U.S. pressure RI Aceh peace

U.S. pressure RI Aceh peace

Agencies, Phnom Penh

The United States on Wednesday put pressure on Indonesia to
pursue a peaceful resolution to end the conflict in Aceh, as well
as pushing for North Korea to abandon its nuclear drive and for
Myanmar to embrace democratic reforms during high-level talks at
Asia-Pacific's top security forum.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told the forum here that
the collective voice of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) could
facilitate efforts to restore peace in Aceh.

"The road to peace in Aceh continues to lie in a negotiated
settlement that includes full implementation of special autonomy
provisions for the province of Aceh," a senior state department
official quoted Powell as telling the ARF forum.

Powell noted that the international community had welcomed
last December's ceasefire agreement between the Indonesian
government and the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) as "a
promising step toward resolution of this conflict."

"Unfortunately neither the Indonesian government nor the Free
Aceh Movement fully implemented the provisions of the agreement,"
the official was quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying.

During the ARF forum, the European Union delegation also
expressed EU's disappointment over the break down of the
Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, signed by Jakarta and GAM in
December last year, that led to the war in Aceh.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda, however, defended
the government's position over its war in Aceh by describing the
military operation in Aceh a "legitimate and sovereign efforts"
to protect its territorial integrity from "GAM's armed rebellion
and terrorist acts."

"Indonesia is facing the threat of terror from another
quarter, namely the separatist ambitions of the so-called GAM,
who has resorted to widespread indiscriminate acts of terror
against civilian targets, such as the bombing of the Jakarta
Stock Exchange as well as department stores and shopping malls in
Jakarta and elsewhere.

"To maintain its relevance, the ARF is called upon to respond
to such non-traditional threats of security which are borderless
and global in nature," Hassan told the forum.

Aside from Aceh, Powell lobbied Southeast Asian nations to
help pressure North Korea into abandoning its nuclear ambitions
and he said ministers agreed that nuclear weapons could not be
tolerated on the Korean peninsula.

"All of North Korea's neighbors have an interest in this,"
Powell told a news conference. "It is not a U.S.-North Korea
issue alone."

A joint statement issued at the conclusion of the ARF called
for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and urged North
Korea to reverse its decision to withdraw from the Non-
Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

North Korea, however, insists the matter must be resolved in
one-on-one talks with Washington. The North on Wednesday lashed
out at U.S. pressure as "a declaration of war" and ruled out the
idea of involving other nations in ending the standoff.

The ARF repeated the ASEAN call Wednesday for Myanmar's
military government to release democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

The junta has said she will be released when tensions ease,
but Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham said that was not good
enough.

"We believe that the generals need to understand that Suu Kyi
has to be released ... immediately ... and given an opportunity
to carry on her political role in the country," Graham told
reporters.

An ASEAN delegate attending the one-day talks told AFP that
the foreign ministers of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Japan
had also "called for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi."

The foreign ministers also looked for ways to bolster the
fight against terrorism. They adopted measures to strengthen
border and maritime security, and reaffirmed a need to halt money
laundering and other means of financing terrorism, the ministers
said in a statement released at the meeting's close. It did not
provide specifics.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The
regional forum includes ASEAN plus Australia, Canada, China, the
European Union, India, Japan, Mongolia, North and South Korea,
New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Russia and the United States.