President approves redeployment of troops to Aceh

President approves redeployment of troops to Aceh

A'an Suryana and Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

Ignoring mounting criticism, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
has approved a plan for the Indonesian Military to deploy troops
to help speed up post-tsunami recovery programs in Aceh.

However the President stressed that the redeployment must
involve less than 1,000 soldiers in order to maintain the trust
between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

"There is a need to mobilize the Army's engineering units to
Aceh because they can help in the post-tsunami recovery here. But
their number should make sense. It could be one to one-and-half
battalions, or, less than 1,000 personnel," he said after a
closed-door meeting with GAM leaders and ulema in Banda Aceh on
Tuesday.

"The mobilization of troops should not disturb the ongoing
peace process in Aceh, nor destroy the trust-building process
between the government and GAM after the Helsinki peace deal,"
Susilo added.

He was responding to earlier reports that the Indonesian
Military (TNI) was preparing 15 battalions of the Army's
engineering and combat troops to build houses and public
facilities in isolated areas across Aceh.

TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Soetarto had earlier said he was
asked by Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, who heads the Aceh-Nias
Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (BRR), to arrange the
involvement of soldiers to help speed up the reconstruction work,
particularly in remote areas that could not be penetrated by
civilian contractors.

Endriartono responded positively to the request and Army Chief
of Staff Gen. Djoko Santoso said that he was ready to send 15
battalions, or some 15,000 troops.

The plan, however, has drawn strong reactions, with many
saying the planned mobilization could shatter the peace
agreement.

GAM spokesman Bakhtiar Abdullah was among those who expressed
concern, saying the military redeployment would disturb the
ongoing peace process in Aceh.

He instead suggested that the government offer the
reconstruction job to civilian contractors.

"Actually, the President did not offer the reconstruction and
rehabilitation jobs to former guerrillas. But, of course, we have
several options to help the BRR. One option is clear, that the
government can ask civilian contractors to carry out the Aceh
recovery programs. Another option is that the government can ask
local people to do the job in order to reduce the rising number
of Acehnese jobless survivors,

"We have already completed the decommissioning process. Now,
how about the TNI and the police? They haven't finished the
process. So, why did the government come up with the idea to
deploy troops again to Aceh?" Bakhtiar said.