Wiranto rejects dialog proposal with Aceh's GAM

Wiranto rejects dialog proposal with Aceh's GAM

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Wiranto
ruled out on Thursday the possibility of initiating a dialog with
members of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), saying their
demand for independence was unrealistic.

"The demand for Aceh's independence is unrealistic, and the
government and the military will not hold dialogs with groups
making such a demand," he said after speaking at a meeting of the
Golkar affiliated SOKSI organization at Hotel Indonesia.

He said he would only hold dialogs which had realistic aims
with Acehnese people, the government, the legislative council and
the House of Representatives.

Chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights Marzuki
Darusman said last week the government should recognize and open
a dialog with GAM to reduce tension in the troubled province,
where hundreds have been killed over the past few months.

Marzuki said "if the military was not able to hold a dialog
with GAM, then they should allow other agencies or leaders of
Acehnese people to conduct a dialog".

Separately, the rights commission's secretary-general,
Clementino dos Reis Amaral, expressed pessimism that the team
recently established by President B.J. Habibie to investigate
past human rights abuses in Aceh, would be able to thoroughly
settle the matter.

Rights activists have said the team has been authorized to be
a fact-finding mission only, and therefore would not be capable
of prosecuting alleged human rights perpetrators in the province.

Soldiers have been accused of widespread human rights abuses
during a decade of anti-rebel operations in Aceh which was halted
last year.

However, since early this year, Aceh has seen a sharp
resurgence in violence between soldiers and suspected rebels.

At least 223 people have been killed in clashes since May.
Hundreds of buildings, including schools, have also been set on
fire, and more than 145,000 people have fled to mosques, schools
and government offices in fear of anti-rebel operations in their
villages.

Meanwhile, despite efforts to send refugees home and a new
police operation to enhance security, Pidie residents continue to
flee their villages.

Residents from Tiro district on the slopes of a mountainous
area on Thursday followed the example of locals from Meurudu,
Ulim and Bandar Dua, who fled over the past three days.

According to the Sigli student post, excluding this week's
exodus, the latest estimate of the number of refugees in Pidie
alone was 70,000.

Ridarantau, a student volunteer in Banda Aceh, said on
Thursday if the refugees did not return soon, "we fear food
shortages will hit Aceh". He was referring to the fact that many
of the refugees were farmers.

Fearing the possibility of theft from the vacant villages,
fishermen from Meurudu have brought their boat engines to the
refugee camps.

In response to reports that refugees were beginning to return
home, student volunteers in Sigli, the capital of Pidie, said
villagers were refusing to return before Aug. 17. The volunteers
said there were rumors that separatists would remove Indonesian
flags on the commemoration of Independence Day and carry out
other forms of intimidation.

Meanwhile, some 100 Acehnese students staged on Thursday a
protest in front of the Ministry of Defense in Jakarta. They
demanded the military pull out from the province and an end to
violence in their homeland.

They also demanded the alleged human rights perpetrators be
brought to court.

Police have said that some 5,000 troops and police will be
sent to Aceh to reinforce some 6,000 local police in a new six
month-long offensive to crush the suspected rebels.
(51/anr/byg/rms)