Planned RI-GAM meeting still unclear
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The planned peace talks between Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) scheduled by the Henry Dunant Center (HDC) for humanitarian dialogue in Geneva, Switzerland, on Feb. 2-3, 2002, remain uncertain as the separatist movement has so far not been invited by the Indonesian government to resume the dialog.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirajuda expressed optimism on Thursday that the peace talks would go ahead according to schedule.
"It is not true that the planned dialog was postponed because of the death of GAM commander Abdullah Syafi'ie. So far, we have not received any official information on it (postponement) and we are still arranging the dialog as planned," he said after a Cabinet meeting with President Megawati Soekarnoputri at the State Palace here on Thursday.
He said the government had appointed Wiryono Sastrohandoyo, former Indonesian ambassador to Australia, to lead the government's negotiating team in the meeting while GAM had appointed Malik Mahmud.
HDC confirmed recently that it had arranged the meeting between the Indonesian government and GAM in a location closed to the press in Switzerland on Feb. 2 and Feb. 3, 2002. It said it had made contact with GAM officials in Stockholm about the dialog.
The two sides failed to continue their peace talks scheduled for Sept. 2001 after their meeting in Geneva which was facilitated by HDC on July 1, 2001.
Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh also confirmed on Thursday that he would assign his deputy governor to represent the Aceh administration in the meeting because he would be on pilgrimage during that time.
GAM spokesman Ayah Sofyan ruled out the planned meeting, saying the Indonesian government has never made contact with GAM about it.
"How can we reject the dialog when we have not received any invitation to the dialog from the Indonesian government?" he asked.
He acknowledged that HDC has contacted GAM to persuade it to participate in the dialog "but we have not given any confirmation."
"Our official representatives overseas will certainly inform us if they have accepted the government's invitation. But, so far, we have not been informed of any changes in GAM's stance on the dialog," he said. GAM, he said, could not attend any peace talks in the near future because they were still mourning their late leader Syafi'ie for 44 days.
Syafi'ie was killed along his wife and five bodyguards in a firefight with Army soldiers in the Aceh regency of Pidie last week.
Ayah reiterated that GAM would not be available for peace talks with the Indonesian government unless a cease-fire was enforced in the restive province.
"We stand by the preliminary conditions we had set for further dialog with Indonesia," he said.
GAM has demanded the government agree to a cease-fire in Aceh and allow a third country or party to mediate the peace talks as preliminary conditions for further dialogs. It set those conditions following the launching of a military operation in Aceh in May, 2001.
The separatist movement has since 1976 taken up arms against what they call Indonesian imperialism in the province.