Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's government is moving to label leaders of separatist group Free Aceh Movement (GAM) as "terrorists", following arson attacks on nearly 200 schools and other public buildings in the region during the past three days.
Officials attributed the fires, as well as bombings in the past two months in Medan, North Sumatra and at Jakarta's international airport, to the separatists.
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said during parliamentary meetings yesterday: "The government is considering categorising GAM representatives who are in exile in Sweden as terrorists. They play commanding roles within GAM and are involved in terrorist acts in Indonesia." The rebels have denied the bombing allegations.
Officials say a number of GAM representatives in Aceh who have been arrested since last weekend could face terror charges as well as treason allegations. The detainees include GAM negotiators who were arrested shortly after President Megawati Sukarnoputri's martial law declaration late on Sunday.
As military sources confirmed an escalation of their operations in Aceh, the authorities attempted to muzzle GAM by ordering a clampdown on media reports containing statements from rebel spokesmen.
Military spokesman M. Solih said fighting between troops and rebels began shortly after dawn in the Bireun area, 150km from the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, and was continuing in the afternoon.
"We face difficulties in distinguishing between rebels and civilians. Moreover, it's tough terrain out there. You hear sounds of gunfire from one place, you go to it and nobody's there," Mr Solih told Reuters.
Residents of two villages in the north of the province told AFP that 18 people were killed yesterday by the military. AFP staff saw 11 bodies. It was not possible to determine whether the dead had been GAM members.
Another military spokesman, Lt-Col Achmad Yani Basuki, said the offensive would not be a quick campaign. "This war definitely can't be won in weeks like the US did in Iraq. The rebels have blended in in this guerilla war," he told Reuters.
The "terrorist" tag for the separatists is likely to scupper the chances of further peace talks between the two sides, analysts said. The military is also likely to be given freer rein in its operations, especially in the use of force.
About 30,000 soldiers and thousands more police officers have been deployed to Aceh as part of an integrated force to counter GAM. However, the Indonesians have yet to start an all-out offensive.
GAM spokesman Sofyan Dawod told The Straits Times the separatists were not terrorists. "We are a revolutionary movement that is seeking independence. This terrorist label represents the Indonesian government's attempt to malign us again." But political analyst Arbi Sanit said GAM's hardline position on independence had earned it distrust among most Indonesians.