TNI vows to continue fight in Aceh
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Military (TNI) rejected a cease-fire demand from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), and said it would continue to crush the rebel group until they fully surrender their arms.
"We (the military) have been asked (by the government) to share ideas about the ongoing peace talks with the GAM leadership. We, indeed, support the peace process, but stress that there will be no cease-fire agreement," TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said on Wednesday.
"If GAM has the intention of discontinuing its secessionist activities, they should surrender their weapons," Endriartono said. "In the past they have always used cease-fires to consolidate themselves," he added.
The four-star general further said that the proposed involvement of a foreign monitoring team in the peace process in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam should be aimed at observing GAM members in surrendering their weapons and ensure that they obtain amnesty from the government.
Endriartono stated his stance during a special hearing at the TNI headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, involving military top brass and lawmakers grouped in a working commission on security and defense.
The lawmakers were, among others, Hepi Bone Zulkarnaen from the Golkar Party, Effendi M.S. Simbolon from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Soeripto, a former intelligence officer and a politician from the Justice and Prosperous Party (PKS).
During the hearing, the TNI displayed GAM's weaponry and attributes including GAM's crescent-and-star flags, uniforms and documents, which had been seized by troops during the two-year military campaign.
Endriartono also said that no less than 3,300 GAM fighters had been killed since the military launched a major campaign to crush the decades-long insurgency in May 2003.
Announcing the figures, Endriartono said the military offensive would continue against the insurgents despite ongoing peace talks because "GAM still exists."
"Today their strength is estimated to be between 1,200 and 1,500 people, with 500 firearms," he said.
At the start of the campaign, the military put the number of GAM rebels at around 6,000, a figure that rose to as many as 10,000 equipped with about 3,500 firearms during martial law, Endriartono claimed.
Endriartono's remarks may not help the ongoing peace talks between GAM leaders and government negotiators in Finland.
A member of the GAM delegation team, Mohammed Nur Djuli, simply responded by saying, "TNI (are) idiots, they are losing the chance to keep Indonesian intact."
GAM has waged a guerrilla war since 1976, accusing Jakarta of exploiting the impoverished province's rich resources. More than 12,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since then.
The exiled GAM leadership has been pushing for the government to reciprocate a cease-fire offer at the current peace talks, which were revived following last year's tsunami disaster, which claimed 128,000 lives in Aceh alone.
The Helsinki talks, set to resume in July, were dealt another blow late on Tuesday when Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Widodo AS said a key demand by the rebels for political representation was unacceptable.
The Indonesian Military launched a major offensive to crush GAM's independence struggle in May 2003 following the collapse of previous peace talks.