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)