Independent domestic team seeks internal solution to Aceh
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
An independent team of five prominent public figures is working to expedite a solution to the conflict in Aceh, advising the government not to impose a state of civil emergency on the restive province.
Team member and chairman of the country's second largest Muslim organization Muhammadiyah Syafi'i Maarif said on Thursday that the team had started to work a week ago.
Syafi'i said he expected his team would make a viable counter to foreign efforts in bringing peace to Aceh.
"We always depend on foreigners because from domestic side, we don't have a counterpart to solve Aceh problems," Syafi'i said when asked to comment about the visit of retired U.S. general Anthony Zinni to Aceh.
Syafi'i said he and others in the team were approached by Acehnese figures in Jakarta who asked them to help end the more than 25 year long conflict in Aceh. He did not say who the Acehnese were.
The others team members, Syafi'i said were noted Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid, former foreign minister Ali Alatas, former minister of home affairs Surjadi Soedirja, and former member of the Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI), Ali Yafie.
"Hopefully, five of us can work better," he said on the sidelines of a joint seminar by the Nadhlatul Ulama, the country's biggest Muslim organization, and American business consultancy company PT CastleAsia.
Syafi'i said the team would provide inputs to the government and the public.
He added that in the week the team had worked, they advised the government against a civil emergency status.
"The team is very independent, we work voluntarily," Syafi'i said.
A three-month standstill in peace talks and unabated violence spark concern the military might regain control over the province which suffers from human right abuses in the 10 years under the so-called Military Operations Area (DOM).
The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has been fighting for independence in the province since 1976. The conflict has since claimed around 10,000 lives, many of whom are civilians, according to estimates by human rights bodies.
Negotiation with GAM since 1998 is at risk of collapsing amid a surge of violence over the past few months. In May, a deal to cease hostility and hold an all inclusive dialogue among Acehnese failed to materialize as both sides remain locked in sporadic gun fighting.
In a three-day visit earlier this week, advisor to the Geneva based Henry Dunant Centre (HDC), Zinni toured the province in hope to get both sides return to the negotiation table.
Zinni met on Wednesday Aceh's Iskandar Muda Military Commander Maj. Gen. Djali Yusuf, who asked the U.S. mediator replace GAM negotiators with those owning greater authority.
The spokesman to the military command, Firdaus Komarno said Djali told Zinni the current GAM negotiators failed to get members of their group comply to agreements they reached over the table.
"They (GAM negotiators) have no authority to control their forces on the ground. That's why GAM cannot implement our agreements at the lower level," Firdaus quoted Djali as saying.
Earlier, Zinni met with GAM negotiators, local activists, and Aceh Police Chief Insp. Gen. Yusuf Manggabarani.
By law the police is in charge of domestic security but the military is called in when facing armed groups such as GAM.
Around 40 members of a 140 strong anti-guerrilla troop of the police's elite force Brimob were sent off to Aceh on Wednesday, Antara reported. They will add to the 12,000 police members already present in Aceh.
The military has 21,000 members in Aceh and last month asked the government for another 4,000 soldiers -- a bid which at that time had gained a favorable response from the government and some legislators.