Military and GAM have their own preconditions for upcoming peace talks
Military and GAM have their own preconditions for upcoming peace talks
Ibnu Mat Noor, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
The tension is likely to continue in conflict-torn Aceh as the
government military and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) are still
sharply divided over the preconditions for the upcoming Geneva
talks meant to put an end to the prolonged conflict in the
province.
GAM insisted that its stance was firm -- that a cease-fire be
in place before talks resumed -- but the military stated that it
would continue its operations unabated against suspected GAM
targets.
Col. Syarifudin Tippe, chief of staff for the Aceh-based
Iskandar Muda Military Command, made it quite clear that the
peace talks scheduled for April 25 and 26, 2002, would not bring
any change to the military's security restoration operation that
had been in effect for the past two years.
"The military operation will continue to create a feeling of
safety among local people and to restore security and order in
this region," he claimed.
He added that GAM needed to first comply with the security
authorities' instructions if it wanted a cease-fire.
Tippe also said the planned peace talks only should be held in
the context of Indonesia as a unitary state, which included Aceh.
Sofyan Ibrahim Tiba, a negotiator for GAM at the Geneva talks,
said a cease-fire was impossible as long as the military
continued with its offensive.
"Both sides need to stop their own offensives to have a cease-
fire and end the violence ... A truce is a preliminary condition
for both sides to make peace; and the truce must be supervised by
an international peace-keeping force," he asserted.
Tiba said he and the four other GAM negotiators would continue
to propose an unconditional cease-fire in the upcoming meeting to
let the international community know that GAM was committed to
ending the conflict and creating peace in the province.
He said he and four other negotiators would leave for Jakarta
this week to apply for visas at the Embassy of Switzerland.
Tiba's colleagues are Tengku Muhammad Usman, Ammi Ahmad
Marzuki, Amdi Hamdani and Teuku Kamaruzzaman.
Asked to comment on the government's condition for the dialog,
Tiba said there was no need for the sides to talk at all if the
meeting was held strictly within the framework of a unitary state
which included Aceh.
"The Aceh conflict will never end if the government and
military continue to force their conditions that Aceh is an
integral part of Indonesia. We are fighting against the military
which has killed our people, and fighting for Aceh's
independence," he said.
He challenged the government to allow the Acehnese people to
be granted a self-determination referendum, saying it would show
what Acehnese people really wanted -- whether they support the
military or GAM.
He said a majority of people have been living in a state of
fear since the military launched the security restoration
operation two years ago, as well as the previous operations
dating back to the 1970s.
"During this current military operation, thousands of innocent
civilians, including elite figures, have been killed," he said.
He also said the Indonesian government should meet its own
promise to bring to court all servicemen involved in human rights
abuses and to speed up the development program to improve the
people's social welfare.
Muhammad Nasir Jamil, chairman of Commission A on defense and
security affairs at the Aceh provincial legislature, called on
GAM and the military to agree to a cease-fire as a necessary pre-
condition for peace in the war-torn province.
"A majority of Acehnese people have suffered extreme grief
during the prolonged conflict. They want to live in peace and go
about their daily lives peacefully," he said.