Jakarta – Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri Wednesday called for dialogue rather than violence to settle separatist pressures in Aceh and announced she would visit the restive province soon, officials said.
"The president wants to hold a dialogue with the community in Aceh ... the results of the dialogue will be used as a path to resolve the Aceh problem," State Secretary Bambang Kesowo told reporters.
Megawati earlier met 40 Aceh representatives at the state palace to formally present a special autonomy law she had signed, aimed at ending a decades-long separatist revolt in the oil-rich province on the tip of Sumatra island.
"Violence is not the way to settle the Aceh problem," one of the representatives, Usman Hasan, quoted the new president as saying at the closed ceremony. "Therefore I have ordered the concerned personnel to take a new approach in the settlement of the Aceh problem, which in essence relies on deliberations," Hasan, a former adviser on Aceh to ex-president BJ Habibie, quoted her as saying.
Kesowo said Megawati would visit Aceh after her planned tour of fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations from August 22-26. Under the law passed by parliament last month the fervently Muslim province will have its own judicial and education system and selective implementation of Islamic Sharia laws.
Another main feature is the return of 70 percent of oil and gas revenues to Acehnese authorities for eight years, after which the amount is subject to review.
Jakarta's perceived exploitation of Aceh's vast oil and gas reserves has been a major factor winning sympathy for the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). The rebels have however rejected autonomy and insist on full independence for the province, where at least 1,100 people have been killed this year alone.Megawati has been seen as a strong supporter of Indonesia's territorial integrity. There had been fears she might take a hard line against separatists in Aceh and Irian Jaya.
As the ceremony went ahead in Jakarta, a public transport stoppage gripped the province, schools were shut and residents said tension was rising before Indonesia's Independence Day on Friday. Thousands of passengers were stranded when buses failed to operate between the provincial capital Banda Aceh and the North Sumatra capital of Medan, a journalist in Banda Aceh said.
Drivers said their companies had been told by unidentified persons to strike from Wednesday to Saturday or risk having their vehicles torched. Two buses plying the route were set ablaze by armed men in East Aceh on Tuesday. Drivers said trees had been felled across roads in several locations, including the outskirts of Banda Aceh.
Aceh military spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Firdaus, said the rebels were trying to scuttle the independence celebrations. The public transport shutdown also hit several other areas of Aceh, including Lhokseumawe in North Aceh and Sigli in Pidie district.
Schools were also mostly empty in Lhokseumawe amid the rising tension and the torching of four local schools by unidentified groups late Tuesday. Two schools were set ablaze in Banda Aceh and surrounding areas late Tuesday, residents said.
There are an estimated 20,000 troops in Aceh, including a 771-strong joint unit trained in anti-guerrilla warfare. A senior armed forces officer quoted by the state Antara news agency said more would be sent and a navy vice admiral said five warships had been deployed off Aceh's east coast to block any attempt to smuggle in weapons.