Plan to have GAM listed as terrorist group still on
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Banda Aceh
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said the government has not dropped the option of having the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) included on the United Nations' list of terrorist organizations.
Refuting a previous statement by Coordinating Minister of Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who said that bringing GAM to the UN would only internationalize the issue, Hassan said Aceh had never been and would never be considered an international matter.
"The international community acknowledges that separatism in Aceh is Indonesia's domestic affair. The option to list GAM as a terrorist group is still there, but we have not decided whether we will take it or not," Hassan said.
Earlier, Susilo said the government had backed away from that option because there was growing concern that listing GAM with the UN would lead to the international community intervening in Aceh.
Susilo said the problems in Aceh would be resolved on the country's own terms, without international involvement.
The idea to have GAM included on the list of terrorist organizations developed after the government imposed martial law in Aceh on May 19, after peace talks between the two sides broke down.
With the Sri Lankan government successfully having the Tamil Tigers separatist movement included on the UN terrorist list, Indonesia hoped to receive international support for the listing of GAM as a terrorist group.
If GAM was included on the list, it would oblige all UN member countries to crack down on the organization's leaders and trace their financial support.
Such a decision would put pressure on the Swedish government, with top GAM leaders Hasan Tiro, Abdullah Zaini and Malik Mahmood citizens of that country and residing in Stockholm.
The Indonesian government has sent legal evidence and asked the Swedish authorities to take legal action against the three GAM leaders, who Jakarta accuses of leading the separatist movement in Aceh.
"They have asked for more legal evidence that could clearly link the GAM leaders to the ongoing rebellion in Aceh," Hassan said when asked about the ongoing legal process in Stockholm.
He said the two countries were discussing the possibility of the Swedish police and prosecutors visiting Indonesia to question arrested GAM members here.
"They might have information on how the instructions were given," Hassan said.
Separately, the head of the Banda Aceh immigration and justice office, T. Darwin, said that in the past six months of martial law, the government denied 14 foreigners entry to the province.
Five of the foreigners were Korean, three from the United States and two each from the United Kingdom, Malaysia and Japan.
Among the foreigners denied entry to Aceh were David Gorman, the project manager of the Henry Dunant Center, the organization that brokered a peace deal between GAM and the government, and journalist William Nessen, who traveled with GAM for several months.
Darwin said the foreigners were not allowed entry because they failed to present a clear reason for entering the war-torn province.
Also, the provincial government disclosed a plan to transfer some suspected GAM members who have been arrested to the Nusakambangan maximum security prison in Central Java.