Planned RI-GAM meeting still unclear

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.