Jakarta – Commander in Chief of the TNI, General Endriartono Sutarto said he hoped that all sides in Aceh, incluuding the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) would not bring up mistakes that occurred in the past. He asked all those concerned to think about the future so as to enable the Acehnese to re-build their region.

He was speaking to journalists during a ceremony at TNI headquarters in Cilangkap on Thursday (18/8). He was asked about the establishment of human rights courts in Aceh, a point in the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the government and GAM in Helsinki on 15 August.

'If one side starts using the retroactive approach in the present situation, others will do the same thing,' he said. 'We have evidence of mass graves for victims of GAM.' said Endriartono. 'If people go on talking about the past, there will be no end to the issue. This is a time when all people want to start re-building and restore normal conditions.'

A military expert, Hasnan Habib said the Memorandum of Understanding is unclear in particular with regard to the human rights courts in Aceh. He predicted that these courts would certainly meet with resistance from TNI circles.

The commander in chief also said that in two weeks' time, the TNI would withdraw two battalions from Aceh. 'This is a mark of goodwill from our side,' he said. 'I hope that GAM will also show goodwill. When they are asked to hand over their weapons, they should do so,' he said.