Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – The Indonesian government said it had lost all faith in the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) after the rebel group "disrespectfully" postponed an emergency meeting that was to salvage a peace pact between them.

In a response seen as an overreaction by some, the Indonesian government signalled strongly that it was stopping talks and starting military operations in the province.

A day after Jakarta rejected the GAM-proposed postponement of the Joint Council meeting, an emergency Cabinet session was held and options to deal with Aceh discussed, officials said. One of the options included rescheduling the meeting.

But on the ground, it appeared Indonesia had grown weary of talks and was slowly switching to the military option. Some 26,000 troops stationed in Aceh were put on red alert in anticipation of military operations. More troops and combat equipment were headed for the province, an intelligence source told The Straits Times.

Also, the Indonesian police said its elite Mobile Brigade – which had been functioning as a regular police unit to help Aceh's demilitarisation process – would go back to its combat role, a violation of the peace pact.

The Geneva meeting that was to have been held yesterday and mediated by international organisation Henry Dunant Centre (HDC) was to help restore the Cessation of Hostility Agreement, which the two parties had signed in December. The agreement had so far failed to bring peace to Aceh, with both parties blaming each other for violations.

Just before the departure of Indonesian officials for Geneva, HDC announced that the meeting had to be postponed to tomorrow for "logistical reasons". Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono accused GAM for the change of date "intentionally" and "irresponsibly".

GAM refuted the charge. The rebel group said its officials had been granted their visas on Thursday and would have arrived in Geneva yesterday, just hours before the meeting. They would not have had the time to hold an internal meeting with exiled GAM leaders from Sweden, the group said.

GAM commander Muzakir Manaf accused Jakarta of blowing the issue out of proportion to justify a military operation. HDC said yesterday that it planned to talk to the two sides and reschedule another meeting.

Jakarta's tough stance received mixed reactions. Senior MP Ibrahim Ambong said: "We understand the government's decision to pull out of the meeting because this is an insult to Indonesia, but we do hope it will consider rescheduling another meeting." Others warned that military operations would cost the government severely because of the potential number of civilian casualties in the province, where more than 10,000 people have been killed.