Talks with GAM must be intensified: House leaders
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
To avoid more bloodshed following the killing of military commander of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) Tengku Abdullah Syafi'ie, the House of Representatives (DPR) urged the government on Thursday to intensify dialog with the insurgents and resolve the Aceh question through peaceful means.
House members, however, emphasized that secessionist movements should be dealt with by military means.
"After the killing of Syafi'ie, dialog (with GAM members) is worth pursuing," said Ibrahim Ambong, chairman of House Commission I, which oversees foreign affairs and defense issues.
House Speaker Akbar Tandjung commended the Indonesian military on Thursday for killing Aceh insurgent military commander Syafe'ie, saying it (the killing) had been carried out to defend the country's sovereignty.
"We congratulate the military for its tough measures against those trying to secede from Indonesia," Akbar said.
Syafi'ie, his wife Fatimah and six insurgent members, presumably Syafi'ie's guards, were killed in a shoot-out with military personnel at Cubo, Pidie regency, Aceh on Tuesday morning.
His death will likely be a serious blow to the proindependence movement, which has been under severe military pressure since President Megawati Soekarnoputri ordered a crackdown shortly after assuming office in July.
The rebel movement was launched in 1975 after years of military abuses in the region. Since then, thousands of people have been killed, including at least 1,400 last year and about 100 in the first weeks of this year.
Akbar expressed the hope that Syafi'ie's shooting would not affect efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Aceh issue.
Meanwhile, Aceh Civilian Task Force Chairman Imam Syuja' expressed regrets on Thursday over the killing of Syafi'ie, saying his death would worsen the situation in the province.
"Efforts to resolve the Aceh question through dialog are now in jeopardy," Imam Syuja' told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Imam Syuja' was elected chairman of the Aceh Civilian Task Force, set up to articulate the interests of civilian Acehnese at a meeting attended by, among others, Aceh deputy governor and representatives of GAM in exile, in Washington in mid-2001.
Chairman of Aceh security monitoring team Muhammad Daim said dialog on the Aceh issue now depended on the Acehnese themselves.
"If the people still want to resolve the conflict through peaceful means, namely dialog, the killing of Tengku Abdullah Syafi'ie would not hamper the dialog processes," he said.
He said his team was still trying to fathom the aspirations of the Acehnese people after Syafi'ie's shooting.
"Tomorrow, we shall visit Pidie, Bireuen and North Aceh," he told the Post.
Akbar also hailed the government's move to revive the Iskandar Muda military command in Banda Aceh, the capital of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.
"The revival of the Iskandar Muda military command will reinforce TNI's strength in Aceh," he said.
Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirayuda said, after a hearing with House Commission I on Thursday, that the government would pursue peaceful solutions to the Aceh question by holding dialog with the separatists.
He said a third party could mediate the peace talks as neither Jakarta nor GAM trusted each other.
"The third party, either a facilitator or mediator, could be individuals or institutions," said Hassan in Jakarta on Thursday.
According to Hassan, the next peace talks with the separatist group would be aimed at finding out if the separatists would accept special autonomy status for Aceh.
He refused to specify the time or name of the government representatives at the dialog.
However, he said that the government would wait initially for the reaction from the separatist group to the killing of its military commander.