Govt mulls military crackdown against separatist movement in Aceh

Govt mulls military crackdown against separatist movement in Aceh

Tiarma Siboro and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri dealt the peace process in the
rebellious province of Aceh another blow on Wednesday as she
ordered tough measures against the separatist movement.

Speaking in a teleconference with Iskandar Muda Military
Commander Maj. Gen. Djali Yusuf on Wednesday, Megawati said she
had instructed all security troops across the country to maintain
national unity at all costs.

"That instruction also goes for Aceh, so there should be tough
measures against any act of violence that disturbs public order,"
the President asserted.

Her statement was the culmination to weeks of debate over
whether the government should conduct an intensive military
crackdown on rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), as the
planned all-inclusive dialog in the natural resources-rich
province seems doomed to fail.

Megawati, after inaugurating 13 strategic projects, two of
them in Aceh, asked Djali about the recent security situation in
the province, which once scared away investors.

In his response, Djali said he could barely maintain security
in the eastern part of Aceh, where nine athletes became the
latest to fall prey to abduction last week.

"We were involved in a gunfight last night and managed to gun
down five members of GAM hard-liners under Ishak Daud's
leadership," Djali told Megawati.

He added that the group was well known for its brutality, and
the Indonesian Military (TNI) had focused its search on group
members across the province.

"We are stepping up our operations to improve security in
eastern Aceh, until the territory is as orderly and peaceful as
other parts of the province," Djali remarked.

Separately, the office of the Coordinating Minister for
Political and Security Affairs announced here that the government
would decide within three weeks whether or not a military
operation would be launched in Aceh.

Spokesman for the office Soenaryo said the decision would be
based on an evaluation of developments in Aceh.

"The heightened security situation in Aceh has recently forced
us to consider whether we can continue with civil authority
there," he said after a top governmental meeting on political and
security affairs.

He said the government had three options to restore security
and peace to the province: maintain the current civilian
authority, impose a civil state of emergency, or declare a
military state of emergency.

"No matter what we decide in three weeks, we hope it will be
the last resort to address problems in Aceh," Soenaryo said.

The meeting was presided over by Coordinating Minister for
Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and was
attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda, Minister
of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno, Attorney General M.A. Rahman,
National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief A.M. Hendropriyono,
Minister of Defense Matori Abdul Djalil, TNI Commander Gen.
Endriartono Sutarto and National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar.

Megawati earlier issued Decree No. 2/2002 on civil order in
Aceh, which will expire at the end of this month.

According to Sunaryo, the meeting was aimed at evaluating the
security situation in Aceh, which he described as being already
out of control due to GAM's acts of terror against civilians in
killing local politicians, burning schools and robbing property
belonging to the U.S.-owned company PT ExxonMobil.

A military source, however, told The Jakarta Post that the
current situation in Aceh had not met the requirements for a full
military operation and was similar to what happened in the
country's former province of East Timor following the
independence vote in 1999.

"So, should in the near future we adopt a military approach
there, it must be in the form of military assistance to help the
province restore peace and order," he said.