Quick settlement in Aceh foreseen

SABANG, Aceh (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid, on his first visit since to Aceh since being elected in October, boasted he foresaw a quick end to strife in the province, but failed to propose any solutions.

On a two-hour visit to Sabang on Weh island, located just off the northern tip of Sumatra, Abdurrahman claimed on Tuesday that the suffering in Aceh "will in not too long a time belong to the past".

"I can now see a process to end the continuing conflicts, although in most parts of Aceh there are still armed conflicts," he said, without elaborating whatsoever on the process he was referring to.

Aceh has been an Achilles heel for Abdurrahman since he first took office over three months ago.

Growing demands for an independence referendum have spilt over into all-out conflict between security forces and rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Abdurrahman has rejected the idea of independence and promised greater autonomy. The situation has been aggravated further as accusations continue to rise over past human rights abuses by the military in the province.

It is only now that Abdurrahman has visited the province, and even on this visit he leapfrogged mainland Aceh where much of the protest and violence has occurred.

Tuesday's event at the Sabang naval base, attended by about 100 invitees, was bereft of any dialog as Abdurrahman preached on the need for peace, but didn't offer any clear plan to end hostilities.

The invitees were said to represent community and religious leaders from the Aceh community.

Initially, much had been expected from the new president's visit to Aceh.

Many legislators and observers in past months have been exasperated by the fact that Abdurrahman has taken extensive visits overseas, but neglected setting foot in one of Indonesia's most troubled areas.

As Abdurrahman's Hercules C-130 airplane left Sabang in the evening it was clear there were no breakthroughs; the trip had merely served its purpose of inaugurating the restoration of Sabang as a free port zone.

"The restoration of Sabang's status as a free port is an important turning point in Aceh's history," Abdurrahman said in a ceremony where Indonesian Military (TNI) and Police guarding the event outnumbered guests almost four-to-one.

Former president Soeharto revoked the free port status in 1984, following his decision to establish Batam island as a bonded zone area.

At the ceremony, Abdurrahman also attended a traditional peace gathering between officers from the Police Mobile Brigade unit (Brimob) and students grouped in the Taliban who were involved in a fracas in December.

Abdurrahman also expressed his appreciation for the food aid Saudi Arabia's King Fahd had sent to Aceh. He said Kuwait and Brunei would also send humanitarian aid to Aceh soon.

Speaking on rights violations, Abdurrahman underlined that the public should separate between abuse committed by individuals from the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the institution itself.

"As I have said before we should not punish the institution, but punish the individual," he said.

He added that guilt should be determined by a court of law and it was improper for those under suspicion to seek defense from the TNI as an institution.

Marines

Those present at Tuesday's presidential ceremony on Weh island, where there have been almost no reports of clashes, seemed oblivious to the continuing violence on mainland Aceh, which the night before claimed the lives of six marines.

Police said they were killed while praying when rebels attacked a small mosque in Ujoeng Blang village, Kuala Raja, in Bireun regency on Monday night.

"Four other Marines survived the ambush with gunshot wounds. Rebels threw grenades and sprayed bullets at the mosque compound at around 7 p.m. on Monday," Sayed said.

Sayed also claimed that in Aceh Singkil a total of 310 people claiming to be GAM members turned themselves in.

"The first group of 145 voluntary surrendered on Sunday, while the rest came on Monday," Sayed said, adding that no guns were seized from the group.

GAM spokesman Tengku Maad Muda, however, denied these men had been trained by the rebel group.

"They're just locals told to surrender. This is all engineered. It's ridiculous," Maad said on Tuesday.

In a related development, about 100 students staged a protest at the Simpang Lima traffic circle in Banda Aceh on Tuesday afternoon. They demanded all warring sides declare a ceasefire.

"We want Gus Dur to hear us ... Why is he in Sabang, not here?" a protester shouted.

Meanwhile, a dialog planned for Tuesday in Langsa, East Aceh, jointly organized by the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Organization, the Aceh Legal Aid Foundation and the Care Forum for East Acehnese Youths (Forpatt) was suddenly canceled earlier on Monday.

Sources said there was a lack of response from community leaders, who questioned the organizers' ability to mediate the talks. (prb/50/edt)