Wahid: No vote on Aceh independence

[Ulhas Joglekar]

29 November 1999
Wahid: No vote on Aceh independence
MANILA: Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid said Sunday that restive Aceh
province will not be offered a referendum on independence, his foreign
minister said.
Wahid gave the assurance to other leaders at the Manila summit of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, his first big international forum
since becoming president.
"There's no such thing as a referendum to give the option of independence,''
Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab told reporters.
Violence in the devoutly Muslim, resource-rich Indonesian province has
claimed thousands of lives over the last decade.
Wahid fueled separatists' hopes for independence recently when he said he
favored a referendum on the issue. But over strenuous objections from
Indonesia's power structure, the powerful military included, he has backed
off and said a referendum would be on another issue, like the imposition of
Islamic law.
Fears are widespread that after another Indonesian province, East Timor,
obtained independence, freedom for Aceh would signal the breakup of
Indonesia and threaten regional stability.
In a draft of their joint statement, the ASEAN leaders said they support
Indonesia's territorial integrity and back peaceful measures to resolve
Aceh's bloody separatist dispute.
Wahid plans a meeting with Acehnese leaders in Jakarta this week. Wahid's
hand will be strengthened in the planned talks by the refusal of even the
region's Muslim nations to support the province's independence quest, Shihab
said. (AP)
For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service
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Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. 1999.