Chris McCall, Banda Aceh – "Let our people go quickly or Indonesia will suffer the same fate as Yugoslavia." That was the dire warning from separatist rebels, as the Indonesian province of Aceh began a new truce yesterday.
The ceasefire began badly, after gunfights between the security forces and the separatist Free Aceh rebels broke out on Sunday around the city of Lhokseumawe.
Police spokesman Senior Commissioner Kusbini Imbar said at least five people had been killed in incidents around the province on the eve of the truce. Among them were two policemen and two soldiers, along with a man whom police shot dead and claimed was a rebel. One of the policemen had been shot dead by an old friend while watching television. The "friend" had taken his weapon, Mr Kusbini said.
The North Aceh district police headquarters in Lhokseumawe also came under attack as did a joint military and police post in the area.
The rebels accused the security forces of killing at least 27 unarmed civilians in a wave of raids in the area at the weekend. Lhokseumawe remained partially cut off yesterday, although efforts were under way to clear the roads of trees placed across them.
In Banda Aceh, rebel spokesman Nashruddin Ahmad insisted that it was impossible for the rebels and Jakarta to solve the problem together. He said the international community needed to get involved. Jakarta has stubbornly resisted any such idea on the grounds it would be an attack on its sovereignty. "If Indonesia is not willing to welcome that with an open mind it is going to disappear. If not in a very short time I believe Indonesia will no longer exist, precisely as happened in Yugoslavia after Tito [post-war leader Josip Tito]. Yugoslavia – Tito. Indonesia – Suharto. It is a society that does not have a government. They cannot run the country. They can only ruin the country," he said.
Mr Nashruddin scoffed at suggestions that rebel leader Hasan di Tiro could be invited to lead an autonomous provincial administration within Indonesia, saying the rebels would reject it.