U.S. mediator visits Aceh

U.S. mediator visits Aceh

Ibnu Mat Noor and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post,
Banda Aceh/Jakarta

Three international "wise men" assisting in the peace talks
between the government and the separatist Free Aceh Movement
(GAM) began a three-day visit to the Aceh provincial capital of
Banda Aceh on Monday.

During the visit, the three mediators in the Indonesia-GAM
dialog being held under the auspices of the Swiss-based Henry
Dunant Center (HDC) -- Gen. (ret) Anthony Zinni, Andrew Marshall
and David Gorman -- will hold a series of meetings with
provincial leaders.

The local spokesman for the HDC, Fahmi Yunus, said the aim of
the visit was to get a look at the real situation in the province
and to pave the way for further talks.

Zinni, who is also the United States' special peace envoy to
the Middle East, along with Marshall and Gorman, held a series of
closed-door meetings with Indonesian officials in the provincial
capital on Monday.

However, it is unclear in what capacity the three men are
visiting Aceh, with the Indonesian government and the U.S.
Embassy providing conflicting statements regarding their trip.

A senior official at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta told The
Jakarta Post on Monday that Zinni did not represent Washington
and his visit "had no connection at all to the U.S. government".

The official, who asked not to be named, also said that Zinni
came to Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam under the auspices of the HDC,
and the center should be the one explaining the reasons behind
the visit.

An HDC official told the Post on Monday that Zinni was a
special adviser to the center and was visiting Aceh to gather
information on the restive province.

"He is not there to represent the U.S. government, but as
special adviser for our office," the official, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity, said by phone from Geneva.

An official in the office of the Indonesian coordinating
minister for political and security affairs, however, said Zinni
was representing Washington and had met with Coordinating
Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono on Sunday.

Zinni, Gorman and Marshall held meetings on Monday at the
Kuala Tripa Hotel in Banda Aceh with a number of local leaders,
including Muhammad Daim, Yusni Sabi, Imam Syuja and Gani Nurdin,
as well as members of the Aceh security monitoring teams from the
regencies of Pidie, Bireuen, North Aceh and East Aceh.

"They are slated to hold meetings with the province's Iskandar
Muda Military Command chief (Maj. Gen. Djali Yusuf), the
provincial police chief (Insp. Gen. Yusuf Manggabarani) and the
governor (Abdullah Puteh) tomorrow (Tuesday)," Fahmi said.

The three are also scheduled to hold meetings with GAM
negotiators and visit Pidie regency on Tuesday.

The visit comes as Jakarta seems to be considering a policy
change in the province, turning away from dialog in favor of a
military solution to the separatist movement in Aceh.

After a limited Cabinet meeting on Monday, Coordinating
Minister Susilo said the government was striving to continue the
dialog with GAM and to find a proper forum for further talks.

"However, we underline that the acceptance of special regional
autonomy and the cessation of hostility are the basic
requirements to continue the dialog," Susilo said.

He added that President Megawati Soekarnoputri had postponed
any decisions on Aceh for two weeks because of other urgent
issues the government was dealing with.

This postponement is unlikely to be welcome news in Aceh,
where many residents are worried that the government may decide
to step up military action in the province.

The Aceh chapter of the Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) announced
that 845 people were murdered, another 826 were abducted and
1,164 others were tortured between January and July of this year,
a period of stepped up security operations in the province.

"Increasing the security operations will increase the number
of victims in the province," local LBH chief Rufriadi said.

The HDC official, however, told the Post that the Indonesian
government had always shown good intentions for dialog and had
supported the center's efforts.