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.