More foreigners arrive to bolster peace
Ibnu Mat Noor, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh
A colonel and 18 new monitors landed here on Thursday to support the existing international component helping with the peace process in the rebellious province of Aceh.
The new monitors come from the Royal Thai Military and have past peacekeeping experience.
Along with an equal number of new monitors from both the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the government of Indonesia, the new international monitors will begin their orientation on Friday. They expect to be deployed throughout Aceh by March 4. The total of 54 new monitors will complement the 90 monitors who have been working in Aceh since the end of December.
"These 54 new monitors give the peace mission a much better tri-partite presence throughout Aceh, especially in the recently announced Peace Zones, and will help bolster the dramatically improved security situation here," said Maj. Gen. Tanongsuk Tuvinun, Joint Security Committee (JSC) Senior Envoy.
The JSC, the body implementing the Aceh peace agreement, plans to maintain long-term monitoring presence in the upcoming peace zones, traditionally areas of high conflict.
The colonel, also from Thailand, is a veteran of a number of his country's contributions to peace missions around the globe. He will sit on the JSC joining an equal number of GAM representatives, Jakarta's representatives and international representatives working under the auspices of the Henry Dunant Centre (HDC).
The Thai colonel joins a Norwegian colonel, who arrived in Aceh last week.
The monitoring teams are helping to foster a safe environment for the Acehnese people as part of the move toward a full and peaceful resolution to the conflict that has raged here between the GAM and government forces for 26 years.
The monitors observe and investigate activities by both sides, including extortion and other violence, in violation of the cessation of hostilities agreement.
The tri-partite teams comprise two representatives from each of the three entities including two impartial international observers from the HDC, which brokered the Dec. 9 peace pact.
Meanwhile, police in North Sumatra gunned down an alleged local commander of GAM in a shootout. The man, identified as Misran Gajah, 32, was shot dead on Wednesday when police discovered he was wanted in the province for allegedly committing several crimes at a bus station, Antara reported.
Gajah, dubbed the GAM commander overseeing the North Sumatra regency of Asahan, was killed in an ensuing chase and shootout on the highway connecting Medan and Tebing Tinggi.
His three accomplices, including one woman, were arrested. North Sumatra police spokesman Sr. Comr. Amrin Karim confirmed the incident, but did not elaborate.