TNI ready to leave Aceh: Chief
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said on Thursday the military was ready to pull out some 40,000 troops from Aceh if an agreement was reached by the government and rebels.
But he said than until an agreement was reached, the military would continue to play its role in maintaining security across the tsunami-devastated province. He also said soldiers would not be ordered to stop fighting Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels.
"Of course, there should be some synchronization between diplomatic moves and what is taking place on the ground. But the rebels in the field continue to create disturbances in Aceh, forcing us to crush them," Endriartono said after a meeting with Malaysian armed forces chief Gen. Tan Sri Dato Seri Mohd. Zahidi bin Hj. Zainuddin.
"Following the latest peace talks in Helsinki, the government has yet to decide whether all of the points proposed there are acceptable. Therefore, the process still has no effect on the TNI," Endriartono said.
There was more violence in Aceh on Thursday despite the latest round of peace talks.
A former rebel was shot dead early on Thursday after being abducted from his home in Sawang, northern Aceh, by an armed gang of suspected GAM rebels.
On Wednesday, government troops killed at least seven rebels in a gunfight in Jeuleubeuh village, east of the town of Peureulak.
The gunfight followed an attack by armed rebels on a military outpost in Jeuleubeuh, local military spokesman Ari Mulya Asnawi told AFP.
More than 12,000 people have been killed in the resource-rich western province since GAM launched a campaign for independence in 1976, accusing Jakarta of plundering the region's resources.
The conflict intensified in May, 2003, when a truce collapsed. The TNI is believed to have played a role in persuading former president Megawati Soekarnoputri to put Aceh under martial law.
The Dec. 26 tsunami, which killed more than 126,000 people in Aceh, prompted the government and GAM to reopen a dialog.