TNI chief hopeful of peace talks, but problems remain
TNI chief hopeful of peace talks, but problems remain
Agence France-Presse
Singapore
Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said on
Saturday he was hopeful that ongoing peace talks could lead to a
permanent solution to a separatist rebellion in Aceh province.
But he said problems remained because several factions of the
separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have said they do not
recognize the leadership of the group engaged in the
negotiations.
"The GAM in Aceh is not only one faction, there are a lot of
factions of the GAM in Aceh," Endriartono said at an
international security conference in Singapore.
"Some of them are saying that they are not under the command
of their people who live now in Stockholm," he said, referring to
the GAM leaders living in exile in Sweden. He said these factions
said that "we will not follow them because we are not under their
control, so that's one of the problems that we have".
Endriartono said, however, he was "hopeful that the dialog
will give a good result for a permanent solution in Aceh".
His comments came just days after Indonesian government and
GAM negotiators ended the latest round of talks on Tuesday in
Helsinki, Finland.
"I have not gotten any information yet about the talks, but I
hope the talks will give a good result for a permanent solution
in Aceh," Endriartono said.
Aceh, a western Indonesian province, has been a battleground
for government and armed rebels since 1976, when GAM launched its
campaign for independence, angered by what it said was Jakarta's
exploitation of the province's oil and gas resources.
Peace talks to end almost the three-decade conflict were
launched in Helsinki earlier this year after both sides agreed to
return to the table in the wake of the Dec. 26 tsunami disaster,
in which Aceh was the hardest hit.
The weekend's International Institute of Strategic Studies'
Asia Security Conference has gathered defense ministers, senior
military officials, diplomats and scholars from more than 22
countries in the Asia-Pacific region and some Western allies.