Ministers off to Finland for talks
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Three government ministers left Jakarta for Helsinki on Wednesday to meet Acehnese separatist leaders for peace talks, the first meeting between the two sides since talks broke down in May 2003.
Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono said the government delegation was now comprised of Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo Adi Sucipto, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin and Minister of Communications and Information Sofyan Djalil.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda will, however, not attend the two-day dialog with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which is set to begin on Friday.
His ministry said the separatist rebels were not entitled to international diplomacy. "The issue is not in the domain of diplomacy. GAM has no diplomatic standing," foreign affairs minister spokesman Yuri Thamrin told AFP.
Officials had earlier said Hassan would be among the Indonesian delegates.
Juwono said Minister Hamid serves as the chief negotiator in the renewed talks as he has been involved in a series of informal talks with GAM leaders before this week's meeting in Helsinki.
GAM will, meanwhile, be represented by several of its top leaders, who now live in Sweden, including Aceh's self-styled prime minister, Malik Mahmood, foreign minister Zaini Abdullah and GAM spokesman Bakhtiar Abdullah.
The fresh peace talks will be facilitated by the Finland-based Crisis Management Initiative (CMI), which is led by former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari and has extensive experience in mediating conflicts.
"So far, there have not been any specific (schemes from either side). This meeting is a good step," Juwono told the press after a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Widodo, Hamid and Sofyan all refused comment on what the government would offer GAM during the talks.
On Tuesday, Hamid said he would meet President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to discuss the issue before departing to Finland. "We will ask for presidential directives because it's a political and a legal matter."
President Susilo had earlier said the government would grant amnesty for GAM members who surrendered to the authorities, and would press ahead with the implementation of the special autonomy status in Aceh.
Asked whether the United States, Japan, Singapore, Sweden, Britain or Libya supported the meeting, Juwono replied, "There are GAM representatives in those countries. We have made it clear that it is not appropriate for them to help GAM."
President Susilo met on Jan. 10 with the ambassadors from those six countries at the presidential office, appealing for their help to end the separatist fighting in Aceh.
He told them that the Indonesian government wanted to find a peaceful solution to the decades-old war.
GAM has been struggling for the independence of Aceh since 1976, and has accused the government of siphoning off the province's natural riches.
In May 2003, the military relaunched a major offensive against the rebels after a short-lived truce began in December 2002 and peace talks collapsed in Tokyo, as both parties complained about each other's interpretation of the peace accord.
Armed conflict between GAM and the Indonesia Military continued, even after the Dec. 26 tsunami devastated so much of Aceh. The military says more than 2,500 rebels have been killed since 2003.
Negotiations between the government and GAM started in 2000. Earlier, the government offered a special autonomy package that was supposed to give Acehnese more say over their affairs, but insisted it would never allow an independent state.
Rebels agreed to use the autonomy package as a starting point but said they wanted nothing short of independence.
The government has also been trying for several years to get the Swedish government to take legal action against GAM's top leaders, including those now holding Swedish citizenship, but to no avail.