Talks by cellular phone

Talks by cellular phone

Acehnese separatists prevented by Indonesian police from
attending last-ditch peace talks in Tokyo joined the negotiations
by telephone Sunday.

In a stuffy hotel room where plates of chopped mango and
bananas sat ready to fuel his efforts, Sofyan Ibrahim Tiba, the
lead negotiator for the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels, stood in
sandals with his left hand in his pants pocket and his right hand
holding a small cellular telephone to his ear.

A small sheet of paper with handwritten notes about the
cessation of hostilities agreement sat on a desk beside the plate
of chopped mango.

Two other GAM representatives wearing sarongs sat on the foot
of a bed as Tiba, a lawyer, spoke in Acehnese with GAM
negotiators in Tokyo about the role of the Indonesian police.

Five GAM negotiators gathered in the hotel room to
periodically provide input for Tiba's frequent conversations with
Tokyo. Two mediators from the Swiss-based Henry Dunant Centre
(HDC) assisted with the communication.

"We're doing a lot of back and forth," said HDC representative
David Gorman.

As Tiba talked on the phone, the wife and six other female
relatives of another negotiator Muhammad Usman, 68, sat quietly
on two beds. They arrived with food and came to check on Usman's
health after his day in police custody, Usman's wife Pocut
Sariwati said.

"What a shame. He's already old," she said.

The Five GAM negotiators, including Tiba and Usman, were
unable to attend the talks in person after Indonesian police
detained them Friday morning as they headed to the airport for
their flight to Tokyo.

Police have named them suspects in recent bombings blamed on
GAM in Jakarta and Medan, a city in North Sumatra neighboring
Aceh.

They were freed Saturday night just as the Tokyo talks were
about to begin between Indonesian delegates and other GAM
delegates who arrived from Sweden. -- AFP