Jakarta – Indonesian troops will remain in Aceh after the government signs a truce with separatist rebels next week and there will be no referendum on self-rule for the troubled province, Foreign Affairs Minister Alwi Shihab said Friday.
Briefing reporters on the accord, due to be signed in Geneva on May 12, Mr Alwi said it would not involve a pullout of government troops, who have been accused of gross human rights atrocities during operations aimed at crushing the rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
"What we are trying to do is to see how violence can be reduced," he said. "What we are going to do with GAM in Geneva is form some kind of joint understanding." Both sides, he added, had agreed to create "a humanitarian peaceful situation."
He was referring to the planned signing of a truce accord, announced by Human Rights Minister Hasballah Saad on Thursday, between Jakarta and the Sweden-based leadership of the Aceh separatist movement.
Mr Hasballah said the accord would stipulate that both GAM and the Indonesian military (TNI) "will lay down their weapons." But Mr Alwi refused to say whether or not a ceasefire would be stipulated by the pact, saying only that the government would "not use the term ceasefire because the term ceasefire could create a idea that there are warring parties in Aceh."
He said the government's focus was to "reduce the violence" in Aceh but that it would not discuss the "pullout" of Indonesian troops from the province. He also said there would be no discussion of GAM's demands for a referendum on self- determination.
On Thursday, GAM's spokesman in Aceh, Mr Ismail Syahputra, told AFP by phone that the group's military wing was in favour of the pact as as it would be "the first step towards gaining independence."
"Our headquarters in Sweden has already confirmed to us about the peace accord. We support it because everyone wants to have peace and independence," Mr Ismail said from Lhokseumawe, North Aceh. Once the accord is signed, "we can guarantee peace" said Mr Ismail, but he added that he did not expect the TNI to keep its end of the bargain.
Mr Alwi also said it was hoped the May 12 agreement could "restrict the movements of a third party which has been causing problems" in Aceh. This was an apparent reference to a statement by Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid in which he accused groups of rogue ex-military personnel of stirring up violence.
Indonesia and GAM would also form small joint committees to find a safe method to distribute aid to the people in Aceh. A joint forum – whose task is to formulate policies – will also be formed under the peace accord, the foreign minister said without giving further details.