Govt to lift state of emergency in Aceh

Govt to lift state of emergency in Aceh

Tiarma Siboro and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government announced on Thursday it would lift the one-year
state of civil emergency in Aceh but said it would maintain a
heavy military presence in the province to counter separatists.

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security
Affairs Widodo Adi Sucipto said returning Aceh to normal status
was aimed at facilitating the reconstruction of the province,
which was devastated by a Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami.

"Despite the return to civil order, the security operation
will remain. In reality, GAM still exists. There must be efforts
to ensure the reconstruction process can work," he said after a
Cabinet meeting presided over by President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono.

The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has been fighting for
independence for the natural resources-rich province since 1976.

Susilo is expected to issue a presidential decree officially
lifting the state of civil emergency when it expires on May 18.

Widodo said the government hoped the change would enable "a
transparent and conducive atmosphere" for Aceh's recovery.

Civil order theoretically means the people of Aceh will enjoy
a return to normalcy.

Military troops were withdrawn from Maluku in 2003 following
the lifting of the state of civil emergency there. Police then
took over the job of maintaining security and order in the
province.

Under a state of civil emergency, the governor, as the supreme
commander of both the police and military, has the authority to
declare certain areas off-limits to outsiders, ban public
gatherings and censor the press.

However, Widodo said there would be no withdrawal of troops
from Aceh despite the change in the province's status.

The lifting of the emergency status, he said, will apply to
the entire province as part of the government's plan to settle
the conflict in Aceh "permanently and comprehensively".

The Indonesian government is bracing for a fourth -- and
hopefully decisive -- round of informal talks with GAM
representatives in Helsinki on May 26, Minister of Justice and
Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin said.

Both sides have agreed in principle on an extended autonomy
for Aceh, with the government preparing amendments to the law on
special autonomy for the province.

Earlier in the day, Indonesia Military (TNI) chief Gen.
Endriartono Sutarto said separatist rebels continued to be a
security threat in Aceh.

"There has been a slight increase (in the number of
separatists) ... during the tsunami some (rebels who had been
detained) managed to escape and consolidate," he said.

GAM also seized arms from several police posts when the
tsunami swept through the province in December, he said.

"There are still robberies, abductions and attacks being
perpetrated by GAM. They are still collecting (illegal) taxes. It
is very disturbing because they are armed," Endriartono said.

GAM senior political officer Mohammad Nur Djuli criticized the
government's decision to maintain troops in Aceh despite the
lifting of the emergency status, saying it could not or would not
control the TNI.

"After the third round of peace talks, the Indonesian
delegation said they would control any movement of the military
in Aceh.

"Instead of realizing this promise, the policy to continue the
security operations shows that the civilian government in
Indonesia has no power to control its armed forces," Nur Djuli
told The Jakarta Post by phone.

"What is the difference between the state of emergency and
civil order? A mango is always a mango, it never changes into
another fruit."

Nur Djuli is among the GAM representatives who has taken part
in the Helsinki talks.