Hope arises to salvage Aceh peace

Hope arises to salvage Aceh peace

Tiarna Siboro
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

Hopes for salvaging the Aceh peace agreement resurged on Monday
after both the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) agreed
to sit down at the negotiating table to discuss various alleged
violations of the accord signed last year.

They have yet to agree, however, on a time and a place as both
parties are insisting on dates and venues of their own choosing.

Henry Dunant Centre (HDC) representative Budimir Lonoar, who
was also one of the 'wise men' involved in the talks between the
government and GAM, met with Coordinating Minister of Political
and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday to convey
GAM's readiness to attend a Joint Council meeting, four days
after the government gave a five-day deadline for the
secessionist movement to change its position.

Lonoar, according to Lt. Gen. Sudi Silalahi, an assistant to
the Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said that GAM wanted to
hold the meeting on April 24 in Geneva.

The government, according to Sudi, was still insisting that
the meeting be held as soon as possible either in Indonesia or
one of what the government claimed were three neutral countries
--- Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam or Thailand.

It was not immediately clear if GAM had accepted Indonesia's
proposal that the meeting be held in one of the three countries
as Lonoar refused to talk to the press before or after the
meeting.

GAM, which has been fighting for independence for the
resource-rich province since 1976, had previously sent a letter
stating its decision not to attend a Joint Council meeting
requested by the government to resolve the alleged violations of
the truce.

GAM's decision not to attend the meeting angered the
government, which took the view that the refusal was the
secessionist movement's way of quitting the agreement.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri had instructed the Indonesian
Military (TNI) and National Police to prepare for a 'security
operation' in Aceh should the peace deal fall apart.

TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said on Monday he would
brief Megawati on the preparations for s massive military
operation against GAM during a limited Cabinet meeting to be held
on Wednesday or Thursday.

Under the peace accord signed in December, both the government
and GAM agreed to cease all hostilities.

GAM also accepted the special autonomy arrangement for Aceh as
the sole basis for future negotiation and agreed to lay down its
arms in stages until July 2004. The government, for its part,
agreed to stop all military operations in the troubled province
and reposition its troops from offensive to defensive positions.

Both parties, however, have failed to fully abide by the
agreement. GAM continues to campaign for independence and refuses
to lay down their arms, while the government has failed to
withdraw its troops to defensive positions.

This has led to a deterioration in the security situation in
the province where bloody clashes between government troops and
GAM have killed more than 10,000 people, mostly innocent
civilians. The members of the Joint Security Committee, who are
tasked with monitoring the implementation of the peace accord,
have all been withdrawn to Banda Aceh due to increasing security
threats.

According to Sudi, the planned Joint Council meeting would
evaluate the implementation of the peace accord and amend the
substance of the deal. He refused to go into detail.

"For us (the government), the sooner we hold the meeting the
better," Sudi told the press after the meeting.

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said in Denpasar,
Bali, on Monday that the government had repeatedly warned GAM
that resolute action would be taken if the COHA collapsed.

"Therefore, our future efforts will be focused on preventing
the secession of Aceh from the Republic of Indonesia," Da'i said,
claiming that the intensity of the violations committed by GAM
had increased with shootings, kidnappings and murders became more
frequent.

In Banda Aceh, international mediators said Monday they were
confident the Indonesian Military would not launch an all-out
attack on GAM this week despite earlier threats.

HDC representative David Gorman said the meeting would
probably be held next week but the date and location were still
being negotiated.

"I can guarantee there will be no military operation before
the Joint Council meeting and I believe that in the Joint Council
meeting, like in the past, all the problems can be solved," he
told AFP.

Gorman said retired US General Anthony Zinni -- a US Middle
East peace envoy and one of the "wise men" who helped broker the
Aceh pact reached in December -- would attend the Joint Council
meeting.