Aceh rebels criticise mediator Ahtisaari on eve of new round of talks

Both sides meet again in Vantaa

print this

Talks led by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari between the government of Indonesia and rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) resume in Vantaa on Tuesday.
      Ahtisaari described his feelings as "hopeful but realistic". According to his Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) organisation, the aim at the third round of the talks will be to discuss the most difficult issues in the violent conflict which has been going on for about three decades.
      Shortly before the meeting, the armed faction of the GAM issued a statement expressing "shock and disappointment" that Ahtisaari’s CMI had taken to using the Indonesian government’s expression "special autonomy" as the solution to the problem.
      In the previous round of talks in February, the GAM called for "self-government".
      CMI spokeswoman Maria-Elena Cowell said on Monday that CMI would not comment on the accusations. She said that the beginning of the talks will be aimed at establishing terminology that suits both sides.
      Indonesia’s Minister of information Sofyan Djajil told the newspaper The Jakarta Post that he does not understand what the rebels mean with their demand for self-government.
     
In February, the SIRA movement, which is calling for a referendum on the future status of Aceh, accused Ahtisaari of bias in the talks because of the use of the expression "special autonomy". At that time the CMI noted that Ahtisaari does not set the terminology, nor does he choose the members of the delegations of the two sides.
      An expert travelling with the GAM negotiators said anonymously that the rebels do not plan to turn the terminology used by GAM into a threshold issue. "If it were a big problem, GAM would not be here. GAM takes the negotiations very seriously and wants to move forward", the expert said.
      Maria-Elena Cowell says that the Vantaa talks will have an extensive and difficult agenda, which includes the holding of elections, the sharing of the wealth from province’s rich natural resources between the central government and Aceh, outside monitoring of the cease fire agreement, the reintegration of GAM fighters into society, security arrangements, and the question of amnesty for former fighters.
      One source following the peace process said anonymously that the talks are at a very sensitive stage, and that they are overshadowed by a "fear of the worst", which prevails in Indonesia. Adding to the tension have been the intensified operations of the Indonesian armed forces in Aceh; GAM declared a cease fire after the devastating tsunami in December, and now it has accused government forces of deploying more troops in the region and continuing to kill innocent civilians.
     
Ahtisaari will hold a news conference on this week’s talks on Sunday. He has previously said that he expects results from the negotiations by July.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Aceh talks to resume this week (11.4.2005)

Helsingin Sanomat