Susilo talks up Aceh peace process in Big Apple

Kornelius Purba, The Jakarta Post, New York

The Aceh peace agreement is likely to be judged the biggest achievement of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration so far, and Susilo is making the most of this positive when he meets with other world leaders in New York this week.

Susilo's landslide victory in last year's direct presidential election and the country's status as the world's most-populous majority Muslim nation and the third-largest democracy after India and the U.S. should also provide major working capital for him during his six-day stay.

The President is using his engagements surrounding the United Nations World Summit to win international support for a lasting peace in the war and tsunami-devastated province.

Aceh is expected to be an important topic when Susilo meets bilaterally with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, European Union Secretary-General Javier Solana and U.S, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Susilo also mentioned the problems that still face Aceh in his speech at New York's Columbia University on Tuesday (Wednesday, Jakarta time) and earlier at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri where he received an honorary doctorate on Monday.

At Columbia, Susilo spoke at length about Aceh, detailing the roots of the secessionist movement there. Using the issue to focus on the importance of Indonesia reaching its United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, Susilo cited the lack of development, poverty and injustice as the main causes of the rebellion, which began in the mid-1970s.

Divine intervention, through the tsunami, had prompted both the warring parties to realize that the reconstruction of Aceh required peace, the President noted.

"The challenge now is to make that peace endure so that it will become the environment of a battle in which former adversaries will be fighting on the same side: the battle against poverty," Susilo said in his lecture, which was moderated by Prof. Jeffrey Sachs and attended by about 300 students.

Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said the President hoped his upcoming meetings would help solve Indonesia's domestic problems.

"The President's meetings with PM Blair and the EU Secretary- General are aimed at securing peace in Aceh because the EU is also a member of the AMM (Aceh Monitoring Mission)," Andi said.

The EU is deploying 150 foreign monitors, who make up the bulk of the 250-strong AMM. They will observe the implementation of the peace agreement in Aceh for up to one year.

Also on Tuesday, the President attended the UN-ASEAN summit at the UN Headquarters and an informal meeting on interfaith dialog and cooperation, which was chaired by the Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

In the evening, Susilo attended a reception hosted by U.S. President George W. Bush.

While preoccupied by a more pressing economic agenda at home, like his predecessors, notably Soeharto and Megawati Soekarnoputri, Susilo brought a large number of protocol, security and support staff with him to America.

Although New York is enjoying a balmy Indian summer, all delegation members and journalists are required to wear official dress, with some African delegates proudly sporting Indonesian- made batik, following the trend former South African president Nelson Mandela set.

The President will leave the U.S. on Saturday and is expected to arrive home on Monday. He earlier canceled a trip to the Middle East, which would have taken him to Saudi Arabia and Palestine.