Japan, U.S. initiate meeting to rebuild shattered Aceh

Japan, U.S. initiate meeting to rebuild shattered Aceh

Moch. N. Kurniawan and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta

Japan and the U.S. have initiated a meeting to support the peace
settlement for Aceh in Tokyo and produce post-war financial
assistance for the strife-torn province.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said on Wednesday
that the meeting would be on Dec. 3, before Jakarta and the Free
Aceh Movement (GAM) had reached a final agreement.

"This meeting has been initiated by Japan and the U.S. in
support of the peace process and both Japan and the U.S. wish to
see GAM sign the peace agreement," Hassan said after a hearing
with House of Representatives Commission I on security and
foreign affairs.

Hassan said that Jakarta considered the planned meeting to be
an attempt to reinforce ongoing peace talks between the
government and GAM, mediated by the Geneva-based non-governmental
organization, the Henry Dunant Centre (HDC).

"Its purpose is to induce the parties involved in the
negotiations to be more serious in their dialog to reach a
lasting solution ... in particular to induce GAM to remove
shortcomings and sign the peace agreement," Hassan continued.

When asked whether GAM would participate in the meeting,
Hassan said, "It's still being discussed."

After months of delay, Jakarta and GAM are slated to sign a
peace agreement on the cessation of hostilities on Dec. 9 in
Geneva.

However, the deal remains in limbo as GAM's leadership in
Sweden denied on Wednesday that it had agreed with HDC to sign
the peace deal with Jakarta on that date.

The Swedish-based GAM leadership, however, apparently
contradicted statements from its own fighters on the ground, who
said on Wednesday that its leaders throughout Aceh had on Tuesday
received an announcement about the proposed Dec. 9 signing from
their commander, Muzakkir Manaf.

Later on Wednesday, foreign ministry spokesman Marty
Natalegawa explained to The Jakarta Post that the two foreign
governments would not replace HDC as the facilitator of the peace
talks and said that the planned meeting in Tokyo would discuss
possible financial assistance for "post-war rehabilitation" of
the province.

"The assistance is to encourage GAM to sign the peace deal
because as soon as peace reigns reconstruction in the province
can start," Marty said.

He added that the form of the meeting remained on the table
for discussion, including the seniority of participants at the
meeting and how many countries would participate.