Megawati seeks support for Aceh war

Megawati seeks support for Aceh war

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Cirebon

President Megawati Soekarnoputri called on the people
to support her decision to wage war against Free Aceh Movement
(GAM) rebels to maintain the country's territorial integrity.

Megawati said there was no option for her other than to launch
massive military strikes against GAM.

"I hope that the decision receives the understanding and
support from Indonesian people, including those who work under
the name of democracy and human rights," Megawati said on
Tuesday.

"It was with a heavy heart that for the sake of national
integrity, human rights and to upheld the law, I had to impose
martial law in Aceh province," the President said.

Megawati was making her overdue comments during the
commemoration of National Awakening day. The decision to launch
the offensive was taken last week as GAM refused to meet
government demands to give up its independence fight.

The government imposed martial law in Aceh following the
failure of last minute talks in Tokyo over the weekend to save
the peace deal signed in Geneva on Dec. 9 last year.

"I refused to disregard the founding father's wish just to
meet the demands of a number of separatist members, who were led
by foreign nationals," she stressed.

GAM is lead by Hasan Tiro, who has been living in Sweden since
1979 and had relinquish his Indonesian nationality.

Concerns over the military offensive came from various groups,
both from within the country and the international community,
amid fears it will only bring more suffering to the Acehnese.

Many questioned the effectiveness of military strikes to end
the conflict, which has plagued the province since 1976 and
claimed more than 10,000 mainly civilian lives.

Meanwhile, a number of politicians called on the government to
remain open to finding a peaceful solution, but they stopped
short from criticizing the use of military force.

United Development Party (PPP) chairman Hamzah Haz, who is
also Vice President, said keeping the peace option open in Aceh
would save both energy and funds for the government.

"If we could go with peace, we could prevent more casualties
in the province and save a lot of funds to support our
development program," Hamzah said.

Former president Abdurrahman Wahid, who began the dialog
process with GAM in 2000, said the peaceful approach was the best
approach.

"Should the government be willing to be more patient, there is
still a possibility of continuing with the peace process,"
Abdurrahman said in Cirebon, West Java.

He said the government should not give up so easily in
exploring peace as the Acehnese would only support peaceful
solutions in the province.

"But it is up to the government, I do not want to judge them."