25 February 2005
MORE TIME AND PATIENCE NEEDED IN SETTLING ACEH CONFLICT, PRESIDENT SAYS
Jakarta, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was hoping the 29-yeas conflict in Aceh would be settled at the recent negotiations, but it appeared that more time and patience would be needed to reach that goal.
"Actually I want the conflict to end in the post tsunami disaster," the president said after receiving two Metro TV journalists who had been released by their Iraqi captors, at the state palace here on Thursday.
In his comment on the result of the informal meeting between Indonesia and the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GSA) in Helsinki, Finland, the president said that it would be impossible to make all possible efforts to end the conflict in only one or two rounds of negotiations, as more time and patience are needed to reach that end.
Indonesia, the president added, will always be ready to continue with the informal meeting, of course if the agenda has been well and clearly defined.
"In the beginning, the meeting went on so slowly," the president said, adding that later the negotiations began show some progress as the negotiators have started to discuss the special autonomy, ways and means to end the conflict, and an amnesty for the rebels so that they would be able to regain their rights as the rest of the Acehnese people.
Most important for the president at present is how to maintain security in Aceh and to speed up the reconstruction of ravaged Aceh in the post tsunami period.
Negative reaction
In the meantime, two Indonesian legislators gave a negative reaction to the result of the second round peace dialogue which wound up with an agreement to hold a third meeting in April.
Effendi Choirie, member of the House's defence and foreign affairs commission, said the dialogue between Indonesia and the GSA leaders has been a waste of time and energy.
"It is not necessary to hold further talks with the separatists. We have been constantly giving our attention to the peace dialogue in a foreign country, while the issue is actually an internal affair of Indonesia," he said.
Choirie said the dialogue was only held for the sake of courtesy and constituted a tactic to give the Indonesian Defence Forces (TNI) time to plan more military operations in Aceh.
Ironically, the negotiators involved in the dialogue had frequently done it, but a solution to the problem was never found, he said, adding that in the future, dialogues with GSA should be held on Indonesian territory.
Earlier, another member of the House Commission, Arif Mudatsir Mandan, also reminded the government and the military (TNI) not to easily trust the statements made by GSA leaders, namely that they would reduce their demand for independence.
"The government and the TNI must exercise more caution over the top rebel's statements," Arif said.
However, the statements may contain a certain objective, as they were made at a time when the TNI was about to launch a military operation.
"The statement has another interpretation," he said. (Antara)
Embassy of the Republic Indonesia in Canberra