Mega pledges quick end to Aceh conflict

Mega pledges quick end to Aceh conflict

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

President Megawati Soekarnoputri pledged on Sunday to resolve the
conflict in Aceh as quickly, wisely, and justly as possible but
fell short of divulging any time frame or new ways of thinking
about ending the rebellion there.

Megawati also said the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM)
leaders now residing overseas "have no more rights to talk about
Aceh's future as they are no longer citizens of this country."

"I believe nobody is happy with the ongoing conflict in Aceh.
We feel sorry for the fall of many victims there because they are
all our brothers," Megawati said in her speech delivered in
conjunction with the Indonesian military's 58th anniversary
celebration in Surabaya, East Java, on Sunday.

"I hope the Acehnese people will be able to live normal lives
soon," she said, apparently crying.

She also promised to resolve the Aceh issue quickly but gave
no timetable or new approaches to settling the rebellion there
once and for all.

Megawati issued a presidential decree in mid-May putting the
conflict-ridden Aceh under martial law and launched what the
government described as an integrated operation, which now
appears mostly to have involved a military offensive.

More than 35,000 government troops have been deployed in Aceh,
the biggest military campaign in the country's 58-year history,
to crush the around 5,000-strong GAM, whose members, according to
the military, are equipped with some 2,000 weapons.

More than four months into the military campaign, government
troops claim they have killed 900 suspected GAM members. Civilian
casualties have also been high, with 304 people killed and 140
others injured.

The military had earlier promised to crush the rebellion in
six months, but has recently begun talking about a longer war.

The President acknowledged that launching the military
operation in the province was the last resort after peaceful
measures had failed to bring about the desired result.

Megawati said the situation was critical and the government
could not but embark on a military offensive to deal with the
secessionist movement.

She was referring to her administration's decision to abandon
a five-month truce in May.

The government and GAM signed a peace agreement sponsored by
the Switzerland-based Henry Dunan Centre in December 2002, but
both sides failed to keep their promises.

Under the administration of former president Abdurrahman "Gus
Dur" Wahid, the government initiated a dialog with Acehnese
rebels, who have been fighting for independence for the resource-
rich province since 1976. More than 10,000 people, mostly
civilians, have been killed since then.

The President said Sunday that dealing with domestic security
disturbances in the province was not the task of the TNI and that
the presence of the military there was "to assist your police
colleagues."

"As a defense force, your (the military's) main task is to
guard the country from various external threats," Megawati said.

"But we can also see that the police are facing a tough task
due to the threat of terrorism and we, all of the Indonesian
people, must not be defeated by these terrorists. I hope we can
immediately settle the security problems here," Megawati said.

Meanwhile, military operations spokesman Lt. Col. Achmad Yani
Basuki said on Sunday that government troops had arrested four
rebels, confiscated two AK-47 automatic rifles, and one other
firearm in a series of raids in Aceh over the weekend.

Yani said two rebels were killed on a raid in Lhoksukon, North
Aceh, over the weekend. The military seized two rifles, 206
bullets, and medicines.

"Our troops received a tip-off from local people that some
rebels were hiding in a school building," Yani was quoted by
Antara as saying on Sunday.

Almost at the same time, government troops raided a GAM camp
in Jeunib, Bireuen regency, and shot dead one alleged rebel.

Residents in a village in Bakongan, South Aceh, meanwhile,
reported Sunday that they found a dead body believed to be that
of a GAM commander in that area.