad
interim Hari Sabarno chaired a closed-door coordination meeting
at the Indonesian Military (TNI) on Tuesday to discuss a variety
of security issues.

Those attending the meeting included TNI chief Gen.
Endriartono Sutarto, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar,
Attorney General M.A. Rachman and Army Chief of Staff Gen.
Ryamizard Ryacudu.

There was no media briefing after the meeting, but during a
doorstep interview at the Office of the Coordinating Minister of
Political and Security Affairs, Hari said later that they had
discussed security issues in war-torn Aceh.

"This morning we, the authority of the Aceh martial law
administration at the central government, held a meeting to
discuss progress after the launch of integrated operations in the
Aceh province.

"We evaluated all aspects and agreed to continue integrated
operations in the troubled province, even if martial law in Aceh
is reviewed," Hari said.

It remained unclear, however, why the meeting was held at the
TNI headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta.

Aceh martial law administrator Maj. Gen. Endang Suwarya, who
was at the Office of the Coordinating Minister of Political and
Security Affairs until early afternoon, was not invited to the
meeting.

However, he has been summoned to discuss on Thursday
alternative measures for Aceh, where the Free Aceh Movement (GAM)
has been fighting for independence for the resource-rich province
since 1976. Over 10,000 people have been killed since then.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri issued a decree in May last
year on an integrated campaign, which included security and
humanitarian operations, law enforcement and the restoration of
local government.

The government also assigned an independent team to monitor
operations in Aceh.

Despite strong opposition from rights campaigners and
observers, Megawati extended in November the operation for
another six months, arguing that the government had to maintain
security in the province ahead of the April 5 legislative
election.

Rumors have been circulating that the government will lift
martial law and place the province under a state of civil
emergency.

The Military has claimed that more than 1,300 GAM fighters
have been killed since May 2003, with around 2,300 others
surrendering to Indonesian authorities. It has also claimed to
have confiscated around 1,000 weapons from the rebels.

Earlier, the Military said the number of guerrillas was about
5,000, equipped with around 2,000 weapons.

Asked whether the government planned to withdraw a number of
troops from the province, Hari said: "We do not see that it will
be appropriate to withdraw troops because GAM has not given up
its fight for independence and none of the GAM leaders has been
arrested."

Jakarta has on many occasions carried out military operations
to quell GAM, which officially began its fight for Aceh
independence in 1976.

Asked whether the government was taking into account reports
by a government-sanctioned independent monitoring team in
deciding future operations in Aceh, Hari said: "We are conducting
further investigations into the team's recommendations and plan
to deal with those deemed responsible for mismanagement.

"The authority to investigate cases lies with the police and
prosecutors," he said, referring to allegations of widespread
corruption in the implementation of operations.