WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2003
Indonesia ready for talks if rebels disarm
AP
JAKARTA: Indonesia said that it might revive abandoned peace talks with separatists from Aceh province, but only if the rebels explicitly drop their independence cause and disarm.
Security Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono comments indicated that the government wants to calm fears that it might launch a military offensive against the Free Aceh Movement.
Yudhoyono spoke just four days after the government abruptly canceled talks with the rebels in Geneva. The aborted meeting had been aimed at shoring up a Dec. 9 peace pact that has been jeopardized by fighting and violations by both sides.
The accord was designed to end a 26-year-old guerrilla war that has killed 12,000 people in Aceh province on the northern tip of Sumatra island.
Under the pact, the rebels agreed to accept special autonomy -including increased revenues from oil and other natural resources and a greater say in decision making - as a starting point for further political discussions.
The rebels also agreed to store their weapons in designated locations, and the government military was supposed to move its forces into defensive positions. Neither side has begun the demilitarization process.
"The meeting is still possible if there is a concrete, explicit and formal statement from (the rebels) on the acceptance of special autonomy as the starting point for the settlement of the Aceh conflict," Yudhoyono said following a special Cabinet meeting on Aceh.
Yudhoyono said the government would increase help for refugees and would bolster security. He did not provide specific details on governments plans.
A rebel spokesman could not be reached for comment.
The December peace accord initially brought peace back to the province, but in recent months violence has risen significantly. Both sides have accused the other of violating the pact, and the government has threatened to launch a military crackdown should the talks fail.
The Henry Dunant Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, the Geneva-based international peace group that brokered the accord, said last week that it hopes to reschedule talks in coming weeks. Donors from Japan, the United States and World Bank have expressed optimism that the pact can be saved.
Indonesia has accused the rebels of campaigning for independence in violation of the pact and using the lull in violence to recruit new members and set up their own government.
The rebels have accused the government of attacking civilians who support the peace process, and sponsoring pro-Jakarta militias that have intimidated peace monitors. Peace monitors were relocated earlier this month to the provincial capital of Banda Aceh after one of their offices was burned down.
The rebels have said they remain committed to peace, but rebel spokesman Sofyan Dawod said Sunday they would teach Indonesia a "valuable lesson" if it launches a military offensive.
"If Indonesia wants to continue its occupation on the Acehnese through a military operation, then we will teach the occupying forces a valuable lesson," he said, according to The Jakarta Post.
The rebels have been fighting since 1976 for an independent state in the oil- and gas-rich province, 1,770 kilometers (1,200 miles) northwest of Jakarta.
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