TNI welcome GAM chief Tiro's return to Aceh

TNI welcome GAM chief Tiro's return to Aceh

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian Military chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto would welcome
the possible return of Hassan Tiro, the self-exiled leader of the
Free Aceh Movement (GAM), to the province.

"Yes. He (Hassan) has the right to come here in accordance
with the memorandum of understanding (on Aceh peace). He will
face no legal consequences if he visits Indonesia," Endriartono
said at the State Palace.

Endriartono said he had been informed about the possible
arrival of Hassan, the senior GAM leader, who has been living in
Sweden and been granted citizenship there.

The TNI chief hopes Hassan will visit Indonesia "as a good
man" who supports the peace process in the tsunami-devastated
province.

GAM leaders in Aceh could not be reached for comment.

The Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM), which oversees the
implementation of the peace deal in the province, has called on
Acehnese leaders in exile to come back to Aceh due to improved
security following the signing of the accord.

Mohammed Nur Djuli and Bakhtiar Abdullah were the first GAM
leaders in exile to return to Aceh.

The peace-building process has continued to pick up pace as
both sides have implemented three of the four disarmament and
troop withdrawal stages.

GAM is currently handing over more weapons to the AMM, a
process that will be completed on Thursday.

Endriartono said the TNI was committed to meeting the targets
set out in the peace agreement, which was signed in August.

He said that the TNI would withdraw more than 5,500 troops from Aceh
soon after GAM completed the third round of weapons
decommissioning. The police, meanwhile, will withdraw 1,350
officers from the province.

"We accepted some of the weapons but rejected others. As of
now, however, I can see their bona fides and, hopefully, it will
continue," Endriartono said.

GAM surrendered 570 firearms in the first two stages of
disarmament. They are required to hand in 840 weapons in four
stages up until the end of the year.

Under the peace agreement, Indonesia must pull out some 6,000
of its 27,000 troops from Aceh. About 14,700 soldiers and 9,100
police officers are to remain in the province after the end of
the withdrawals on Dec. 31.

In another development, head of the Aceh Rehabilitation and
Reconstruction Agency (BRR) Kuntoro Mangkusubroto said the
President had issued a decree governing the involvement of former
GAM members in construction and rehabilitation work.

"This is a very important decree, particularly as regards
supporting the rehabilitation and reconstruction process in
Aceh," Kuntoro said in Jakarta, referring to Presidential Decree
No. 15/2005 on the implementation of the memorandum of
understanding between the government and GAM.

The government has promised to provide former GAM members
access to the construction work -- a move that is expected to
accelerate the reintegration of the former rebels into society.

Kuntoro also said Susilo was scheduled to visit Aceh to mark
the first anniversary of the tsunami.

There will be a number of events held to commemorate the
disaster, Minister of National Development Planning Sri Mulyani
said.

Both the government and GAM agreed to return to the
negotiating table after the Dec. 26 tsunami, which swept Aceh's
coastline leaving more than 167,000 people dead or missing.