Security still shaky a week after peace deal

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The security situation in Aceh remains shaky the first week after the signing of a peace accord by the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), with an independent monitoring team still absent, GAM reporting three more deaths and Indonesia unable to respond to such claims.

Skirmishes between GAM and government troops continued in East Aceh on Sunday, AFP reported. The local Indonesian Military (TNI) spokesman Lt. Col. Firdaus Komarno said there were no casualties during the clash.

However, eight were found dead and 12 others missing after Indonesian troops arrested the separatists in West Aceh one day after the peace accord was signed, according to GAM negotiator Teuku Kamaruzzaman as quoted by AFP.

The claims would bring the total number of reported deaths to 10 since the signing of the peace agreement.

Firdaus, however, denied the latest report by GAM. "There are only movements or transfers of Indonesians armed forces soldiers, who have been on operations, to their posts or bases. So there are no more operations to hunt down GAM members," he said, adding GAM should refrain from issuing inflammatory statements.

The contradicting statements from the two parties underscores the delicate task of maintaining a cease-fire agreement which has just entered its second week since its signing on Dec. 9.

The agreement has promised to be the best chance so far for the restive province to see life return to normal after more than two decades of war. Two and a half years of negotiations have gone into the agreement which was facilitated by the Swiss-based Henry Dunant Centre (HDC).

Analysts have warned that implementing the deal would be tough and that the two-month period of confidence building was critical to making the deal last.

Meanwhile, the Joint Security Committee (JSC) in charge of supervising the cease-fire is still absent from Aceh. The JSC is to comprise representatives of GAM, the government and the HDC.

The accord requires the JSC to start operating within a month after the signing, and AFP reported HDC official David Gorman as saying that the committee might start working Friday.

Local police have complained about the agreement, which lacks details on how to respond to hostile situations.

Aceh Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr Taufik S. said that while waiting for JSC to commence work, the police would record violations of the peace agreement and submit them to the committee for a follow-up.

Coordinating Minister for Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said sanctions awaited those who violated the cease- fire, while HDC director Martin Griffith said that the truce agreement did not mention sanctions. "If we find trouble, we will solve it together," said Griffith as quoted by Antara.

In a first step toward creating the JSC, the government agreed to provide HDC legal immunity and security while they are in Aceh, as well as to allow HDC members to communicate among themselves by way of coded messages.

International observers from the Philippines and Thailand will join the monitoring team in Aceh as part of an HDC-hired team. Meanwhile, the Philippine military will send an eight-man team to join the monitoring team in Aceh, Associated Press reported in Manila.

Leading the Filipino team will be Brigadier General Nagamoro Lomodag. The advance team will "pave the way for the participation of a 25-man contingent from the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the international monitoring mission in Aceh," the defense department said.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri is scheduled to arrive in Aceh today (Tuesday) for a two-day visit where she will hold a prayer at Banda Aceh's main mosque, Baiturrahman, and meet local figures.

Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh said that the thanksgiving prayer session to thank God for the peace signing was open to the public.

"We've invited the people of Aceh, so that includes GAM," he said as quoted by Antara. A troop of around 2,000 soldiers would be on standby with security especially tight in and around the mosque, military officials have said.

GAM spokesperson Teungku Sofyan said that 289,000 members of GAM's military wing have returned to society without their weapons.

He said that many Acehnese had not yet fully understood the peace agreement, especially with most of the statements coming from the Indonesian government.

"The people are still confused," he said, and added that GAM was keeping a close eye on the peace process.