Unilateral truce breaks down in Aceh
Ibnu Mat Noor, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
The unilateral truce announced by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) on Nov. 4 broke down on Wednesday when GAM rebels and military soldiers exchanged gunfire in North Aceh, leaving five people dead including one soldier.
The military said it deployed soldiers in light tanks and armored personnel carriers to patrol a concentration of rebels in a swampy area in Nissam subdistrict, North Aceh.
The local military spokesman, Lt. Col. Firdaus Komarno, said the gunfight occurred while the score of deployed soldiers were conducting their routine patrol in the GAM stronghold.
"We deployed a number of personnel but the operation was conducted not to destroy but to separate civilians from rebels," he told The Jakarta Post here on Wednesday.
Sofyan Dawod, a district commander and spokesman for GAM, said the rebels were surrounded by soldiers who sealed the area around Paya Cot Trieng in North Aceh.
"Not just me but more than 200 guerrillas and citizens have been surrounded by a blockade by Indonesian soldiers for the past week," he told the Post by satellite telephone.
Other senior GAM military leaders, including GAM commander Muzakhir Manaf, were also believed to be in the blockaded area but they escaped.
There was no confirmation of the casualty claim. Komarno said exchanges of fire were continuing in Nisam but he had no reports of casualties.
But he did say one soldier and four rebels were killed and two soldiers wounded in nearby Central Aceh district on Monday.
GAM declared a unilateral ceasefire for the fasting month of Ramadhan, which began on Wednesday.
Sofyan warned the violation of the ceasefire put peace talks in limbo, and accused the military of not wanting to end the prolonged conflict that has claimed the lives of thousands of people, the majority of them civilians.
He said the rebels did not attack security personnel, only firing back at them in self-defense
The military in Aceh expressed appreciation for GAM's unilateral ceasefire, but said it would continue operations in order to create a secure atmosphere for the Acehnese.
"Security restoration operations will continue as usual, as they are efforts to improve security during the fasting month," said Maj. Gen. Djali Yusuf, chief of the Iskandar Muda Military Command overseeing Aceh, during a press conference here on Wednesday.
He said the military welcomed GAM's unilateral truce, but added that it had been deceived by GAM many times in the past.
"As evidence, GAM has used the current situation to resupply its arms stocks, as happened on Tuesday," he said, adding that past pauses in hostilities were also used by GAM to recruit new members.
Earlier on Wednesday, police said they had seized a shipment of weapons in Besitang, which borders North Sumatra.
Djali also expressed his disappointment with six Acehnese leaders he said failed to represent the grievances of the people of Aceh during a recent meeting with GAM leaders in Geneva.
"The six should have explained the true situation in Aceh so the peace talks scheduled for November 3 and 4 were not unilaterally postponed by GAM," he said.
GAM decided to delay the dialog after meeting with the six leaders, who included Imam Sudja, Muslim Ibrahim and Hakim Nyak Pha, at the Henry Dunant Centre in Geneva.
GAM and the Indonesian government have already agreed to discuss further the implementation of special autonomy and direct elections for Aceh governors and regents, as well as the establishment of a monitoring team to observe a planned ceasefire.
The two sides have agreed to a number of ceasefires in the past but none have held, with violations by both sides.
GAM has been fighting for independence since 1976, pushed by the government's failure to fulfill its promises to the province and rampant human rights abuses in the territory.
The latest effort by the government to resolve the Aceh conflict involves the provision of special treatment, authority and fiscal balance under Law No. 18/2001 on special autonomy in the province.