Jakarta – The commander of Aceh's separatist rebels on Monday ordered his fighters to avoid clashes with Indonesian troops during an upcoming European Union fact-finding mission, warning that the military might use the occasion to try to sabotage the peace process.
The military denied that it was trying to undermine efforts to bring peace to the tsunami-hit region.
The E.U. team is scheduled to arrive in Aceh on Tuesday for a four-day ground survey aimed at establishing peace-monitoring bases. The visit is an outgrowth of the peace talks between the government and rebels in Finland, in which the E.U. is participating as an observer.
In a statement received Monday, Muzakkir Manaf, who commands an estimated 5,000 rebels, accused the government of beefing up its troop strength in the province of 4.1 million people.
"In consideration of the safety and efficiency of the E.U. assessment team during their mission in Aceh, (the command) orders all members to observe strict discipline against all provocative actions instigated by the army and police, in their effort to create incidents in order to sabotage all efforts at ending the bloody conflict in Aceh peacefully and blaming GAM," Manaf said, using the Indonesian acronym for the Free Aceh Movement.
Efforts to end the three-decade-long war in Aceh, considered to be the most significant threat to Indonesia's unity since East Timor's secession in 1999, began five years ago and resulted in a six-month ceasefire in 2003.
This collapsed after the Indonesian side arrested rebel negotiators and army-backed militias attacked foreign peace monitors, forcing them to abandon the province.
The peace process was revived after last December's earthquake and tsunami that killed at least 130,000 people in Aceh, under the auspices of Finland's former President Martti Ahtisaari. Both sides have said the talks are going well.
Maj. Gen. Kohirin Suganda Saputra said the military would welcome the delegation. "The (military) supports the government which is trying to bring peace to Aceh," Saputra said. "The E.U. delegation will do the ground survey and later they will become the monitoring team in Aceh solving problems, including how to make GAM lay down its weapons."