Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) information center head Major General Kohirin Suganda Saputra said that the TNI welcomed the statement made by high-rank officers of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) during the fifth-round talks in Helsinki, Finland.

"We (TNI) prayed that GAM would return to the Indonesian Republic," said Saputra at the forestry department in Jakarta on Wednesday (13/07).

GAM spokesman in Sweden Bachtiar Abdullah said that on Monday (11/07), GAM has agreed to talk in the framework of the Indonesian Republic. However, Abdullah said, the Acehnese must be given an opportunity to determine their own fate.

According to Saputra, there has been much progress as regards the government's efforts to create peace in Aceh.

Saputra rejected the accusation that the TNI wished to maintain the conflict in Aceh by creating unsafe situations.

When asked about the TNI's current work in Aceh, Saputra said that the TNI would still carry out joint operations such as the operation to establish security.

"The legal requirements are clear, as according to the presidential regulation that joint operations must still be conducted," he stated. (Agus Supriyanto-Tempo News Room)