Mega supports peaceful means for Aceh

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): In her first visit here since taking office last month, President Megawati Soekarnoputri publicly asked on Saturday for forgiveness from all Acehnese for the government's past mistakes and promised to resolve the decades- long problem in a peaceful way.

"I know that the central government made mistakes in the past. Personally and on behalf of the government, I would like to ask for your forgiveness," Megawati, who wore a blue dress and a black head scarf, told a gathering of about 2,000 people in the grounds of the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque here.

She asked the Acehnese not to look back to the past, but to concentrate on the future.

"If we only look at the past, we will never make progress in our lives," she said in her 15-minute off-the-cuff speech.

Megawati asked the Acehnese to accept the Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam autonomy law that grants the Acehnese 70 percent of the province's oil and gas revenues, and gives them more freedom to manage their own affairs.

The President promised that the government would rebuild all ruined facilities in the province, but in return she asked the Acehnese to maintain the facilities and end all clashes.

She noted the importance of establishing peace and order in the troubled province.

"We must share a common perception that we will settle (the Aceh problem) without violence," she said.

Half way through her speech, a youth suddenly stood up and raised his hand to interrupt her.

Megawati, however, asked the young man to sit down.

"I am a guest in this Rencong land (Aceh). If you were on a visit, would you be willing to be treated impolitely?

"Even Allah has ordained that everybody should receive their guests in a proper manner ... I hope the people of Aceh can do that," she said.

The President was booed several times during the speech, and she had to repeat her remarks that the people of Aceh should show respect for their guests.

"Today, I have such a short visit here. But, in the future, when all Acehnese can sincerely welcome any guest visiting the province, I will visit more often," she promised.

Student activist Alfian Lukman, head of the Student Executive Body at the Ar-Raniry State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN), said he yelled at Megawati because students were barred from taking part in a earlier closed dialog with her at Governor Abdullah Puteh's residence.

"I wanted to tell Megawati to pull the troops out of Aceh, because only that way can the violence be stopped," he told reporters. "But I was not given a chance to convey my message."

Later in the day, students, joined by other activists from various organizations, called a press conference at the offices of the Aceh branch of the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) to convey their demands.

They demanded that the government revive stalled talks with GAM, with intermediation from an international organization, hold a referendum, try human rights violators, stop terror being perpetrated against the Acehnese, and free Acehnese political prisoners.

Meanwhile, IAIN Ar-Raniry rector Rusydi Ali Muhammad, who attended the closed door meeting with Megawati, said Megawati's visit should be followed up by concrete measures to resolve the Aceh problem.

"What's important is how the government can regain the trust of the Acehnese. That will depend on the concrete measures to be taken up in the future, and not on the promises," he said.

But he refused to disclose what Megawati said during the talks at Puteh's residence.

During Megawati's visit, Banda Aceh was heavily guarded with armored vehicles and dozens of armed soldiers standing guard just outside the mosque. It was also reported that sharpshooters were stationed on a nearby tower and at several city junctions. Police officers, armed with rifles, were seen in almost every corner of the city.

Banda Aceh was half deserted as most people preferred to stay inside their houses during the President's six-hour visit as many feared that violence could break out in the provincial capital following Thursday's broad-daylight assassination of Syiah Kuala University rector Dayan Dawood.

Megawati is the third President to visit the restive province in the past three years.

Former president B.J. Habibie made a two-hour visit on March 26, 1999, and former president Abdurrahman Wahid paid a three- hour visit on Dec. 19, 2000. Unlike Megawati, who refused to take questions, both Habibie and Abdurrahman held a dialog with the Acehnese at the Grand Mosque. (dja/50/imn)