President set to hold dialog with Aceh leaders on Tuesday
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid is expected to hold a dialog with Acehnese leaders during a one-day visit to Sabang off the province's coast on Tuesday.
A government official who attended an inter-ministry meeting to prepare the dialog said on Friday that Sabang was chosen as the venue for security reasons because it is isolated from the mainland of Sumatra.
"The decision to go to Aceh is final unless the President suddenly changes his mind," the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Jakarta Post.
According to the official, the President has insisted on meeting as many Acehnese leaders as possible, including Free Aceh Movement (GAM) military commander Tengku Abdullah Syafi'ie and proindependence student groups such as Taleban.
"The President has ordered Aceh's governor to arrange the meeting," the official added.
The visit to Sabang would be only a few days before the planned trial of 18 military personnel and two civilians for the alleged murder of 65 people in West Aceh last July.
Located on Weh Island on the northern tip of Sumatra, the port town of Sabang has a population of about 24,000 and was a bonded zone between 1970 and 1985.
Abdurrahman is also expected to announce the reimposition of the status during the visit.
The disclosure that the President intends to meets with rebel leaders such as Syafi'ie has been taken by many as a glaring indication of the lack of cohesion within the government. Security forces in the past week launched powerful attacks against suspected rebel strongholds, with the specific objective of capturing the rebel commander.
Sporadic rebel attacks continued in the province on Friday, with a policeman killed and four others injured in Central and East Aceh.
Suspected rebels ambushed a truckload of Police Mobile Brigade personnel on their way from Timang Gajah Police post to Takengon.
Local police chief Lt. Col. Misik Natari on Friday identified the dead man as Pvt. Sutoyo.
"The attackers fled the scene into the jungle," Misik said.
In East Aceh, rebels intercepted a convoy of military trucks transporting dozens of personnel in Idi Rayek district. Three policemen were wounded in the ensuing 15-minute gunfight.
"We have no confirmation on casualties on the rebel side," Aceh Police spokesman Lt. Col. Sayed Husaini said.
Dialog
In Washington, D.C., visiting Indonesian foreign minister Alwi Shihab also hinted at the probability of talks between the President and separatist rebels.
He said Jakarta was open to dialog with separatist rebels in Aceh but ruled out the possibility of granting independence to the province.
"It seems there is some room for dialog still," Alwi said before meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
"Gus Dur (Abdurrahman's nickname) is trying to use this space for dialog to convince the factions of the independence movement of Aceh that (they) still can accept cooperation with the central government."
Alwi confirmed Abdurrahman was due to visit Aceh within four or five days.
"We will see what will be the outcome of the visit. I assume there will be progress," he said as quoted by AFP.
"I think dialog will lead to compromise because the government of Indonesia cannot tolerate separatism. It would have a domino effect."
He insisted that autonomy was the only likely solution.
Alwi, who met with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and other Security Council members on Thursday, also conferred with Albright in his effort to convince the world body that an international tribunal on violence in East Timor would be unnecessary. (50/51/edt/prb)