TNI chief warns against Aceh troop withdrawal
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto welcomed on Wednesday the planned Tokyo meeting on Aceh, but warned that any foreign assistance for Aceh should have no conditions attached.
Speaking in a hearing with House of Representatives Commission I for political, security and foreign affairs, Endriartono said that the security of the Acehnese people could not be regarded as a bargaining chip.
At least 23 foreign countries have confirmed their participation in a meeting in Tokyo on Dec. 3, barely one week before the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and Indonesian government are due to sign a peace deal on Dec. 9, 2002.
The meeting, organized by Japan and the U.S., as well as the World Bank, is designed to discuss possible financial assistance for rehabilitation and reconstruction in the troubled province.
"I welcome the planned meeting on Aceh and consider it as part of foreign concern regarding serious issues in the province.
"However, should the meeting come to a conclusion that would produce no benefit to this country, such as asking the military to withdraw from the territory, we would have to reconsider the meeting.
He did not elaborate.
Following the downfall of former president Soeharto in 1999, the government changed its policy on Aceh from a military approach to one of diplomacy.
The peace approach, however, has been in contrast to the presence, currently, of more than 21,000 military reinforcement personnel in the troubled province.
TNI's leadership also revived the Iskandar Muda Military Command in February, a move that many observers and human rights activists feared would only worsen the situation there.
In 2000, Swiss-based, non-governmental organization Henry Dunant Center (HDC) started facilitating peace talks between the Indonesian government and GAM in order to seek a peaceful solution to the Aceh question.
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, meanwhile, asserted that post-conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation in the province would be carried out simultaneously with the operation to manage and stop armed conflict there over the following six months.
The military also vowed to continue its siege of a GAM stronghold in Cot Trieng, North Aceh, until the rebels agreed to sign a government-prepared peace pact.
"Thus far, we have tolerated a series of delays to the peace agreement between the government and GAM as we believe that a peaceful solution is the best way forward for all of us.
"However, if GAM tries to manipulate us (Indonesia), and that series of delays is one of its efforts to buy time, I think we will have to explore other solutions to stop the Acehnese from suffering," Endriartono said, without elaborating.