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.